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Research reveals surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of human cytomegalovirus

New findings reveal the surprisingly complex protein-coding capacity of the human cytomegalovirus, or HCMV, and provide the first steps toward understanding how the virus manipulates human cells during infection. The genome of the HCMV was first sequenced over 20 years ago, but researchers have now investigated the proteome-the complete set of expressed proteins-of this common pathogen as well.

23 Nov 2012

Major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have made a major advance in understanding how flu viruses replicate within infected cells. The researchers used cutting-edge molecular biology and electron-microscopy techniques to "see" one of influenza's essential protein complexes in unprecedented detail. The images generated in the study show flu virus proteins in the act of self-replication, highlighting the virus's vulnerabilities that are sure to be of interest to drug developers.

23 Nov 2012

Researchers characterize novel lysosomal PQ protein linked to cystinosis

Researchers at the Université Paris Descartes/CNRS and the Université libre de Bruxelles have made a major breakthrough in the study of cystinosis, a genetic disease that can lead to serious disorders, notably fatal kidney failure.

23 Nov 2012

Advances in genomic techniques help understand cancer at cellular and molecular level

Cancer is a complex disease and only thanks to advances in genomic techniques have researchers begun to understand, at a cellular and molecular level, the mechanisms which are disrupted in cancer cells. This knowledge is a key prerequisite for developing effective treatment strategies.

23 Nov 2012

New research provides unprecedented clarity to aging process

For the first time, scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have defined key events that take place early in the process of cellular aging.

23 Nov 2012

Researchers create 3D map of rod sensory cilium architecture affected by mutation

Using a new technique called cryo-electron tomography, two research teams at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) have created a three-dimensional map that gives a better understanding of how the architecture of the rod sensory cilium (part of one type of photoreceptor in the eye) is changed by genetic mutation and how that affects its ability to transport proteins as part of the light-sensing process.

23 Nov 2012

Study to discover exactly how intravenous immune globulin treatments work

Immune globulin replacement began decades ago as a treatment for patients who could not make their own protective antibodies, but has proven to have much broader benefits than originally expected.

22 Nov 2012

Breakthrough in heart research

Breakthrough in heart research: The research team from Professor Katja Schenke-Layland of the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart has discovered cell surface markers that enable the identification and isolation of living functional cardiovascular progenitor cells (CPCs).

22 Nov 2012

TGF-betaR inhibitors may counter drug resistance in cancer patients with MED12 mutations

Cancer therapies often have short-lived benefits due to the emergence of genetic mutations that cause drug resistance. A key gene that determines resistance to a range of cancer drugs has been reported in a study published by Cell Press November 21st in the journal Cell.

22 Nov 2012

Coronary arteries largely arise from cells of the endocardium

During embryonic development, the all-important coronary arteries arise from cells previously considered incapable of producing them, according to scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

22 Nov 2012

Researchers define structure of Cdc13 protein in yeast

Chromosomes - long, linear DNA molecules - are capped at their ends with special DNA structures called telomeres and an assortment of proteins, which together act as a protective sheath. Telomeres are maintained through the interactions between an enzyme, telomerase, and several accessory proteins. Researchers at The Wistar Institute have defined the structure of one of these critical proteins in yeast.

22 Nov 2012

Single dose of Medicago's vaccine could offer cross-protection against flu

Researchers recently found that a single dose of a vaccine being developed by Medicago, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, could protect against not only the avian influenza (H5N1) strain it was designed for, but also another H5N1 strain and a strain of a different flu subtype, called H2N2.

22 Nov 2012

Microbiologists discover how the spread of antibiotic resistance works in pneumococcus

Antibiotic resistance results from bacteria's uncanny ability to morph and adapt, outwitting pharmaceuticals that are supposed to kill them. But exactly how the bacteria acquire and spread that resistance inside individuals carrying them is not well-established for most bacterial organisms.

22 Nov 2012

Methylome modifications offer new measure of a person's biological age

Women live longer than men. Individuals can appear or feel years younger - or older - than their chronological age. Diseases can affect our aging process. When it comes to biology, our clocks clearly tick differently.

22 Nov 2012

Iridoid synthase can make powerful chemicals from catnip to vinblastine

Scientists have discovered an enzyme used in nature to make powerful chemicals from catnip to a cancer drug, vinblastine. The discovery opens up the prospect of producing these chemicals cheaply and efficiently.

22 Nov 2012

Obesity and oxidative stress: an interview with Dr Elizabeth New

Even though oxygen is essential for us to live, it can react with other compounds in the body to produce molecules called free radicals, which are highly reactive and damaging.

22 Nov 2012

Important knowledge about how stem cells develop best into insulin-producing cells

Scientists from The Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem) at the University of Copenhagen are contributing important knowledge about how stem cells develop best into insulin-producing cells. In the long term this new knowledge can improve diabetes treatment with cell therapy.

22 Nov 2012

Max Planck Institute develops neural event-triggered functional magnetic resonance imaging

While in deep dreamless sleep, our hippocampus sends messages to our cortex and changes its plasticity, possibly transferring recently acquired knowledge to long-term memory. But how exactly is this done? Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have now developed a novel multimodal methodology called "neural event-triggered functional magnetic resonance imaging" (NET-fMRI) and presented the very first results obtained using it in experiments with both anesthetized and awake, behaving monkeys.

22 Nov 2012

Human Food Project, University of Colorado Boulder launch American Gut

Ever wondered who is living in your gut, and what they're doing? The trillions of microbial partners in and on our bodies outnumber our own cells by as many as 10 to 1 and do all sorts of important jobs, from helping digest the food we eat this Thanksgiving to building up our immune systems.

22 Nov 2012

Two organizations partner to fund Arthritis and Aging Research Grant

The Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF) in Long Beach, CA and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) in New York, NY proudly announce their collaboration to fund an Arthritis and Aging Research Grant.

22 Nov 2012