New genetic tools provide clues to the effects of exercise and diet on obesity, diabetes
...total activity of creatine kinase (CK), which also regulates energy metabolism in skeletal muscle, increased (a significant) 30% in obese women but not in morbidly obese women. "We propose that the increased activities of AK1, CK reflect a compensatory change in energy metabolism to counter a progr...ORNL system eliminates perchlorate, helps scientists trace source
...hlorate, or ClO4-, disrupts the thyroid gland that regulates metabolism in adults and physical development in children and is increasingly being found in soil and water. It is used to make solid rocket propellant and explosives but also occurs naturally, as in nitrate soils from Chile used to make fertilizers,...Are yeast cells bringing us a step closer in treating obesity?
...ly absorbed and metabolized by the cells - it also regulates many cellular reactions. When too much or too little glucose is present in the blood - as in diabetes, for example - this process can break down. The discovery that receptor proteins react to sugars like glucose is very important to the search for tr...Newly discovered protein suggests novel tumorigenic pathway
...t protein that interacts with the PTEN protein and regulates its phosphorylation," said Maehama. The researchers hypothesize that PICT-1 may affect phosphorylation by activating a kinase or inhibiting a phosphatase. The identification of PTEN regulators has been a tremendously difficult problem and this resea...Nitric oxide is essential for animal development
... than a decade. Produced by NO synthases (NOS), it regulates blood pressure, contributes to the immune response, controls neurotransmission, and participates in cell differentiation; in fact, the list of the physiological functions for which NO action is important continues to grow. Nonetheless, it has long re...Singled out: Spotting mutant neurons in normal brains offers clues to Fragile X
...ast several years, that the Fragile X gene product regulates the expression of other proteins. However, the link between this molecular function and the Fragile X brain defect has remained a mystery. Employing a fruit fly model of the disease, the researchers utilized a new technique that allows the generation...Potential new oncogene may be missing link in cancer-causing chain
...nd colon cancer, a key cell signaling pathway that regulates cell growth and development is overactive because a gene coding for a pathway component has mutated," Bu says. Increased signal activity from this pathway can lead to abnormal cell proliferation and ultimately to cancer, but researchers have been un...Yerkes researchers to present array of new data at Society for Neuroscience Meeting
...is research team: determined how cocaine addiction regulates metabotropic glutamate receptors in the nucleus accumbens, a key structure in the brain's reward pathway that mediates cocaine addiction. The data will help researchers further understand the neurochemical changes that underlie addiction and drug abu...UCLA and Univ. of Utah researchers identify how a hormone regulates iron
... of Utah study found how a hormone called hepcidin regulates the iron uptake from the diet and its distribution...loodstream, but didn't know that hepcidin directly regulates this activity." Ganz adds that too much hepcidin present in the body -- which can occur in patients ...Gene linked to enlargement of the factory where proteins are processed
Part of a cellular mechanism that regulates the folding of new proteins into their proper shapes also includes a genetic response that enlarges the factory where both protein folding and packaging of proteins occurs. This finding, from researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Loyo...Gene that blocks free radical damage protects against emphysema
... 2, like 2 (Nrf2) gene, which makes a protein that regulates genes involved in protecting the body from free radical damage. The authors found that cigarette smoke-induced emphysema was of earlier onset and more widespread in the Nrf2/ mice than in their wild-type littermates. The Nrf2/ mice also had a greater...JCI table of contents November 1, 2004
... 2, like 2 (Nrf2) gene, which makes a protein that regulates genes involved in protecting the body from free radical damage. The authors found that cigarette smoke-induced emphysema was of earlier onset and more widespread in the Nrf2/ mice than in their wild-type littermates. The Nrf2/ mice also had a greater...Sleeping, waking, ... and glucose homeostasis
...led the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) regulates this biorhythm. When this area of the hypothalamus is destroyed in animal models, the circadian rhythm is disrupted. Two transcription factors (proteins that regulate gene expression) called Bmal1 and Clock regulate aspects of circadian rhythm, possi...A new target for control of obesity
... Leptin, produced in fat cells, is a hormone that regulates body weight, metabolism, and reproduction. The primary action site for leptin is within the hypothalamus, located in the forebrain. Dr. Feng and his colleagues took the investigation to the next level by looking at the role of Shp-2 in live mice....UO study is first to link histamine receptors to heat stress
...is on a mission to help uncover the mechanism that regulates our ability to withstand heat stress. The goal is to help improve survival rates among those who suffer the most during heat waves: the elderly and people with conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. The award-winning University of Oregon doct...Genetic variant linked to weakened heart pumping
...receptor-alpha (PPAR), a transcription factor that regulates the use of fatty acids within cells. Transcription factors such as PPAR are proteins that switch on other genes. Scientists have studied PPAR extensively because it is fundamental to cellular metabolism. Most of these studies, however, are in the con...By impounding iron, FHC foils cell suicide, fuels inflammation
...wn as programmed cell death, a normal process that regulates cell number but that goes awry in chronic inflammatory disorders, cancer and other diseases. In the 12 Nov. 2004 issue of the journal Cell, the scientists show that a key step in the process of preventing cell suicide is the induction of ferritin h...UCSD researchers find effective treatment for unusual fever syndrom caused by cold exposure
...jects, the investigators determined that cryopyrin regulates the release of interleukin-1 (IL-1), an important mediator of fever and systemic inflammation during the body's initial immune response. After finding increased levels of IL-1 in the skin of the FCAS patients following an experimental cold challenge...Discovery reveals how the body regulates blood oxygen
... University professor, has discovered how the body regulates the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream. The findings, by Professor Paul Kemp of the Cardiff School of Biosciences, and colleagues at both Cardiff and Leeds Universities, will be published in the journal Science later this month. "The discovery cou......the entire genome. When it functions normally, p53 regulates several critical cellular processes, including cell growth and death, DNA repair and angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Studies show that p53 mutation is common, occurring in at least half of all cancer. "The p53 gene is possibly the m...