Flick of a protein switches immune response
...ends on the combination of "transcription factors" acting on it. Transcription factors help to translate a gene's instructions into actual proteins. FOXP3 and NFAT are two such factors; the human body contains around 3,000. "The work provides a structural demonstration of combinatorial control of gene exp...Seminal RNAi innovation is cleared for patenting in Australia
...re are pending. To date, the Carnegie Institution, acting upon behalf of itself and the University of Massachusetts Medical School under an interinstitutional agreement, has granted approximately 50 non-exclusive licenses to companies using this invention. The patent covers a process by which ribonucleic ...Researchers uncover genetic clues to a common form of age-related dementia
...astating disease," said Dr. Sidransky, who is also acting chief of NHGRI's Medical Genetics Branch. Until recently, most research on GBA focused on Gaucher disease, a rare, inherited metabolic disorder in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance, called glucocerebroside, accumulate in the spleen, li...BACS breathes perception into robots
.... But it is precisely autonomous robots capable of acting in response to a given situation that could be of great use to humans. This is the focus of BACS (Bayesian Approach to Cognitive Systems), an Integrated Project under the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission which has been allocated EUR...Beyond lipids: understanding the mechanics of atherosclerosis
...t that understanding the role of mechanical forces acting on blood vessel cells may help to design better approaches to treatment. "We've known for decades that atherosclerotic lesions develop preferentially at vessel branches rather than along unbranched vessels, but we've not been able to identify the b...Finding about cellular microtubule rigidity could lead to development of new nano-materials
...play an essential role in many cellular processes, acting as girders of support for the cell and tracks along which organelles--structures in cells that perform specialized functions--can move. They are also essential components of flagella and cilia, the extensions of some cells that give them movement. ...New research: Soy germ isoflavones reduce bone loss
...stmenopausal women, with estrogen deficiency often acting as the major cause. Hormone replacement therapy has been the most effective treatment for maintaining bone density. This treatment often has adverse side effects such as an increased risk for endometrial cancer and breast cancer." "It is imperat...NIH selects Pittsburgh institute as leader for HIV/AIDS prevention efforts
... at an alarming rate," said Dr. Nicholas Hellmann, acting director of HIV, TB and reproductive health programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "By accelerating the development of new prevention methods such as microbicides, we have an opportunity to save millions of lives." Dr. Hillier explained ...UCI researcher named Pew Scholar
...nctions in nature, from making flowers colorful to acting as defense mechanisms for microorganisms. Polyketides include many top-selling pharmaceuticals with annual sales of $30 billion. PKSs can produce overnight kilograms of these polyketide drugs, such as antibiotics, essentially turning the bacteria int...Engineering electrically conducting tissue for the heart
...at would grow along with the child. The pacemaker, acting as a backup, would start functioning only if the biological implant failed, prolonging its useful life....Sleepy fruit flies provide clues to learning and memory
...wed that serotonin affects sleep in fruit flies by acting at the site of the adult mushroom bodies. Sehgal's lab reduced the function of three types of serotonin receptors in the brains of fruit flies (5HT1A, 5HT1B, and 5HT2). The reduced 5HT1A receptor activity in the fruit flies led to fragmented and redu...A*STAR and the Australian National University establish immunology research collaboration
...) was signed by Associate Professor Kong-Peng Lam, acting executive director of A*STAR's Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) and Professor Ian Chubb AO, Vice Chancellor, ANU today at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at ANU in Canberra, Australia. The RCA was signed in the presence of Prime ...Connections between neurons act as information filters in the brain
...s of neuronal activity and turn up their strength, acting like a switch." As a result, meaningful patterns are amplified, while stray noise disappears into some sort of "synaptic abyss." Until now, experimental evidence for a filtering function of synapses has been elusive. "Our work is the confirmation th...Researchers identify protein associated with severe preeclampsia
...sized that other placenta-derived proteins must be acting jointly with sFlt1 to induce vascular damage and escalate the disease to its severe form." Using microarray analysis of human placental specimens from patients with preeclampsia, Karumanchi and his coauthors observed that a protein known as endoglin ...Hormone's role in insects could give insight for cancer treatment, malnutrition
...th. "You can almost think of the imaginal discs as acting like tumors," said James Truman, a University of Washington biology professor. "Without juvenile hormone, the discs can form and grow at the expense of the rest of the animal, but in the presence of the hormone their growth is coordinated with that o...Alarming decline in Nepal's rhinos and tigers in former Maoist stronghold
...s are still doing well," said Sybille Klenzendorf, acting director of WWF's Species Conservation Program.......ers in the United States. Additionally, she is the acting director and director of outreach and education of...tute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). As acting director of the Florida Cancer Data System, Florida's incident cancer registry, she works with resea...Survival of the selfless - scientists find cheats don't always prosper
...the long-term winner will always be the individual acting selfishly rather than the one working as part of a group. To test this theory, scientists set up a series of competitions between two strains of yeast. The strains are identical apart from the genes that determine whether they convert energy from res...Research shows how visual stimulation turns up genes to shape the brain
...one gene at a time to looking at families of genes acting together," said first author Marta Majdan, HMS research fellow in neurobiology. These findings suggest that genetic therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, some of which are largely limited to treatment focused on a single gene, will require more e...Environmental tobacco smoke linked to behavior problems in children and pre-teens
...ationship between cotinine levels and increases in acting out; increases in holding things in, often manifested by anxiety and depression; increases in behavior problems as rated by parents, and behavior and school problems as rated by teachers; and, decreases in the ability to adapt to behavior problems. "...