New findings in innate immunity may lead to treatments for atherosclerosis
...TLRs can sense diverse environmental cues and send signals downstream to a family of interleukin-1 receptor associated kinases (IRAKs). These IRAKs then activate and/or regulate specific cytokine gene expression," explains Dr. Liwu Li of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. However, the specificity...Pain reliever may help treat life-threatening childhood disease
... birthday. Motor neurons nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body rapidly deteriorate in SMA due to reduced levels of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Patients with the disease lack SMN1, a gene that produces SMN protein. For reasons that aren't clear, this p...University of Texas at Austin researchers identify drug-tolerance mechanism in flies
...ostat to control how actively nerve cells transmit signals to other nerve cells. The slo protein serves as a portal, or channel, on the surface of nerve cells that permits potassium to enter the cells in a way that modifies electrical signaling. The researchers think that when a drug causes nerve cells to ...Horwitz Prize to be shared by Tony Hunter, Anthony Pawson
...yrosine phosphorylation. This process of molecular signals within and between cells has led to the developmen...in order to provide an on-off switch for molecular signals within and between cells. For example, many enzymes and receptors are turned "on" or "off" through p...How the brain is wired for faces
...hnique of fMRI, harmless magnetic fields and radio signals are used to measure brain activity as subjects perform tasks. In the fMRI studies, volunteer subjects were asked to discriminate differences between faces in which the parts were spaced differently, as well as differences between faces in which some ...Read your shampoo's label: Study finds common ingredient stunts developing neurons of rats
...ron structures that are essential for transmitting signals between cells, according to a University of Pittsb... the extension from the cell body used for sending signals to other cells, and several dendrites, elaborate projections that receive incoming information. But ...New weapon in germ warfare: 'Jamming' bacteria signals stops cholera
...ch microbes but simply "jam" their ability to send signals to each other. This means as well that their use is far less likely to create the drug-resistance problems that plague current anti-microbial treatments. "This is very exciting as these are the first antimicrobials of their type that have been...Yale and Pfizer launch visiting professorship pilot program
...Maihle and her colleagues have discovered that the signals that cause cancer cells to grow are different from the signals that cause normal cells to grow. These "short circuits" in cancer cells can be used as drug targets ...Draft sequence of chicken genome completed
...ify because their sequences contain characteristic signals that say 'start here' and 'stop here'. Unfortunately ncRNA genes are less straightforward to pick out. This problem is confounded in humans because we have a lot of 'pseudogenes', sequences that evolved from functional genes that were copied and then...Genetic defect confers risk of major depression, resistance to SSRI drug therapy
...ulated, neurons fire, sending a wave of electrical signals from one end to the other. One neuron will trigger an impulse in others by launching bursts of chemical neurotransmitters, including serotonin, that set off an impulse in receiving neurons. Once the original cell has passed its message on, it sops up...Scientists solve the mystery of how Botox attacks nerves and eliminates wrinkles
...Without SNAREs, nerves cannot release the chemical signals that tell muscle cells to contract, and paralysis results. "The botulinum enzyme selectively attacks one of the SNARE proteins and cuts it into two pieces," said Stanford University Professor Axel T. Brunger. "That's sufficient to disrupt its functi...MIT team aims to mend broken hearts
...g technique, the researchers then apply electrical signals designed to mimic those in a native heart. They do...lls into an ultrastructure "that allows electrical signals to pass quickly from cell to cell, and lets them communicate with each other." Work continues. For e...JCI table of contents, December 15 2004
...otocols will require a deeper understanding of the signals that the immune system coordinates in order to respond to pathogenic infection. In the December 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation , Vincenzo Cerundolo and colleagues from the University of Oxford report a vaccination approach in mice...Loss of fruit fly retina protein delays blinding light damage
...age indirectly by measuring loss of the electrical signals normally initiated by rhodopsin when exposed to li...act placed on the surface of the eye. The measured signals get smaller as the flies lose their ability to see. The researchers used the electroretinogram on no...Desires for fatty foods and alcohol share a chemical trigger
...a healthy person, however, there are counteracting signals that break this loop, said Hoebel. In animals given galanin and access to alcohol, the role of the chemical appeared to be subverted: it boosted alcohol intake instead of eating. The effect was especially noticeable during daylight hours, when the......mechanism, which is set off in response to certain signals and which is necessary for the regeneration of tissue and for growth. This stop code is usually set off by chemical messengers, but can also be triggered by damage caused to the cells. Stefanie Dimmeler has studied the fundamental processes of vascul...Where the brain harbors unconscious fears
...hnique of fMRI, harmless magnetic fields and radio signals are used to measure blood flow in brain regions, which reflects brain activity. In their experiments, the researchers first asked the volunteers to fill out a questionnaire that determined their basic level of anxiety. They then told the volunteers o...NYU chemists create DNA translation machine
...anslated to create protein sequences. However, the signals that control the nanomechanical tool are DNA rather than RNA. The dimensions of the machine are approximately 110 x 30 x 2 nm. "The device is a machine to make specific DNA sequences by imitating the ribosome's translational capabilities," said Seema...Potent anticancer drug increases function of axons in mouse model of neurodegeneration
...se neurons to lose their ability to send and carry signals over time. "These are proteins that we all have in...ssing, the tracks break, and transmission of nerve signals fails. In the hopes of restoring the microtubule tracks to their original supportive structure, the ......rest to the researchers is the pattern of cellular signals that triggers the death of pigment stem cells, since melanoma is dangerous for the opposite reason melanocytes proliferate uncontrollably to form tumors and are hard to kill with treatment. "Preventing the graying of hair is not our goal," emphasizes...