New technique shows how cells interpret genetic information
...h case, give us the coding sequence that spans the junction between the two exons. Then we created a synthetic DNA molecule that can recognize that sequence and spotted it onto the microarray," Ares said. The microarrays for the yeast study consisted of glass slides with tiny spots of synthetic DNA laid out i...Can we enlist substitute genes to fight muscular dystrophy
...trophin perform similar tasks at the neuromuscular junction where nerve cells meet muscle tissue and studies have shown that utrophin over-production reverses the symptoms of muscular dystrophy in mice, said Tejvir S. Khurana, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and researcher at th...New post-genomic technique chronicles protein life cycles
...rch team was able to elucidate some aspects of gap junction assembly and turnover in the living cell. For exam... incorporated at the periphery of pre-existing gap junction plaques. Older connexins were instead removed from the center of the plaque and transported into de...'Wishful thinking' gene regulates neural development
...ing ( wit ), by studying the larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in the fruit fly Drosophila . The Drosophi...ind of signaling that happens at the neuromuscular junction that coordinates the muscle growth with synapse growth," said O'Connor, who is at the University of ...February media highlights - GSA Bulletin
...Effect of the northward-migrating Mendocino triple junction on the Eel River forearc basin, California: Part 1...orth American plates known as the Mendocino triple junction approached Cape Mendocino, California causing the entire margin up to 20 km north to uplift, tilt no...January media highlights: GEOLOGY and GSA TODAY
...taceous tectonic evolution of the Tongareva triple junction in the southwestern Pacific basin . Roger L. Larso...gated hills on the seafloor 5 km below. The triple junction trace contains the geological history of three tectonic plates that met in Cretaceous time ca. 12085...... point be uncrossed by cutting across the Holliday junction in the last crucial step in genetic recombination. This is the responsibility of resolvase enzymes. The final product of this process is a pair of new chromosomes that have genetic material from both parents. "[Resolvase] is the molecule that allows...Ancient reptile is efficient chewer
...of the worn surface showed a deeper "divot" at the junction between the hard surface enamel and the softer dentine than the other. The shape of this dentine surface indicated where sand and other particles had been jammed against the enamel, proving that the motion was backward....The tight junction as a selective barrier
... number of strands seen in microgaphs of the tight junction increases and the paracellular flow of Na+ ions and of other monovalent cations declines . Remarkably, however, transport of uncharged or anionic solutes is unchanged. The molecular and structural basis of this selectivity remains a puzzle....Disconnect between skin cells implicated in common skin cancer
...Cell. By altering one molecule in a skin cell-cell junction in mice researchers at the University of Chicago p... junctions. The alpha-catenin needed to anchor the junction was missing. Changes in the skin of the knockout mouse were dramatic and largely unexpected. The epi...Adult stem cell therapy for heart failure proves promising
...nd protein they stained for is found at a specific junction between two heart muscle cells. That test revealed normal heart muscle side by side with the injected cells that had transformed into heart muscle. "If the two were not connected, this protein would not develop and such connections are important fo...Brief exposure to nicotine makes lasting mark on the brain
...lls communicate with each other at synapses, junction points where chemical signals mediate communication back and forth. When a synapse is used a lot, there is a persistent strengthening of the communication. In effect, the more that one side of the synapse 'talks,' the better...University of Chicago researchers uncover first steps in cell-cell adhesion process
...a are the teeth of a zipper, and when an adherence junction starts to form, the zipper closes to form a single continuous sealed barrier between cells," explained Vasioukhin. "The genesis of adherence junctions, which is what we observed so clearly in our fluorescence studies, has never been described before...Injured spinal neurons reach out to each other, but not to healthy neighbors
...s whether the cells were directly connected by gap junction bridges. They found that the injured cells were connected by gap junction bridges and that they established the bridges only among themselves, failing to connect with nearby ...Health of normal synapses seen to depend on neurotrophin signaling
...humans, thesynapse we studied -- the neuromuscular junction -- falls apart over time in much the same way it d...t, in any disease orinjury where the neuromuscular junction or other synapse is affected, neurotrophins could play a role in helping tomaintain the synapse unti...Scientists discover addition of new brain cells in highest brain area
...fications at the synapse, which is thetransmission junction between neurons. On the basis of the new findings, it isnow conceivable that the introduction of new neurons into the circuitry of thebrain may play a role in memory. Gould and Gross emphasize that any ideas about the functions of the new neuronsare...Mechanism found that appears to keep body tissues together
...ratcheting' mechanism which further impedesoverall junction failure," Leckband said. "While we still have a lot to learn,these measurements are changing the way we look at cadherins and the way thatthey bind." The researchers reported their findings in the Oct. 12 issue of the Proceedingsof the National Acad...Common parasite overturns traditional beliefs about the evolution and role of hemoglobin
...umbriocoides is a remnant of a crucialevolutionary junction in which anaerobic life forms, like bacteria, separatedfrom newly emerging aerobic organisms, such as humans. The worm, in short,reveals that hemoglobin evolved first and foremost to handle the molecule nitricoxide (NO) rather than oxygen, as scient......aptic axon terminal and its target cell. Once this junction is formed, a complex cascade of intracellular protein-protein-interactions leads to the recruitment of the necessary pre- and postsynaptic protein components. A functional synapse is formed. But the model does not only provide a molecular mechanism f...Genes Linked To Early Onset, Location Of Hereditary Colon Cancer
...er than in regions closer to the large intestine's junction with the small intestine, which is more typical. The genes identified by the researchers are all involved in the detoxification of cancer-causing chemicals in cells. Our findings suggest that even in individuals with a strong genetic predisposition t...