Machinery of the 'marijuana munchies'
...ased body weight consistent with a prior report of elevated endocannabinoids" in such leptin-deficient mice. The researchers concluded that their findings "are consistent with the hypothesis that the integration of endocannabinoid and leptin signaling regulates the excitability of neurons on appetite-related ...Why Christmas trees are not extinct
... both ends of each twig to plastic tubing, used an elevated reservoir's gravity to force water into one end of each twig, and then used an electronic balance to weigh water dripping out the other end. Then, based on the number of conduits and valves in twigs and their known dimensions, the biologists calculat...Researchers discover how a high-fat diet causes type 2 diabetes
...creting beta cells in the pancreas, which leads to elevated blood glucose levels. As the disease progresses, t...nsulin-secreting beta cells overcompensate for the elevated blood glucose, and eventually pump out too much insulin. This leads to insulin resistance and full-b...p53, tumor suppression and aging
...ess less Mdm2 protein than normal mice) which have elevated levels of wild-type p53 activity. The researchers found that even a modest decrease (about 20%) in Mdm2 effectively prevents tumor formation and does not lead to premature aging. Dr. Perry emphasizes that "many people develop cancer at a young age d......tains, where he normally ate trees and shrubs. But elevated carbon isotope ratios from mid-June to mid-August 2001 showed Lewis was eating C4 plants too probably maize during nighttime crop raids. Cerling says it is "important to quantify how much of elephants' diet comes from crops. It's going to help resol...Brain's own cannabis compound protects against inflammation
...lyzed brain tissue from people with MS, they found elevated levels of AEA, compared to healthy tissue. And in studies with mouse brain slices, they found that inducing damage with a brain-cell-exciting chemical, called NMDA, caused an invasion of the brain's immune cells, called microglia, and an increase in ...JCI table of contents: January 12, 2006
...lity. They found that in early life these mice had elevated T3 levels. Later, and into adulthood, the animals has low T3 and T4 levels characteristic of hypothyroidism (deficient thyroid activity). The study, which appears online on January 12 in advance of print publication in the February 2006 issue of the ...Other highlights in the January 18 JNCI
...ston, and colleagues. People with HNPCC are at an elevated risk of several cancers, including colorectal cancer. The new study is the first to show that variants of the IFG1 gene may be associated with the risk of a hereditary form of cancer. Contact: Laura Sussman, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 713-745-245...Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel switch between sugar and fat
...y something in the blood. Another lab test showed elevated levels of 5'-AMP in the blood of mice exposed to constant darkness compared to those kept in the regular light-dark cycle. To confirm the connection, the team injected 5'-AMP into mice exposed to a regular light-dark cycle. Three to four hours after...Hi ho silver! FSU physicist helps discover an atomic oddity
... Tabor said. Not all of Tabor's work is on such an elevated plane. At FSU he also serves as coordinator of "The Flying Circus of Physics," an open house and science fair hosted every other year by the physics department to showcase some of the department's cutting-edge research facilities. "'The Flying Circus...Source of crucial immune cell in the skin discovered
...omplications. "It is known that Csf-1 levels are elevated in patients with Langerhans histocytosis," said Dr. Merad. "Our findings indicated that finding ways to lower Csf-1 levels may produce new therapeutics for these patients."...Hot-spring bacteria flip a metabolic switch
...ed that the single-celled cyanobacteria growing at elevated temperatures were specialized for photosynthesis, but it looks like they have a more complicated metabolism than we initially suspected." All cells require nitrogen for making proteins and nucleic acids, but N2 gas from the atmosphere cannot be direc...Other highlights in the February 1 JNCI
...osis with Hodgkin lymphoma, although risk remained elevated after that time period. They observed a greater excess of AML in patients treated at age 35 or older compared with those treated at younger ages. The excess for AML declined substantially after 1984. The authors suggest that modifications in chemothe...JCI table of contents, February 1, 2006
...ide new insights for type 2 diabetes, in which the elevated levels of liver gluconeogenesis result from the failure of this organ to respond to insulin. In fact, hepatic insulin resistance is an important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, suggesting that the "direct" route to controlling HGP...2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting: Press Conference Schedule
... have found a synergistic effect between light and elevated carbon dioxide that can have biocidal effects to marine phytoplankton. The effect appears to be due to carbon dioxide itself, not to increased ocean acidification. Phyllis Stabeno, Oceanographer, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Wash...Removing DNA repair gene causes metabolic syndrome
...ers, insulin levels four times higher than normal, elevated levels of fat cell byproducts, and many internal organs almost entirely encased in thick pads of fatty tissue. The results are the first to link DNA repair with the metabolic syndrome, and they suggest an important role for the NEIL1 gene product in ...Red grapefruit appears to lower cholesterol, fight heart disease
...y blood triglycerides, a type of cholesterol whose elevated levels are often associated with heart problems, the researchers say. It is likely that antioxidants in the grapefruits are responsible for their health benefits, says Gorinstein, adding that the red variety generally has higher antioxidants than the...A clue to core problem of neurodegenerative disease and cell death
... at normal temperature but when the temperature is elevated the mutation is expressed. When the researchers introduced the toxic polyglutamine protein, the environment of the cell completely changed. In the case of each of the seven proteins, the presence of the expanded polyglutamine caused each mutation t......adherin. Interestingly, the researchers also found elevated levels of cathepsins B and L in some human pancreatic tumor samples. Dr. Joyce explains that "Using the powerful approach of mouse genetics, we have been able to identify distinct, stage-specific roles for members of the cysteine cathepsin family. T...... lacking miR-278 have reduced insulin sensitivity, elevated circulating blood glucose levels and are markedly lean. Drs. Teleman and Cohen determined that miR-278 functions normally to regulate insulin sensitivity through modulation of the expanded transcript. Dr. Cohen notes that "In view of the large numbe...