Brain Protein "Rescues" Neurons From Atrophy
...ts reported. This specificity showed that NT-4 was part of a regulatory system, and not a general growth factor. Neurobiologists believe that the brain wires itself as a result of experience -- permanently strengthening neuronal connections that are more heavily used. A central mystery, however, has been ...Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
...nts involved in the reaction (which can be part of much longer, linear DNA or interlocked, double-stranded rings) are represented by light and dark rods. In (1) topoisomerase II binds one segment of DNA, inducing a conformational change shown in (2). Upon binding AT...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...e cell. The cABL enzyme is normally a well-behaved part of the cell-growth machinery. However, the stitched-together BCR-ABL outlaw protein turns itself on, sending the cell proliferating out of control. In earlier work, Pendergast and her colleagues found that the outlaw BCR-ABL protein plugs into an ada...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...ft, moving proteolytic enzymes to the lysosomes, a part of the cellular digestive system that breaks down proteins into simpler compounds. Because the receptor is involved both in switching on a growth inhibitor and inactivating a growth factor, the researchers hypothesized that losing it might well predi...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
...point the LpxA enzyme's "activesite," which is the part of the protein that actually catalyzes thechemical reaction. Any successful antibiotic must plug into the active site,blocking its action, to kill the bacteria. At Duke, Raetz and his colleagues are planning experiments in which theyselective...Second Breast Cancer Gene Located
...ensive Cancer Center is very pleased to have beena part of the international efforts that discovered both of the breast cancergenes," said Dr. O. Michael Colvin, director of the cancer center. "We look forward to helping put this discovery to use as we developbetter therapies and prevention strategies to ......ate ions. When this water emerges from the ground, part of the dissolved carbonate "degasses" as carbon dioxide. At the same time, calcium carbonate precipitates, forming the spectacular deposits seen in limestone caves, such as stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones. Fortunately for geochronologists, su...Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
...e wild,through virtual reality. The experience is part of a unique educational program being testedby Zoo Atlanta and <AHREF="http://www.gatech.edu/">Georgia Institute of Technology . At apress conference May 15, researchers from both organizationsdemonstrated what they believe is the world's fir...Core Spins Faster Than Earth, Scientists Find
.... Essentially,the inner core rotates because it is part of a vast electric motor. Theinner core has a diameter about three-quarters that of the moon,and a mass density almost 13 times greater than the density ofwater. The mass of the inner core is about one hundred millionmillion million tons -- which is ...Researchers Find Possible New Route to Making Cancer Cells Vulnerable
...estigator. The research was supported in part by the National Institute of EnvironmentalHealth Sciences and a Rhone Poulenc Rorer Hematology Scholar award to colleagueDr. Charles Hemenway. Heitman and Hemenway, both researchers in Duke's Comprehensive Cancer Center,reported their findin...Bark Beetle Infestation Spurs Multifaceted Study
...ut it is second growth forest." That is actually part of the problem, most of the forests were last cut140 years ago to supply fuel and timbers for mining the Comstock Lode nearVirginia City, Nev. In the early 1900s, fire eradication on federal landbecame mandatory and most state and local governments f......ueszeros in on theproper pages that arepotentially part of the"story" -- all pages thatseem to have sequencesthat are part of the message. The accuracy of themethod developed byPevzner and his colleaguesis always good,the s...Salvage Gene Is At The Root Of Many Mutations
...ints out. "It issusceptible to damage as a natural part of its existence." The most common form of DNA damage is sporadic loss of individual molecules of adenine and guanine -- two of thefour bases that encode genetic information along a strand of DNA. Such losses result in genetic gaps known as "aba...Low-Protein Diet May Reverse Kidney Disease
...es and medicine. The study, which was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, is published in the September issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. "Five patients remain virtually cured, while only one patient's blood-protein level worsened, " says Walser. Hopkins researchers put...Ocean Sediments Contain Record of Past Vegetation Fires in Africa
...nitial formation. It eventually sinks and becomes part of the sediments at the bottom of the sea." Verardo studied such sediments by analyzing a core taken from the bottom of the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean. "It was full, much to my surprise, of a large amount of charcoal," he says. "Given ...Duke Ecologist Says Logging Is Creating 'Mahogany Deserts'
...t Spanish. "I asked them things like, 'Is thereany part of the forest where you know something happened in the past? Canyou take me there?'" She also used local people's memories to datethe ages of post-disturbance trees. Like Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective about whom Snook read avidlywhile at ...Major Plant Genome Research Project Underway
...h grants are supported by separate awards, each is part of a single project. "Their activities will be coordinated to maximize efficiency and usefulness," says Clutter, "and information from the project will be widely disseminated so that researchers will gain maximum benefits." The U.S. effort is being...... poised above a region called the HVc, known to be part of the bird's song production system, or another region called the RA, a subordinate region that receives input from the HVc and activates the muscles of the syrinx--the bird's voicebox. They recorded electrical activity just outside individual brain...PET Project Helps Reduce Pollution Threat From Heavy Metals
...nenttakes care of the dissolved metals. The second part of the system, a layer of porous pavementconcrete ...orouspavement. They can accumulate there, and as a part of routinemaintenance, they can be vacuumed back off the surface." Theconcrete also neutralizes aci...Researchers Identify A New Cellular Structure: The "Dumposome"
...ture was just a developing nucleolus, which is the part of the nucleusthat is a workbench for building ribosomes," adds James Smothers, a graduate student in Allis' lab. "We now know thatthe structure is unique with a distinct function -- which could make it an organelle in its own right." Although i...