Scientists demonstrate new method for discovering cancer gene function
...gulate all aspects of cellular function. Dozens of mutated oncogenes are known: some overproduce a growth signal to produce runaway cell division, while others fail to exert their normal check on excessive growth. Oncogenes, however, don't act alone. Their aberrant signals are relayed through other genes t...New gene found for children's lethal kidney disease
...ound that children who inherit, from both parents, mutated forms of a gene called inversin develop nephronophthisis* type 2, which causes renal failure in infancy. Results from the U-M study were published in the August, 2003 issue of Nature Genetics. "We found nine distinct recessive mutations in the inver...Grant strengthens research arm of Penn State Hershey Medical Center's ALS Clinic
...scular diseases and look for the prevalence of the mutated form of the Hfe gene in the two groups. A mutation in the Hfe gene has been linked with a condition called hemachromatosis, which causes too much iron to accumulate in the tissues. People can be carriers of the mutant Hfe gene and yet have no symptom...Link between neuronal calcium channel, mutated gene that causes Huntington's disease identified
...03 Abnormally high calcium levels spurred on by a mutated gene may lead to the death of neurons associated with Huntington's disease, an inherited genetic disorder, characterized by mental and physical deterioration, for which there is no known cure. This discovery by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical ...Researchers locate tumor-suppressor gene in fruit flies that controls cell production, death
...ggests that the human counterpart of Salvador is mutated in several cancer-cell lines. "Our findings will stimulate investigations of this tumor suppression pathway in human cancers," Pan added. By studying fruit flies, scientists have the ability to perform more experiments than in human studies because t...Penn researchers identify secondary pathway for survival of cancer cells
...heir role in cancer cell survival and growth. Its mutated form has been observed in high quantities in cases of prostate cancer, leukemia and multiple myeloma. Close to 50 kinases are thought to play a key role in cancer progression.Through a process of elimination, scientists test each oncogene for its ro...Abnormal plant shows scientists path to plant, animal development
...bidopsis in which PKL is abnormal, or mutated. The mutated gene, designated as lowercase pkl, was unable to repress the embryogenesis genes. The result is a plant that is dwarfed compared to a normal plant, has a pickle-shaped root, and characteristics of both an embryo and an adult plant. Ogas said they fou...Male sex hormones cooperate with breast cancer gene to suppress tumors
...es play a role in female and male cancers. In its mutated form, however, BRCA-2 could not enhance the androg...eating or preventing breast cancer." By comparing mutated and normal forms of BRCA-2 in mouse cells, Sook Shin found that the normal BRCA-2 enhanced the andro...Study traces global spread of virulent dengue virus to US doorstep
... of two possibilities: Either the native virus had mutated to become more severe or dengue serotype 3 from another part of the world had been introduced into Latin America." The answer - that the virus had moved across the globe to Latin America - was eventually revealed through research by Dr. Duane Gubler ...Purdue genetic discovery may aid plants and human medicine
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Findings that two mutated genes alter plant growth and development could result in improved plants and enhanced cancer treatments, according to Purdue University researchers. In a paper published in Thursday's (6/26) issue of Nature, the scientists report that these abnormal,...U-Iowa physician suggests possible enzyme deficiency in cystic fibrosis
...an College of Chest Physicians. "The CFTR gene is mutated in people with CF but the observed manifestations of the disease have not been fully explained by that genetic change," Tobacman said. "Mutations in the CFTR gene might reduce the arylsulfatase B activity." The CFTR defect is known to alter a protein...Researchers find new way to trigger self-destruction of certain cancer cells
...Department of Molecular Pharmacology. Since p53 is mutated and inactive in about half of all types of cancer,...ocking mTOR and activating apoptosis in cells with mutated p53 has potentially wide application.Houghton is senior author of the paper reporting these results....Rumors of male chromosomes demise greatly exaggerated, study finds
...is the case with many diseases, it can discard the mutated gene and replace it with a normal copy drawn from the other member of the pair. But the Y has no sexual "partner" with which to swap out defective genes. "Genes constantly are being bombarded with little injuries mutations. Mutations can either be b...Birds do it. Bugs do it. But why don't we?
...pheromone receptors in our noses, these genes have mutated to the point that they are merely pseudogenes---th...channel fell into disuse, and in a random fashion, mutated to a dysfunctional state because they haven't experienced any pressure from natural selection. Zhang...JCI table of contents, 16 June 2003
...********** Enzyme deficiency tips balance towards mutated DNA TITLE: Site-specific somatic mitochondrial DNA point mutations in patients with thymidine phosphorylase deficiency AUTHOR CONTACT: Michio Hirano Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, USA. Phone: 212-305-104...Scientists close in on understanding learning and memory
... or not. Developing a mouse with the appropriately mutated GluR2 may take a year or more, notes Huganir, whose M.D.-Ph.D. student Jordan Steinberg has taken on the project. In their current study, graduate student Hee Jung Chung and Steinberg created genetic instructions to build two mutant versions of Glu...Chemists unlock secret to activating tumor suppressor gene
...ay will be found to treat patients with damaged or mutated PTEN genes. Loss of PTEN action causes the cancer, Cho explained. To treat this condition, one must add the PTEN gene to the cell which lacks it, but the resulting PTEN protein must be in its active form, he said. "We discovered what activates the ...Rb2 gene may play role in determining effectiveness of drug therapies against breat cancer
...ative cell lines, pRb2/p130's signal is damaged or mutated and it recruits a different sequence of molecules which cause Rb2 to silence the expression of the estrogen receptor and block drug therapies from being successful against the cancer cells. "There is a lack of success in therapies because the drug d...Yeast, wormwood & bacterial genes combine in microbial factory to make antimalarial drug
...ut of whack -- the cells either stopped growing or mutated to avoid the toxins -- so he stuck in a wormwood gene for an enzyme that converts them to amorphadiene, a chemical precursor of artemisinin that the cells can deal with. Artemisinin has been known to the Chinese for 2,000 years as an herbal medicine,...With government nod, gene therapy pioneered at UNC is given to children with rare disorder
.... "We're essentially replacing the function of the mutated gene. That gene is still at its original chromosome location in the nucleus. What we're introducing is not in the chromosome but attached to the nucleus of the cell. So we're delivering extra-chromosomal DNA that has all the 'start' and 'stop' signat...