New study shows hope for treating inhalant abuse
...e neurotransmitter dopamine is associated with the activation of pleasure and reward circuits in the brain. Inhalant abuse is among the most common forms of drug abuse, particularly among pre- and early adolescents, who inhale or "huff" chemical vapors found in many common household products that are not ...Safety of isoflavones in dietary supplements targeted by Illinois initiative
...nd structural biology, will study patterns of gene activation affected by isoflavones through both estrogen-dependent and estrogen-independent receptors in breast tumors. They also will examine gene regulation in breast tumor systems, especially those adapted to changes in hormone responsiveness, adipose tissu...Pollutant causes delayed flowering in plants
... that nitric oxide plugs into in plant cells -- an activation process like a key fitting a lock. "This study will validate the concept that nitric oxide is an important plant hormone," Pei said. "It provides the hard evidence that is needed to demonstrate nitric oxide's role, since flowering is such a fundament...New anti-inflammatory strategy for cancer therapy identified by UCSD researchers
...kappa-B kinase beta (IKKβ) is required for the activation of NF-kB, which acts as a master switch to turn on...s were given a protein that specifically inhibited activation of NF-kB, only in cancer cells. The different cells were injected into mice and all were able to es...New way to protect brain from stroke damage
...nnels, were resistant to acid injury. To test that activation of ASIC1a is involved in ischemic brain injury in a live animal, the team tested the protective effect of ASIC blockers in an ischemic rat. Rats injected with PcTX, which is known to specifically block ASIC1a, showed a 60 percent reduction in the are...9/11 search-and-rescue dogs exhibit few effects from exposure to disaster sites
...her in the first year in deployed dogs, suggesting activation of the immune system. As the study progressed, however, these numbers came down to close to those of the dogs in the control group. "Early on, it is clear that these dogs were dealing with some stress from toxins, although we don't currently have......iac disease aiming at suppressing uncontrolled CTL activation and conversion into LAK by blocking IL15 or NKG2D," suggests Dr. Jabri. A second study led by Dr. Sophie Caillat-Zucman from Equipe Avenir-Inserm in Paris, France demonstrated that MICA, a molecule that interacts with NKG2D on CTL cells, is present i...Molecule awakens and maintains neural connections
...d a critical protein that regulates the growth and activation of neural connections in the brain. The protein functions in the developing brain, where it controls the sprouting of new connections and stimulates otherwise silent connections among immature neurons, and potentially in the mature brain as well, wh...Researchers identify distinctive signature for metastatic prostate cancer
...ermal origin, it seemed reasonable to test whether activation of the Hedgehog pathway might similarly drive the ...said Beachy, their experiments showed that pathway activation in metastatic cancers depended on the expression of Smoothened suggesting that gene may be "a foc...New dye directly reveals activated proteins in living cells
...time that novel biosensor dyes can directly reveal activation of proteins in individual living cells. The resear...it possible to dramatically visualize the changing activation and intracellular location of the protein Cdc42. The novel dyes open new possibilities for screening...Growth hormone and IBD: Reduction of intestinal inflammation, promotion of growth
...sults of their study "Growth hormone reduces STAT3 activation and modulates cellular apoptosis and proliferation...2) are negative regulators of Il-6 dependent STAT3 activation via the gp130 receptor. Growth hormone (GH) reduces disease activity in experimental colitis, howeve...Breaking new ground in germ cell guidance
...st commonly associated with programmed cell death activation of apoptosis mediator, caspase-3. Hanyu-Nakamura et al. pinpointed the site of the mutation to the locus for the guidance gene, wunen2 . The products of this gene and its relative, wunen , have been known for some time to play important roles in the ...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...schemia : The JNK signaling pathway mediates Bax activation and subsequent neuronal apoptosis through interaction with bim after transient focal cerebral ischemia Okuno et al. Following ischemia, the c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) pathway may be an early step leading to neuronal apoptosis via mitochon...Rare deficit maps thinking circuitry
...here" circuit, while the controls showed increased activation in that circuit. The patients' brains showed no difference from controls on tasks that activated the "what" circuit. Using structural MRI, the researchers found a small region early in the "where" circuit that lacked gray matter (neuron bodies) in ...JCI table of contents: 1 September, 2004
... antigens were in the liver cells, and immune cell activation occurred within the liver tissue, the immune respo...and lymph nodes as the site of primary immune cell activation plays a major role in determining the balance between tolerance and immunity. This may have importan...Other highlights in the September 1 JNCI
...he use of a novel flow cytometric assay to measure activation by phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT1 in response to immunotherapy. The researchers suggest that this new method may be able to help determine the optimal dose of interferon alfa for patients undergoing immunotherapy. Contact: Mic...APS awards more than $140,000 to minority students of physiology
... bone rather than fat. Her lab has discovered that activation of Wnt signaling inhibits differentiation of fat cells and prevents obesity in mice. Currently, she is testing whether Wnt signaling results in fewer fat cells and more bone forming cells in the marrow cavity. This work may provide a new target for ...Researchers uncover secrets of immune system's munitions factory
...tibodies. An important step in this process is the activation of AID, which causes largely random mutations in the genes for the antibody segments that recognize antigens. These mutations occur about a million times more frequently than spontaneous mutations in other genes. In this process, known as somatic hyp...Marathoning mice could have Olympian effects on obesity
...l Institute. Evans, Wang and team discovered that activation of the switch, a receptor called PPAR-delta, increases the rate at which the body burns fat. This makes PPAR-delta an exciting potential target for drugs that treat diabetes and lipid disorders. The team produced a genetically engineered mouse endo...Why your knees and quads hurt more after running than walking: You're only human
...ects of increased muscle recruitment but decreased activation duration on energy cost, when humans increase speed and change gait from a walk to a run, remains an important challenge to sort out." The researchers conclude that "greater energy cost during running in humans may be explained in part by the decreas...