Biologists ID defense mechanism of leading fungal pathogen
...04 -- Molecular biologists at Rice University have discovered a key defense mechanism that the yeast Candida albicans uses against attack by the human immune system. This chink in the armor of Candida, the most common human fungal pathogen, could be exploited with new drugs for both lethal and non-lethal Candid...Researchers recommend new approach to combat drug-resistant staph infections
... staph-induced infections since 1998, when Balaban discovered that a critical concentration of a key protein dubbed RAP (RNAIII activating protein) triggers the production of toxins by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria through a complicated cell-to-cell communications process. Taking this knowledge to the next lev...Rare, tiny find in West Australian waters
...ht people," says PhD student Harriet Paterson, who discovered the radiolarian. Harriet works with the Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME) a joint CSIRO-West Australian Government marine research team based at Floreat, Perth. "Our objective was to collect samples of marine life in ocean ed...'Search and destroy' protein turns tables on HIV
... potential for keeping the disease at bay has been discovered and its function described by a team led by Reuben Harris of the University of Minnesota. The new protein (called APOBEC3F) and one described previously (APOBEC3G) can directly mutate HIV. Such proteins--called retroviral restrictors--may contribute ...Scientists discover genetic marker responsible for two-fold increase in risk of rheumatoid arthritis
MANHASSET, NY A team of researchers has discovered a genetic variation that doubles the risk for rheu...f inflammation at Celera Diagnostics, and her team discovered the PTPN22 association. The technology allowed them -- in a short period of time -- to look at tens ...Joslin researchers identify key molecule in Type 1 diabetes progression
...months later, or, in some, never. The researchers discovered that both effector and regulatory T-cells co-existed and thrived in these insulitis lesions, and they wondered what kept these lesions respectful. They looked specifically at a molecule called inducible co-stimulator (or ICOS), which was expresse...New insight into cancer metastasis
...rchers led by Whitehead Member Robert Weinberg has discovered that tumors spread by reactivating and commandeering a "sleeper" protein that should have been shut off permanently in early embryo development. "As a result, cancer cells acquire in one fell swoop many of the abilities they need to execute...'Mighty mouse' gene works the same way in people
...eloped muscles, an international research team has discovered the first evidence that the gene whose loss makes ...ase muscle mass in humans, too." Lee and his team discovered in 1997 that knocking out the myostatin gene led to mice that were twice as muscular as their normal...Common chemicals morphing into potential toxins in Arctic
...ate how the alcohols degrade in the atmosphere and discovered a previously unknown reaction that produced PFCAs. Martin says the team also found the compounds in polar bear liver tissue samples. Other studies are examining exposure levels in humans living in the far north. "It does appear to be an issue that's...Protein believed to control formation of memory identified by Scripps & UCSD scientists
...ng-term memory. One such signal had already been discovered by other scientists when they began their work -- the protein CREB. CREB is what is known as a transcription factor, a protein that interacts with the DNA of a gene and controls the early steps in "turning on" the expression of a new protein. Mutatio......l mutations, through inbreeding studies, they also discovered five paternally derived mutations. Daniel S. Wagner, PhD, and Roland Dosch, PhD, both postdoctoral fellows in the Mullins lab, spent five-plus years each on this intensive research project. "These maternal processes are well-studied in i...Stem cells commit to a future of fat with one signal
... commit to becoming fat cells. The Hopkins team discovered that adding a single protein, dubbed BMP4, induced...istry, and postdoctoral fellow Tamara Otto, Ph.D., discovered that these treated stem cells, when pushed a little more, uniformly became fat cells. Stem cells not...Scientists discover new role for tiny RNA in plant development
HOUSTON, June 21, 2004 -- First discovered in abundance three years ago, scientists around the world are racing to find and study microRNAs -- tiny strands of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that regulate gene expression in plants and animals. It's believed that hundreds of microRNAs exist in each spe...Brain development and puberty may be key factors in learning disorders
...hat scientists using MRI and other techniques have discovered about the activity in the teenage brain. Until recently, it was thought that the brain was fully developed relatively early in childhood. Today it is clear that the teenage brain is a formidable work-in-progress undergoing myriad changes. "If our h......a new University of Toronto study. The researchers discovered that reduction or loss of a protein called Mus81 l...ed in the June 18 edition of Science. "When it was discovered in 2000, a lot of people speculated that Mus81 was the missing mammalian enzyme essential for the pr...Scientists learn how adjuvant makes vaccines effective
...t might affect the overall antibody response. They discovered that the injection of the adjuvant alum alone could prime B cells in mice. Then they discovered that cells bearing a marker known as Gr1 appeared in the spleen shortly after the injection of alum ...Molecule that 'blocks' key bacterial enzyme may lead to new antibiotics
...rs at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, discovered independently that MccJ25 uniquely blocks a "tunnel" into the bacterial enzyme, RNA polymerase (RNAP). The "tunnel" is used to bring raw materials for RNA synthesis into the enzyme and to expel byproducts of RNA synthesis. "Closing the crow...Lupus Research Institute awards $3 million in novel research grants to further new science in lupus
... attempting to determine the importance of a newly discovered binding protein that tightly interacts with DNA in the disease process. In this study, researchers will examine how this protein receptor binds with DNA and whether dysfunctional DNA binding is an important factor in triggering lupus. Elahna Pa...Espionage may have driven the evolution of bee language according to UCSD-led study in Brazil
...gain control of a food source that competitors had discovered and identified with scent markings. "These bees (Trigona spinipes) are so aggressive that they attack Africanized honey bees--popularly known as killer bees--and even attack several species of birds, driving them off flowers," says Nieh. "In our stu...Scientists characterize new breast tumor subtypes with poor clinical outcomes
...rk reported in 2000, Dr. Perou and colleagues also discovered a previously unsuspected biologically distinct subtype of estrogen positive breast tumor with a very poor outcome, work that does much to explain why a small percentage of estrogen positive tumors do not have a good outcome. Dr. Perou says the abil...