New mechanism links smoking to lung damage
...ls from similar exposures. Treating the cells with silencing RNA for the hemichannel protein also protected cells by preventing the creation of these channels. "It required very little stress to open these channels," Lal said. "Substances found in smoke and other pollutants can alter the electrical potential...Identified mechanism in the malaria parasite to help it adapt to infected individuals
...e confirmed. The researchers discovered that the silencing mechanism happens at the epigenetic level, meaning that the parasite stops expressing a certain gene without changing the underlying genetic information, and that the mechanism is flexible, adaptable and easily reversible. This means that the parasit...Molecule blocks gene, sheds light on liver cancer
...ming cancerous. Researchers know that the abnormal silencing of this tumor-suppressor gene contributes to the development of liver cancer and other malignancies. The findings help explain how liver cancer develops and may identify new drug targets for treating the disease. This particular microRNA might als...Cost-effective method for gene silencing is featured in Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
...describes a cost-effective approach for generating silencing RNAs, called esiRNAs, to efficiently target virtually any gene in mammalian cells. The protocol ( http://www.cshprotocols.org/cgi/content/full/2007/16/pdb.prot4824 ) describes how to enzymatically generate RNA molecules in vitro, using the cloned g...Turn-ons and turn-offs for neurons
...Intriguingly, Hasan and colleagues found that gene silencing in the adult brain can be avoided by making neurons produce high levels of gene-specific activators which facilitate un-silencing of previously silenced genes. These findings have important implications in experimental research that makes use of reve...Nobel scientists Craig Mello and John Mather to speak on origins of life and universe
...ble-stranded RNA can induce sequence-specific gene silencing in animals. Along with researchers around the world, Mello and colleagues went on to show that the underlying mechanism is conserved in numerous other organisms, including humans, and is even essential for human life. ...University of Pittsburgh scientists find new contributor to aggressive cancers
...egrin 7 in two cancer cells lines using siRNAs, or silencing RNAs, both cell lines formed more colonies and grew better than corresponding control cell lines. When we increased levels of normal integrin 7 in cancer cells, they grew at a much slower rate. This suggests that this protein is a fairly potent ...New clues to stroke role in Alzheimer's
... of the GGA3 gene in brain cells, finding that the silencing caused increased levels of BACE and the amyloid proteins. And they found that inducing strokes in rats caused GGA3 to be degraded and BACE levels to increase. Finally, when they analyzed brain tissue from people with AD, they found decreases in GGA...$5M gift will attack Lou Gehrig's disease from all angles
...so hopes to develop another genetic tool, called a silencing RNA sequence, to keep the cells of ALS patients from making mutant proteins involved in the disease....Vitamin extends life in yeast, Dartmouth Medical School researchers find
...wed that that we could improve Sir2-dependent gene silencing with NR and increase the longevity of yeast grown ...f the pathways Brenners team discovered, Sir2 gene silencing is restored, and yeast are rejuvenated. Yeast cells formerly capable of dividing 13 times, divided ...'Insulator' helps silence genes in dormant herpes virus
...lobin locus. To see if insulators play a role in silencing viral genes during the latent phase, Zhou and his group studied cells infected with HSV-1. The studies showed that during a latent period, the virus binds to a host protein called CTCF, a protein known to act as an insulator in mammals and in fruit f...Linking DNA and histone methylation
... lend new insight into the mechanism of epigenetic silencing of euchromatic genes. Dr. Carey emphasizes that...ncing, how these two processes cooperate to induce silencing has remained unresolved. In their upcoming paper, Dr. Carey and colleagues detail that mammalian HP1...News tips from the Journal of Biological Chemistry
...n fully established. The study also showed that by silencing genes that produce one of these proteins, HIV was three times less infectious than when the protein was present. Article: Interaction of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase with Cellular Nuclear Import Receptor Importin 7 and its Impact ...A genetic 'gang of 4' drives spread of breast cancer
...said Massagu. "The remarkable thing was that while silencing these genes individually was effective, silencing the quartet nearly completely eliminated tumor growth and spread." Microscopic analysis of blood ves...Estrogen protects liver after traumatic injury
...n receptor-alpha had no effect on cells, but GPR30 silencing resulted in decreased Bcl-2 and active protein kinase A. By identifying GPR30 and the downstream pathways (Bcl-2 and active protein kinase A) involved in estrogens beneficial effects, Chaudrys group has provided new insights in resolving liver inj...MIT: Pulsing light silences overactive neurons
... ions into the neurons, lowering their voltage and silencing their firing. That inhibitory effect may be extremely useful in dealing with diseases caused by out-of-control neuron firing, said Boyden. "In such diseases, inhibition is more direct than excitation, because you can shut down neural circuits that ...Lack of a protein in lung tumors may increase risk of death
...e two lung cancer subtypes. It also found that the silencing of the Olig1 gene which results in the absence or low levels of its protein product was linked to poor survival in NSCLC patients. The study, led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, is published in the March ...Genetic studies endow mice with new color vision
...tivation occurs only in females and results in the silencing of most of the genes on one of the X-chromosomes in each cell. Because different cells choose to silence either one or the other of the X-chromosomes, female mice engineered to have one copy each of the M and L receptor genes express the M receptor i...Wiley Foundation announces recipients of 6th annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences
...icine for their discovery of RNA interference-gene silencing by double-stranded RNA. Dr. H. Robert Horvitz, a co-recipient of the Wiley Prize in 2002, shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his respective work on how genes regulate organ development and cell death. The presentation of this......ect cells from becoming cancerous, but the gradual silencing of these genes by abnormal methylation is thought to be an early change in cancer development. In addition, the study identified three other genes that were abnormally methylated in both tumor and normal tissues. The study, led by researchers at ...