Effect on breast tumors of DNA alternations in 3 genes described
...ntil now, data has been very limited regarding the mechanism and causes of hypermethylation, especially for hypermethylation in breast cancer. The purpose of the current study was to determine how DNA hypermethylation relates to other characteristics of breast tumors. "It is well known that mutation in genes ...Decoding protein structures helps illuminate cause of diabetes
...oking at their formation," he says. "Somehow that mechanism is causing holes [in pancreas cells], which cause disease." To break down this dynamic process, he adds, "We need tools that not only allow us to probe the molecular structures, but also look at how the structures change in time."Zanni's research g...Brazil demonstrating that reducing tropical deforestation is key win-win global warming solution
...profiled in a recent issue of Science. A policy mechanism is needed that rewards those tropical nations that...provoke high losses of biodiversity. Such a policy mechanism is now under discussion in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Compensated Reductio...Do fruit flies have free will?
...hara said. "The results of our analysis indicate a mechanism which might be common to many other animals and could form the biological foundation for what we experience as free will". Our subjective notion of "Free Will" is an oxymoron: the term 'will' would not apply if our actions were completely random and...Simple equations track Listeria trails
...ce Listeria invades a host cell, it uses the actin mechanism to move from cell to cell, never again exposing it...immune system. A microbe with a deficient movement mechanism is a microbe with less ability to invade neighboring cells....Gene thought to assist chemo may help cancer thrive
...ing chemo patients because it turns on the killing mechanism for the cells that were damaged by chemo. But McDonald points out that p53 can also help repair damaged cells. If p53 is repairing cancer cells, that may lead to cancer recurrence. "We think p53 may actually help some cancer cells make a comeback,...Thale cress goes on the defensive
...clear that even the jasmonic acid dependent immune mechanism of thale cress is attacker-specific....Burroughs Wellcome Fund awards $14M to support physician-scientists
...es, urged the federal government to model an award mechanism based on CABS. In January 2006, the NIH announced its Pathway to Independence awards (K99/R00), of which they would offer 175-200 a year, roughly five times the amount BWF would be able to make. BWF prides itself on supporting underfunded areas of......dentification of this previously unknown molecular mechanism for slowing the heartbeat may offer new avenues of diagnosis, drug design and treatment of many common heart diseases," said Solaro. "Further, now that we know something of how this enzyme works in the pacemaker cell, we may discover it is involved...Baumann Lab defines proteins that distinguish chromosome ends from DNA double-strand breaks
...proteins, we have opened the door to elucidate the mechanism by which RAP1/TRF2 inhibits double-strand break re...It is, therefore, very important to understand the mechanism of chromosome end protection and how and why it fails during tumorigenesis." ...Survival of the rarest: Fruit flies shed light on the evolution of behavior
...sitters. The researchers explored the evolutionary mechanism that favours the persistence of both of these types in nature. Doctoral student Mark Fitzpatrick raised colonies of flies with different ratios of rovers to sitters and different concentrations of nutrients in their food, and assessed their fitness...University of Pittsburgh discovers genetic 'shut down' trigger in healthy immune cells
PITTSBURGH, May 9 -- A fundamental genetic mechanism that shuts down an important gene in healthy immune system cells has been discovered that could one day lead to new therapies against infections, leukemia and other cancers. Results of a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study on the mechan...Gene mutation linked to cognition is found only in humans
.... The study, which also demonstrated the molecular mechanism that creates this novel protein, will be published online in Human Mutation, the official journal of the Human Genome Variation Society. The journal is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/humanmutatio...Researchers at Illinois explore queen bee longevity
... stress than workers. Whether this is the actual mechanism by which queens achieve both fertility and long life remains to be seen, Robinson said. In any event, this study suggests that vitellogenin plays a vital role in queen bee longevity, he said, particularly since the honey bee lacks many antioxidants c...Cancer cells 'reprogram' energy needs to grow and spread, study suggests
... die. Semenza's team uncovered the mitochondrial mechanism in a study of Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome, caused by a single gene mutation and characterized by the tendency to develop tumors in many parts of the body, including the kidney, brain and adrenal glands. Semenza and colleagues measured mitochon...Scientists: As rainfall changes, tropical plants may acclimate
...se, we only studied one group of organisms and one mechanism in this study" and plants depend on many different mechanisms to coexist, some of which may also change with changing rainfall. The scientists researched plant growth at six sites on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, a volcano on the island of Maui. T...Antidepressants stimulate new nerve cells in adult monkeys, may have implications for humans
...on of neurogenesis is a necessary component in the mechanism of action of antidepressant treatments," Perera says....Common genetic variation is linked to substantial risk for heart attack
...ed to heart attack points us to a major biological mechanism that substantially increases the risk," explains Emory cardiologist Arshed A. Quyyumi, MD, one of the study authors. "Discoveries like this one greatly heighten our understanding of the role genetics plays in heart disease."...Einstein's Dr. Vern Schramm elected to the National Academy of Sciences
...trition from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in the mechanism of enzyme action from the Australian National University. He returned to the U.S. for his postdoctoral training, serving as a research associate at the NASA Ames Research Center. He then joined Temple University School of Medicine where he was a memb...Scientists identify new strategy for preventing acute and chronic brain disease
...reakthrough came when the researchers identified a mechanism by which tau reduction could protect the brain. They found that tau reduction protects brain cells against overstimulation, which can interfere with the brain's normal functioning and even cause seizures. Indeed, mice with reduced levels of tau were ...