Carnegie Mellon researchers discover new cell properties
...f the human body contains the DNA genome, which is wrapped with a stiff protein shell called the nuclear lamina. Children with HGPS have a mutation in one of the proteins of the lamina shell. For years, experts have thought this mutation made their nuclei much softer and more likely to be ruptured when cells...Cell survival depends on chromosome integrity
...kaged into chromosomes. Chromosomes consist of DNA wrapped around a scaffold-like structure made of proteins called histones. Each time a cell divides into two, all of this DNA must be copied exactly and repackaged properly with histones to form chromosomes in the new cell. During the copying process, new...Molecular DNA switch found to be the same for all life
...While our studies have not yet shown the initiator wrapped around the DNA, the structural similarity to the DnaA initiator found in the E.coli study suggests that there are likely to be strong mechanistic commonalities in the ways that initiators engage and remodel replication origins, as well as in how they...Study establishes safety of spinal cord stem cell transplantation
...o the appropriate sites within the spinal cord and wrapped around the damaged neurons, forming new myelin tissue. By contrast, the rats who were only mildly impaired showed no increase or decrease in myelin generation, and no change in their walking ability after transplantation. According to Keirstead, t...Scientists discover a genetic code for organizing DNA within the nucleus
...he cell's day to day function, since access to DNA wrapped in a nucleosome is blocked for many proteins, including those responsible for some of life's most basic processes. Among these barred proteins are factors that initiate DNA replication, transcription (the transfer of genetic information from DNA to R...Johns Hopkins researchers find link between cell's energy use and genome health
...ntains genes, and proteins around which the DNA is wrapped for storage and support. In addition to being u...CoA also is used in controlling how tightly DNA is wrapped in the chromosomes. More acetyl on chromosomes leads to looser wrapped DNA. And locations along chro...Researcher gives hard thoughts on soft inheritance
...on studied in epigenetics is DNA packaging. DNA is wrapped around proteins similar to the way that thread is wrapped around a spool. Loosely wrapped DNA is more readily accessible and therefore more easily expressed t...Surprise finding for stretched DNA
...hed. The model consists of an elastic rod that is wrapped around its outer surface by a stiff wire, analogous to DNA's sugar-phosphate backbone. The elastic rod is constructed from a material that conserves volume under stress. "As this system is stretched, the elastic rod decreases in diameter," said Bu...Learning global solutions to local problems
...try and people face, while engaging in the loosely wrapped theme of diabetes and obesity. These are important concerns in Mexico because 24 percent of the population is overweight or obese and about six percent have diabetes. Each scientist brought their own perspective and area of expertise to the problems...Key to zebrafish heart regeneration uncovered
... that forms over the blastema. The entire heart is wrapped in a membrane known as the epicardium. By the third day after injury, the epicardial cells begin to cover the injury site, a process that takes approximately two weeks. The precursor cells within the blastema begin to differentiate into cardiac mus...Movies reveal that the process of insulating nerves is surprisingly dynamic
...rtions of several different axons and each axon is wrapped by a large number of oligodentrocytes. Before the Vanderbilt study, there were a number of different theories about how OPCs space themselves along axons. One was that the axons themselves produce some kind of positional cues that the OPCs follow. ...Stretch a DNA loop, turn off proteins
It may look like mistletoe wrapped around a flexible candy cane. But this molecular model shows how some proteins form loops in DNA when they chemically attach, or bind, at separate sites to the double-helical molecule that carries lifes genetic blueprint. Biologists have discovered...A chilling solution: Measuring below-ground carbon without destroying trees
...er the technique would give accurate results. They wrapped each tree in 30 coils of copper tubing, then circulated anti-freeze cooled to less than 35 degrees Fahrenheit through the tubing, measuring carbon dioxide efflux from the soil to determine if carbon movement was reduced The researchers hypothesized t...First molecular simulation of a long DNA strand shows unexpected flexibility
...d into nucleosomes lengths of 147 base pairs each wrapped around eight special proteins. A nucleosome looks kind of like the lumpy beginning of a rubber-band ball. Or maybe more like a lumpy worm coil. Uncoiled, the worm wiggles, flexes, and even kinks, according to a simulation performed on System X. As ...Cellular cues identified for stroke recovery
...he stroke area. Once there, these immature neurons wrapped themselves around the immature vascular cells that were in the process of forming new blood vessels in the damaged area. The neurons were found to arrive at the site within the first two to four weeks after the stroke. Further, the researchers found...Scientists map key landmarks in human genome
...ing units for DNA. They consist of a length of DNA wrapped around a core, like ribbon around a spool that is made up of proteins called histones, and the nucleosomes are located along the chromosomes like beads on a string. Nucleosomes have multiple functions, including allowing several feet of DNA to be p...Beyond the DNA: Chemical signatures reveal genetic switches in the genome
...ach cell by chromatin, a structure composed of DNA wrapped around proteins called histones," explains lead author Nathaniel Heintzman, from LICR and the UCSD Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. "We used genome-scale approaches to analyze the chromatin architecture in human cells and discovered distinct sig...DNA ends: Common tool, different job
...replicates its DNA, the resulting single strand is wrapped up by a dedicated protein complex. In eukaryotes or organisms whose cells have a nucleus, this job is handled by a tripartite complex called replication protein A (RPA). Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have now unearthed a no...Could estriol be the elixir for MS?
...called myelin, can be thought of as the insulation wrapped around an electrical wire. When the myelin is damaged, the nerve's ability to send signals to and from the brain is interfered with, resulting in symptoms common to MS, including problems with balance, memory, vision loss and more. Currently, anti-......A molecule and which DNA building blocks they have wrapped up under their tight control," Pugh said. Among those building blocks, Pugh and his colleagues revealed the architecture of a critical gateway, controlled by the nucleosome, which must be unlocked before a gene can be transcribed. The study reveal...