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Discovery of a new kind of messenger RNA molecule

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a new kind of messenger RNA molecule that is converted from non-protein coding status to protein coding status in response to cellular stress such as viral infection.

20 Oct 2005

Spliceosome crucial for processing non-coding RNA

The discovery in 1977 that the coding regions of a gene could appear in separate segments along the DNA won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp. The active segments of a gene were termed exons, separated from each other within the gene by inactive introns.

20 Oct 2005

Newly discovered role of MECP2 gene in Rett Syndrome

Huda Zoghbi, of Baylor College of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Juan Young, also of Baylor and colleagues report in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, posted the week of October 17, 2005, that the Rett Syndrome gene, MECP2, regulates RNA splicing.

18 Oct 2005

Researchers shed light on a key molecular switch in T helper cells

Defects in immune system cells called T helper cells may lead to diseases characterized by a faulty inflammatory response such as autoimmunity and asthma. Understanding the molecular steps involved in how T helper cells mature may help researchers develop treatments for these diseases.

17 Oct 2005

Biologists uncover pivotal role of a gene called "Cut"

A DNA-binding protein, Cut interprets and transcribes the developmental signals sent through the "Notch" gene, which regulates a layer of epithelial cells as they replicate and divide. But when Cut garbles those signals the result is uncontrolled cell proliferation, sometimes with dire genetic and health consequences.

12 Oct 2005

Mechanism of X-chromosome dosage compensation in Drosophila

In Drosophila, like in humans, male cells have a single X chromosome, while female cells have two. Researchers have long debated over how X and autosomal chromosome gene expression is equalized between the sexes (generally regarding two different models, known as the activation model and the inverse model).

4 Oct 2005

Ubiquitin ligase Rnf6 may be involved in oncogenesis

In a recent study, Dr. Ingolf Bach and colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester and the University of Hamburg describe a novel role for the ubiquitin/proteosome protein degradation pathway in the regulation of local actin dynamics in neurons.

3 Oct 2005

First true animal model for psoriasis

Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna have developed the first true animal model for psoriasis and have been able to address the initial steps and possible causes of the disease.

20 Sep 2005

New research adds to the emerging range of functions that miRNAs perform in an organism

In an effort to understand the biological function of the microRNA mir1, Drs. Nicholas Sokol and Victor Ambros (Darmouth Medical School) have studied the expression profile, transcriptional regulation and loss-of-function phenotype of Drosophila mir-1 (Dmir-1).

20 Sep 2005

Study points to importance of MYC gene in cancer progression

The cancer gene MYC is among the most commonly overexpressed oncogenes in human cancers. Most human cancers demonstrate high levels of MYC or its biological partners, including those of the breast, ovaries, lung, prostate, and skin, as well as leukemias and lymphomas.

19 Sep 2005

Why do estrogen-dependent breast-cancer cells grow and spread rapidly?

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say it may be because estrogen virtually eliminates levels of a vitally important regulatory protein.

10 Sep 2005

Diet rich in soy protein may alleviate fatty liver

A group of researchers from Mexico has discovered that a diet rich in soy protein may alleviate fatty liver, a disease which often accompanies diabetes. The details of their findings appear in the September issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.

6 Sep 2005

Genome of mammals is much more complex than previously thought

More than 100 scientists from Australia, Asia, Europe and the US have been probing the genome of the mouse in a joint study lasting several years.

5 Sep 2005

How germ cells decide whether to be sperm or eggs

Johns Hopkins biologists have determined how developing embryos tell their specialized "germ cells" whether to develop into a male's sperm or a female's eggs.

29 Aug 2005

The role of antigenic drive and tumor-infiltrating accessory cells in the pathogenesis of Helicobacter-induced MALT lymphoma

Research led by Dr. Anne Mueller at Stanford University School of Medicine demonstrates that successful eradication of Helicobacter may not prevent future aggressive gastric lymphoma since resting B cells are left behind.

25 Aug 2005

Novel mechanism, called recursive splicing reveals how cells process large genes

Important messages require accurate transmission. Big genes are especially challenging because they combine many coding segments (exons) that lie between long stretches of non-coding elements (introns).

22 Aug 2005

DNA chip technology helps with discovery of new type 2 diabetes gene

In a new study appearing in the August 12 issue of the journal Cell, the investigators first identified genes that were altered in their level of expression in islets isolated from people with type 2 diabetes.

13 Aug 2005

Pre-mRNA that codes for inflammatory protein identified

In a discovery that upends a longstanding tenet of human biology, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a key process in gene regulation can occur in human platelets, unique cells that are unusual because they don't have a nucleus (anucleate).

11 Aug 2005

Important breast cancer discovery

Scientists at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) have made an important discovery that will advance our understanding of how the female hormone estrogen causes growth of breast cancer cells. The research, in collaboration with scientists at the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal (IRCM) identifies 153 genes that respond to estrogen and one in particular that can be used to halt the growth of breast cancer cells.

10 Aug 2005

Discovery may lead to new therapies for leukemia

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that a protein called NF-Ya activates several genes known to regulate the development of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or blood-producing stem cells, in bone marrow.

2 Aug 2005