Researchers go fishing, pull out antigens
...s or other foreign invaders. Each T cell carries a receptor that can recognize a specific protein fragment. Ce...ecific T cell encounters a protein-MHC complex its receptor can bind, it becomes activated. That sets off a cascade of events that tells the immune system to at...Purdue scientists finding ways to outsmart crop-damaging bugs
..., its docking molecule, called a ligand, joins the receptor and kills the bug. But nature allows pests to chal...cal changes prevent binding of the chemical to the receptor and its entry into the bugs' system. Once this occurs, the chemical becomes ineffective and a new wa...Jefferson scientists use gene therapy to restore function of damaged heart cells in lab
... have known for some time that the beta-adrenergic receptor system fails to work properly in individuals with ...rgic receptors. "In heart failure, beta adrenergic receptor density is decreased, ARK is increased and both together cause dysfunctional beta receptor signaling...Genetic trick adapted from viruses makes gene therapy vectors more versatile
...a large protein lodged in the cell's membrane. The receptor allows T cells to "sense" targets that the cells a...ed to destroy. Without the CD3 complex, the T cell receptor is incomplete and cannot perform its immune function. The St. Jude researchers used retroviral vect...Monitoring macrophages detects dementia
...olabeled ligands for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), which is abundantly expressed on brain macrophages, and used PET imaging to monitor macrophage infiltration in simian immunodeficiency virusinfected (SIV-infected) macaques. They detected increased ligand binding only in the brains of SIV-infe...The APCs of autoimmune disease
...e EAE-sensitive strain. Furthermore, innate immune receptor activation of the APCs resulted in EAE development even in the resistant background, providing insight into why viral infection is often associated with the onset of certain autoimmune disorders....JCI table of contents, 2 April 2004
...e EAE-sensitive strain. Furthermore, innate immune receptor activation of the APCs resulted in EAE development...olabeled ligands for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), which is abundantly expressed on brain macrophages, and used PET imaging to monitor macrophag...Gene-rich human Chromosome 19 sequence completed
...sting features as transcription factors, olfactory receptor genes, and zinc finger genes. Olfactory receptors represent the largest multigene family in higher organisms. They have evolved in response to the need for animals to recognize millions of odorsboth threatening and attractivein their environment. Tr...Soy consumption could help prevent prostate cancer and male pattern baldness
...on DHT, preventing it from binding to the androgen receptor and thereby preventing the prostate from growing. This may be particularly important for men who have been diagnosed with either an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH) or cancer of the prostate. "Directly binding and inactivatin...Newly identified gene linked to brain development
...n GPR56, which encodes an orphan G protein-coupled receptor [GPCR], were responsible for BFPP," explains Piao. GPR56 is expressed in the neural stem cells produced in the cerebral cortex, and plays an especially important role in the frontal portions of the cortex. Walsh's laboratory uses gene mapping to ide...Study points to possible cause of asthma exacerbations
... (RSV) infection increases the number of a type of receptor called Toll-4 on the airway cells. This Toll-4 receptor can provide a foothold for inhaled endotoxin, a naturally occurring environmental contaminant that c...A&M researcher studying genes of mosquitoes
...In this case, an insecticide targeting the hormone receptor can be developed to disrupt the secretion of fluid. "You can be very precise and very selective (with an insecticide like this)," she said. "One wants to be very selective in what will be killed or harmed. Not just any chemical will do, especia...Fetal lungs provide a signal initiating labor, UT Southwestern researchers find
..."We think that bacteria may be binding to the same receptor on the macrophages to cause preterm labor in women...ead to premature labor. If we knew more about this receptor on amniotic fluid macrophages, we may be able to design therapies or inhibitors to block preterm lab...Rockefeller University scientists take on controversial 'vibration theory' of smell
... shape of a chemical (the "key") fits into odorant receptor proteins on the outside of cells ("locks") that ar...ory is that humans have only 347 different odorant receptor proteins dedicated to smell, as researchers working at Senomyx discovered in 2001. A strict lock-and...Research on inherited eye disorders uncovers new information about blood-vessel formation
...e known as Frizzled-4 , which codes for a protein receptor (Fz4). Although Nathans and his colleagues had studied the Frizzled-4 gene and the Fz4 protein, they did not know what that external signal was, he said.The first hints that the two diseases might be functionally related came when the researchers o...New study confirms conservation surgery is safe for BRCA breast cancers
...A carriers were more often grade III and oestrogen receptor negative. Grade III breast cancers are poorly differentiated and more aggressive and oestrogen negative tumours have a higher risk of spreading to other parts of the body and do not respond to hormone treatment. "Despite the aggressiveness of these ...Dioxin-receptor network identified
...rate cell response to dioxin, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) signal transduction pathway. To assess the molecules and pathways involved in the AHR pathway, the research group studied 4507 yeast "deletion" strains, each strain missing one gene from its genome. In this way Bradfield and colleagues identi...JCI table of contents, 15 March 2004
...ally reduces relevant RA symptoms, indicating this receptor may play a role in advancement of the disease. Co...r. TITLE: Experimental arthritis in CC chemokine receptor 2null mice closely mimics severe human rheumatoid arthritis AUTHOR CONTACT: Seema S. Ahuja The Unive...Study suggests possible way to repair damaged nerve cells
...ls neurons, but it needs proNGF to do so. p75 is a receptor in healthy neurons, it receives signals from outs...ing information to the cell body, p75 turns into a receptor that kills the cell but only in the presence of proNGF. proNGF is a precursor to nerve growth fa......ld be based on developing molecules, called orexin receptor agonists, that mimic the effect of orexin and that...o be effective for insomniacs. "Things like orexin receptor agonists might also be applied in the treatment of insomnia, boosting energy and wakefulness during ...