Navigation Links
Attacks of King George III's madness linked to key metabolism molecule

PGC-1 mediates effects of nutrition on blood disease porphyria

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers say they have uncovered a molecular explanation for the episodic attacks of irrational and demented behavior in porphyria, the disease believed to have afflicted "Mad" King George III, the British ruler blamed for the loss of the American colonies in the Revolutionary War.

The mental and physical symptoms of porphyria, a rare genetic blood disease which a number of modern researchers believe plagued King George intermittently throughout his tumultuous reign, can be brought on by fasting and exposure to certain drugs, and is successfully treated by feedings of sugar and high-carbohydrate food. A biological explanation for these nutritional effects has been lacking.

The Dana-Farber scientists say in a report featured on the cover of the August 26 issue of Cell that the nutritional component of porphyria involves a key master metabolic molecule, PGC-1 alpha, in cells of the liver. The gene that makes PGC-1 alpha was isolated in 1998 in the laboratory of Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, who is senior author of the new report. Postdoctoral fellow Christopher Handschin, PhD, is lead author.

"We've explained how porphyria symptoms can occur in episodic attacks triggered by fasting, and why they can be treated by feeding carbohydrates and glucose," says Spiegelman.

King George III suffered from five prolonged, severe episodes of madness during his rule from 1760 to 1820, a period in which he both expanded the British Empire and so stubbornly refused to negotiate with the rebellious American Colonists that they felt only a revolution against England could resolve their grievances. The symptoms recorded at the time sound to modern diagnosticians as typical of porphyria, though the King's attacks were unusual in their severity and that they didn't appear until he was 50.

Several types of porphyria exist, all of them stemming from inher
'"/>

Source:Dana-Farber Cancer Institute


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Stem Cell Research Shows Potential for Replacing Tissue Damaged in Heart Attacks
2. Newly discovered virus linked to childhood lung disorders and Kawasaki disease
3. Low level of extinction during ice age linked to adaptability
4. Improved statistical tools reveal many linked loci
5. Scientists at Galileo Pharmaceuticals confirm inflammatory response linked to glucose levels
6. Gene controlling circadian rhythms linked to drug addiction
7. Physical and functional interaction of key cell growth molecules linked to cancer
8. VCU Massey Cancer Center study shows enzyme linked to spread of breast cancer cells
9. Naturally occurring asbestos linked to lung cancer
10. Disappearing arctic lakes linked to climate change
11. Genes linked to treatment resistance in children with leukemia
Post Your Comments:
(Date:8/20/2008)...rk Capital Leads Round with Additional Funding by ...isting Investors Including Lockheed Martin, GE ... YORK, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Clear(R), the fast ...on in venture funding. Led by new investor,Spark C... Syncom Venture,Partners, and existing investors L...
(Date:8/20/2008)...ugust 20, 2008) Today, the U.S. Environmental Prot...llion grant to the University of Kentucky (UK) to ...les affect their ability to enter the brain. This...AR) grant ever awarded to the University of Kentuc...d by EPA STAR for nanotechnology research. , "N...
(Date:8/20/2008)...EN tumor suppressor gene controls numerous biologi...rowth and death. But PTEN is frequently lost or mu...n among various types of human cancer that PTEN ha... tumor suppressors. , Now, a study led by resear...MC) and Harvard Medical School provides important...
(Date:8/20/2008)...an Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the ... more than $20 million in grants to develop innova...ient enough to sequence a person,s DNA as a routin... "The ability to comprehensively sequence any per... usher in an age of personalized medicine where he...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Clear(R) Secures $44.4 Million in Venture Funding 2Clear(R) Secures $44.4 Million in Venture Funding 3$2M grant awarded to University of Kentucky for research on nanoparticles and human health 2New insights into the regulation of PTEN tumor suppression function 2NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 2NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 3NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 4NHGRI seeks DNA sequencing technologies fit for routine laboratory and medical use 5CHICOS and the American Heart Association Give this Holiday Season 6929 1Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 1Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 2Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 3Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 4Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 5Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 6Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 7Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 8Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 9Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 10Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 11Streamline Health Solutions Inc Reports Third Quarter Results 6927 12Millennium Biotechnologies Inc Launches SURGEX 28TM 29 the First Scientifically Validated Sports Nutritional Product Created from the Medical Market 1952 1Millennium Biotechnologies Inc Launches SURGEX 28TM 29 the First Scientifically Validated Sports Nutritional Product Created from the Medical Market 1952 2Millennium Biotechnologies Inc Launches SURGEX 28TM 29 the First Scientifically Validated Sports Nutritional Product Created from the Medical Market 1952 3Millennium Biotechnologies Inc Launches SURGEX 28TM 29 the First Scientifically Validated Sports Nutritional Product Created from the Medical Market 1952 4Pharmacopeia To Present at BMO Capital Markets Seventh Annual Focus on Healthcare Conference 1950 1Pharmacopeia To Present at BMO Capital Markets Seventh Annual Focus on Healthcare Conference 1950 2Pharmacopeia To Present at BMO Capital Markets Seventh Annual Focus on Healthcare Conference 1950 3
... may reduce female fertility by directly affecting... the chances the embryo will implant, according to...in Europe,s leading reproductive medicine journal ... fertility experts in Portugal and Spain, comes as... non-heavy smokers and heavy smokers, all of whom ...
...ailed experiment turned out to be anything but for...zling out why what should have been a routine proc...to the creation of a new biological tool for destr...r to trigger antibiotic resistance. , The discov...technology firm that has already brought Wisconsin...
...y thought that animals can be arranged along a lad...urae—with humans inevitably at the top, followed b...own to fish and other slimy creatures. Over the pa...ms of high intelligence and great social complexit...tablish hierarchies in which dominant females supp...
...member this morning where I put my car keys last n...ntists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Res...mories might be consolidated. Their new study offe...on is transferred between the hippocampus, the sho...g sleep. According to their findings and contrary ...
Other Biology News:Heavy smoking cuts women's chance of pregnancy -- even with donated oocytes 2Heavy smoking cuts women's chance of pregnancy -- even with donated oocytes 3'Failed' experiment yields a biocontrol agent that doesn't trigger antibiotic resistance 2'Failed' experiment yields a biocontrol agent that doesn't trigger antibiotic resistance 3Fishy cooperation 2Learning during sleep? 2
(Date:8/21/2008)... NEW YORK, MUNICH, Germany and AMSTERDAM, Neth...thcare and SpePharm Holding, B.V., the,pan-Europea...d that they,have entered into a euro 10 million re...fund SpePharm,s acquisition of Dantrium(R) for Eur...le Pharmaceuticals. At the same,time, TVM Capital,...
(Date:8/20/2008)... VIENNA, Va., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ...0 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies...T) services provider,MicroTech, ranks No. 285 on ... 2008 Inc. 500 list measures revenue growth from 2...U.S.-based, privately held, independent -,no subsi...
(Date:8/20/2008)... INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-First... announced that it has completed the acquisition,o...n Diego-based,biotechnology company focused on dru...y. The completion of the deal followed today,s Spe...SGX stockholders voted in,favor of the merger agre...
(Date:8/20/2008)... Growth Fueled by Popularity with Seniors and ... Marketing, CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 20 /PRNewswi...hole Health (SWH), a voluntary health care plan fo...ng private company in the,United States., Part of...rowing,companies, SWH had revenue growth of 31,000...
Breaking Biology Technology:TVM Capital, Signet Healthcare Partners and Paul Capital Healthcare Enter into euro 26 Million Financing of SpePharm 2TVM Capital, Signet Healthcare Partners and Paul Capital Healthcare Enter into euro 26 Million Financing of SpePharm 3TVM Capital, Signet Healthcare Partners and Paul Capital Healthcare Enter into euro 26 Million Financing of SpePharm 4TVM Capital, Signet Healthcare Partners and Paul Capital Healthcare Enter into euro 26 Million Financing of SpePharm 5MicroTech Ranks No. 285 on Inc. Magazine's 2008 List of the 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America 2Lilly Announces Completion of SGX Acquisition 2Inc. Magazine Names Senior Whole Health the Number One Fastest-Growing Private Company in US 2Inc. Magazine Names Senior Whole Health the Number One Fastest-Growing Private Company in US 3
...orp . will pay Third Wave Technologies $10.75 mi...t of their patent dispute, and they have agreed to...tration or licensing. , ,The case, which was litig...ct of Wisconsin in September 2005 and appealed to ...two companies that develop molecular diagnostic pr...
...ical , a Georgia-based maker of neural stem cell k... it can raise sufficient amounts of angel capital,...un out of the University of Georgia in Athens in...tate of Wisconsin and from Wisconsin Investment P..., but it will need more backing from angel investo...
... at the well-attended BICSI Conference . While I ...s data centers to get a first-hand view of its se...doing some online research, and I figured I would ...nd write another article because data centers ha...enters have become very important in the last coup...
...ing expenses offset strong quarterly revenue as S... media communications technology, reported a net l...irst quarter of fiscal year 2007. , ,The quarterl...n or 5 cents per share net loss in the same quarte...seasonally slow period, even though it reported re...
Other Biology Technology:Wisconsin tries to woo another stem cell company 2Wisconsin tries to woo another stem cell company 3Data centers: Blowing smoke and raising red flags 2Data centers: Blowing smoke and raising red flags 3Data centers: Blowing smoke and raising red flags 4Data centers: Blowing smoke and raising red flags 5Data centers: Blowing smoke and raising red flags 6
DUALmembrane starter package from Dualsystems Biotech AG
Human/Mouse/Rat p38 alpha Affinity Purified PAb
sterile filtered, off the clot, all male donors, Total Protein: 4.5 to 8.5 g/dl
Human alpha-1-antitrypsin. No cross-reactivity with alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, serum albumin or other serum proteins.
Biology Products: