Researchers develop new strategy for the treatment of CML
...ival protein known as ERK1/2 (extracellular-signal regulating kinase1/2). The article was pre-published as a First Edition Paper in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, which appeared online Jan. 11. By blocking this pathway, PD184352 reduces the survival and proliferation in numerous tum...Lead with a poisonous electron shield
...alcium-binding protein, plays an important role in regulating and transporting the calcium cation in the human body. A calcium ion binds to seven ligands at the active centers of the enzyme. If one of the four possible calcium ions of calmodulin is replaced by lead, the lead ion remains roughly heptacoordinated...U of MN adult stem cell research shows promise for transplant therapies
...e cells contract, often without conscious control, regulating body functions such as blood pressure and movement of food through the digestive system. "While previous research has demonstrated that various types of stem cells can turn into cells that express the proteins consistent with smooth muscle, this is ...Dual enzymatic activity of RECQ1 explained by different quaternary structures
...omplexes. By providing insight into the mechanisms regulating RecQ helicase activity, this study opens a new window into a fundamental aspect of DNA metabolism....Prenatal cocaine's lasting cellular effects
...d said. "We know that this receptor is involved in regulating the formation of cortical circuitry. It's also involved in the behavioral effects of amphetamines and cocaine." "The current study was an attempt to look at the mechanism of this decrease in D1 receptor signaling," he said. Stanwood examined th...Tumor-suppressor gene is critical for placenta development
...b gene, the Rb protein, plays an important role in regulating how cells grow. But exactly how it does this the molecule interacts with 110 other proteins remains unknown. In 2003, Leone and a group of collaborators discovered that loss of the Rb gene caused abnormalities in the placenta, especially where it...How appetite-stimulating brain cells work overtime during fasting
...said. In adults, the thyroid gland is essential to regulating metabolism. Previous studies had also established a key physiological role for the active thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3), in the regulation of body temperature by heat-generating brown fat. The molecular underpinning of heat production, or ...Bisexual fruit flies show new role for neurochemical
...t this background noise plays an important part in regulating information transfer." Featherstone and his lab team found that glia cells are the source of the excess ambient glutamate. Along with neurons, these poorly understood "support" cells fill the brain. The team discovered proteins in fruit fly glia ce...Sex ends as seasons shift and kisspeptin levels plummet
...isspeptin in a critical brain region important for regulating reproduction and sex behavior compared to hamsters in simulated summer conditions. Winter hamsters, however, were just as responsive to kisspeptin, elevating a key hormone -- luteinizing hormone -- as much as hamsters in simulated summers. This fi...Molecular 'on/off switch' controls immune defenses against viruses
...ction between RIG-I and LGP2 is vital for properly regulating immunity, but viruses such as hepatitis C can disrupt the normal process to shut down immune defenses early, the research team found. "This knowledge will help us design drugs that mimic the viral effects on these proteins to either activate a hos...A simple feedback resistor switch keeps latent HIV from awakening
... a molecular switch, making it a likely target for regulating latency. In some kinds of molecular switches, the conversion between on and off states is regulated by self-oligomerization, or binding to several other identical molecules. The shape changes induced by binding or unbinding drive the complex into two...Genetic mechanism helps explain chronic pain disorders
...to alterations in the amount of enzyme crucial for regulating pain processing. The discovery is published in the Dec. 22 issue of Science. "TMJD is a complex pain condition that is frequently associated with other pain conditions such as fibromyalgia syndrome, chronic headaches and irritable bowel syndrome," ...JCI table of contents: Dec. 21, 2006
...f its cells through a complex system that includes regulating how much food we eat, how much of the digested food we absorb, how much of the digested food we store away, and how much of our energy store we release for use. If this balance is upset, individuals can become obese and develop type 2 diabetes. Two h...Experience sculpts brain circuitry to build resiliency to stress
...chniques. Increased secretion of serotonin (a mood regulating chemical) and gene expression in the alarm center, as well as the depression-like behavioral changes, no longer occurred following an uncontrollable stressor, if a controllable stressor had been experienced as much as a week earlier. When the pre...Scientists develop method to find genetic basis for plant variation
...ek out genetic differences that may play a role in regulating sodium levels. Salt found that the costal populations had a different version of the gene called AtHKT1, which previous studies have shown helps govern the process in which sodium is prevented from rising out of the plant's roots. Further experi...Structure of iron regulatory protein-RNA complex solved
...ucture and properties of a protein responsible for regulating the transport, storage and use of iron -- as it bi...ng heart disease, arthritis and cancer. The iron regulating protein, called IRP1, has two structural forms, each with important functions within the cell. Whe...High levels of vitamin D in the body may decrease the risk of multiple sclerosis
...evidence supporting the importance of vitamin D in regulating the immune system and suppressing autoimmune reactions, which are thought by most experts to play a key role in the development of MS," said Ascherio. Kassandra Munger, first author and a doctoral candidate in nutrition at HSPH, added, "The amount of...CU study reveals pros and cons of therapy for lead exposure
...ses attention deficits, delinquency and difficulty regulating emotions and can lower IQ scores at a rate of about one IQ point per microgram/deciliter of exposure. The study used rats -- whose mental and behavioral responses to lead exposure are similar to humans' -- and exposed them to moderate- and high-lead ...From managing sugar to managing healing
Insulin is a hormone known primarily for regulating sugar levels in the blood, yet researchers at the University of California, Riverside, recently found that applying insulin directly to skin wounds significantly enhanced the healing process. Skin wounds in rats treated topically with insulin heale......lating the genes encoding proteins responsible for regulating gene transcription and, in turn, controlling the repertoire of genes expressed in a particular cell. These types of transcription factors bind to DNA and turn genes on or off, essentially controlling what traits a cell expresses. The traditional wa...