Researchers Identify Function Of Brain Receptor Subunit Linked To Memory, Stroke, Dementia
...ere synapses areformed--on the nerve cells of mice lacking NR3A compared with normal mice. These findings suggest that the NR3A subunit may play a protective role,inhibiting the ionic current passed through the NMDA receptor and reducing theamount of calcium entering the nerve cell. NR3A is expresse...Newly Recognized Cell-Surface Receptor Protects Heart Tissue Against Damage
...A3 adenosine receptor -- protects the heart muscle lacking oxygen andnutrients more effectively than any other. This marriage of chemistry andbiology brings us one step closer to designing a drug to minimize damage toheart muscle." Liang and Jacobson report their findings in the June 9 issue ofthe Proceeding...Master Molecule Forms Brains In Frogs And Elbows In Mice
...teresting results. The researchers found that mice lacking the Noggin protein possessed severe skeletal defects, not the least of which was the complete absence of limb joints. Instead of having an elbow, for instance, the mutant mice had one long, unsegmented arm. The mice's fingers and toes also had no joi...Ecological Consequences Of Jasmonate-Induced Responses For Plants In Native Populations
...petition with less-defended plants in environments lacking herbivores. For example, plants that are chemically well-defended may have a lower reproductive success than undefended plants due to difficulties in attracting pollinators. In short, inducible defenses are thought to have evolved as a...Scientists Identify New Gene That Controls Sleep/Wake Cycle
...ations. The researchers found that, in the mutants lacking double-time protein, veryhigh levels of PER protein accumulate in the cytoplasm and these PER proteins nolonger disintegrate when not paired with TIM, meaning that both PER and TIMproteins are produced at the same time. Without the usual time lag, ...Researchers Identify A Protein Critical For T Cell Development And Activation
...y acritical role in immune system function. People lacking T cells are extremelysusceptible to infection and will die without a transplant. There are a numberof people who are immunodeficient, Koretzky said, and physicians understand thecause in only about half the cases. Koretzky is interested in collaborat...Putting Down Your Roots: How Plants Know To Do It
... in response to gravity. The roots of mutant weeds lacking EIR1lose their ability to respond to gravity and are unable to grow downward intothe soil. The findings are reported in the July 15 issue of Genes andDevelopment by first author Dr. Christian Luschnig and his colleagues Ms. PaulaGrisafi, Dr. Roberto ...Gene Discovery Provides Insights Into Epilepsy
...le to open,"Campbell said. "But in the mutant mice lacking stargazin, all of the gates wouldbe able to open. We believe that the increased flow of calcium that resultscauses an abnormal firing of brain cells." Stargazer mice get their name fromthe way in which the animals toss their heads during the 100 or m......nvestigator and an author of the study. "In cells lacking Caspase-9, thisdamage did not give rise to cell death." "Our results also indicate that Caspase-9 is activated early and is essentialfor apoptosis in neuronal cells, and that deletion of Caspase-9 does notinterfere with embryonic development of other......t study, they created a mouse model with platelets lacking PAR3 andfound that while the mice had a markedly delayed and diminished response tothrombin activation the response was not totally absent. The discovery of PAR4explained the continued response. "We determined that PAR3 is necessary fornormal thromb...UCSF Researchers Identify Molecule Involved In Early Stage Of Atherosclerosis In Mice
...esions ontheir proximal aortas. In contrast, mice lacking CCR2 had lesions that werenearly 50 percent smaller. In addition, markedly fewer macrophages, the cellsthat monocytes evolve into once they are in the vessel lining, were present inthe aortas of these mice, demonstrating that activation of the recep...... in Dr.Jaenisch's lab studied cultured mouse cells lacking DNA methyltransferase(MTase), the enzyme responsible for methylating DNA. Mice carrying thismutation die in the womb. However, embryonic cells carrying the mutation cansurvive and grow in culture, providing researchers a useful system to studymethy...Sperm Protein May Hold Clues For Fertility And Contraceptives
...ue ofthe journal Science. "We suspected that sperm lacking the protein known as fertilin-beta would not beabl... researchers studied the activity of sperm in mice lacking the gene forfertilin-beta, which belongs to a family of proteins found on the surface ofcells and is...Antioxidant Treatment Holds Promise For Combating Malnourishment
...radical damage than simply replenishing theprotein lacking in their diet. "Free radical production is oft... 33 percent. The two groups lacking OTC supplementation had little, if any, increasein lung and liver GSH levels....... fraction of thewidth of a hair, and injects cells lacking a specific gene into the blastula. These blastulas are then surgically introduced into female mice that serve assurrogate mothers. Some of the offspring born two and one-half weeks later are chimeras,mice bearing a mixture of cells from the b...Mice Lacking Gene Show Reduced Alcohol Preference And Sensitivity
...he National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mice lacking the so-called D2 receptor in their brains were gen...atedly to one bottle simply out of habit. The mice lacking the D2receptor shied away from the alcohol, while the normal mice showed a preferencefor it. There w......eir function by providing key proteins that may be lacking incertain disease settings, such as AIDS. Additionally, REM expansion modifiedCTLs could be used to deliver cytokines to diseased target cells without thetoxicities observed when cytokines are administered systemically. Targeted Genetics has suppo...Oxygen-Carrying Myoglobin Not Necessary For Survival
...e theirbreakthrough by developing a strain of mice lacking the gene to producemyoglobin, which transports oxy...e only alteration researchers found in the rodents lacking myoglobinwas that the heart and endurance muscles were nonpigmented or almost whiterather than a ric...Molecular Mission Unveils New Genetic Link To Common Birth Defect
...e not only the missing GATA-2 gene in mouseembryos lacking it, but also all of the gene's "control elements"--the codedinformation specifying where, when, and how much of a particular gene is madeinto RNA, and then into protein, in all of the tissues where it is needed. In fact, the team was lucky in the sen...Binding Proteins Shown To Play Key Role In Early Brain Development
...he fact thatother tissues down the line were still lacking integrin," said neuroscientistAkira Chiba, a professor of cell and structuralbiology and affiliate of the U. of I. Beckman Institute for Advanced Science andTechnology. The findings were reported in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience byC...