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Signaling pathways required for expansion of insulin-producing beta cells

IDDM, which used to be referred to as Type 1 diabetes, results from selective destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic islet beta cells by the body's immune system.

17 May 2006

SOX2 neural stem cell gene important in eye development

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have demonstrated that normal development of the eye requires the right amount of a neural stem cell gene be expressed at the right time and place.

16 May 2006

Studies indicate stem cells are flexible enough to become any cell in the body

Two studies in the April 21, 2006 Cell report new details of the "genetic program" that affords embryonic stem cells the flexibility to give rise to any cell type in the body. Both groups identified mechanisms by which the embryonic stem cells of mice or humans keep from going down any one particular developmental path--that of muscle or nervous tissue, for example--while remaining "poised for activation."

26 Apr 2006

Studies indicate stem cells are flexible enough to become any cell in the body

26 Apr 2006

Australian researchers find key 'go-betweeen' in heart disease

Medical researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Australia, have shed light on a little-known mechanism involved in the thickening of arteries, a process associated with heart disease.

13 Mar 2006

Gene regulation determines human-chimp differences

The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees are due more to changes in gene regulation than differences in individual genes themselves

9 Mar 2006

Metabolic switch required for cellular adaptation to hypoxia

Two new studies in the March Cell Metabolism reveal a survival mechanism by which cells adapt to oxygen starvation by ratcheting down their demand.

9 Mar 2006

Cellular discovery suggests possibilities for drug therapy for kidney disease

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have reported a discovery at the cellular level that suggests possibilities for drug therapy for kidney disease.

13 Feb 2006

Cancer researchers find evolutionary change that occurred in a key developmental signalling pathway

Cancer researchers at the University of Helsinki, in trying to find a novel tumor suppressor gene, instead found an important evolutionary change that occurred in a key developmental signalling pathway. The finding suggests a potential mechanism for evolution of complex intercellular signalling pathways.

9 Feb 2006

Researchers find new mechanism potentially explaining evolution of signalling pathways

7 Feb 2006

Genome-wide prediction of mammalian enhancers for control of gene expression

Molecular biologists, developmental biologists and computer scientists at the Universtity of Helsinki, Finland, came together to advance towards cracking the code for how gene expression is controlled. The results of this work are published in Cell, in January 2006.

16 Jan 2006

A crucial role for TGF-beta signaling in congenital eye disorders

The lens in the developing eye acts as a TGF-beta signaling center that controls differentiation, survival and formation of multiple eye structures deriving from the neural crest.

15 Dec 2005

Stem cells may cause some forms of bone cancer

The researchers are the first to identify a population of cells with characteristics of adult and embryonic stem cells in cultures derived from biopsies of patients' bone tumors. They describe their findings in the medical journal Neoplasia.

7 Dec 2005

Master switch for blood cell development detected

Blood cells develop from blood stem cells in the bone marrow. Their development is regulated by roughly 20 gene regulators or transcription factors.

28 Nov 2005

Edifoligide no better than placebo for clogged veins

A new drug, edifoligide, designed to prevent the clogging of veins used in coronary bypass surgery was no more effective than a placebo, according to the results of a Phase III clinical trial led by researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

14 Nov 2005

Discovery of novel form of regulation of the GLI1 gene

The Quaking gene, first described as a mutation in mice that causes rapid tremor, is thought to suppress tumor formation and protect humans from cancer.

14 Nov 2005

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have deciphered code for motor neuron wiring

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have deciphered a key part of the regulatory code that governs how motor neurons in the spinal cord connect to specific target muscles in the limbs.

7 Nov 2005

Gene fusion appears to cause prostate cancer

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, have discovered a recurring pattern of scrambled chromosomes and abnormal gene activity that occurs only in prostate cancer.

30 Oct 2005

Possible new directions for treatments for addiction to cocaine

Cocaine causes specific alterations in the brain's circuitry at a genetic level, including short-term changes that result in a high from the cocaine, as well as long-term changes seen in addiction, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

23 Oct 2005

Natural selection has played an important role in patterning the human genome

The most detailed analysis to date of how humans differ from one another at the DNA level shows strong evidence that natural selection has shaped the recent evolution of our species, according to researchers from Cornell University, Celera Genomics and Celera Diagnostics.

23 Oct 2005