Cells use import machinery to export their goods as well

... for instance, are mobilized by a flood of calcium to spill their haul, signaling nearby cells. By adjusting the levels of calcium inside the cell, the researchers definitively found that calcium did not affect constitutive exocytosis of ...

Enzyme doesn't act alone in atrial fibrillation

... 17, 2009) An overactive enzyme is behind a leaky calcium channel that plays a role in the development of ... by waves of calcium. When the heart relaxes, the calcium is stored; when the heart contracts, it is ... cardiology at BCM. "In atrial fibrillation, the calcium is released too early. As it leaks out, the heart ...

Protein regulates movement of mitochondria in brain cells

... example is the role that mitochondria play as a calcium buffer. One of the mitochondria's functions is to help control the concentration of calcium in the cell, which the organelles can rapidly ... is important, particularly in instances when calcium levels in the cell spike during a stroke, a ...

Shellfish face an uncertain future in a high CO2 world

... For shellfish and other organisms that have calcium carbonate shells and structures, the problem ... shells made of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate that is prone to erosion at low pH. ... but generate calcite, a more durable form of calcium carbonate. In Miller's study, the larvae of ...

Purdue study finds dairy better for bones than calcium carbonate

... study shows dairy has an advantage over calcium carbonate in promoting bone growth and strength. ... and stronger than those of rats fed a diet with calcium carbonate. calcium carbonate is the most common form ...

Researchers discover that gene switches on during development of epilepsy

... to the condition. The gene codes a calcium channel in the brain that underlies seizures, so ... study shows that an important change occurs in calcium channels that help to transmit this abnormal activity throughout the brain." calcium channels come in a variety of forms throughout ...

Mollusks taste memories to build shells

... edge of the growing shell, senses or "tastes" the calcium carbonate layer laid down the day before in order ... the mantle with the secretory cells that produce calcium carbonate and proteins many of them colored ... into the growing shell. Different rates of calcium carbonate secretion determine the shape of the ...

Targeted drug therapy prevents exercise-induced arrhythmias

... beta blockers, often used at very high doses, and calcium channel blockers to control the arrhythmias. ... arrhythmias at the cellular level by allowing calcium to "leak" out of its storage containers inside ... flecainide blocked the ryanodine receptor and the calcium "leak" (the underlying molecular defect in CPVT), ...

Diabetics on high-fiber diets might need extra calcium, report UT Southwestern researchers

... DALLAS March 24, 2009 The amount of calcium your body absorbs might depend, in part, on the ... diabetes (type 2) excreted less calcium through their urine when they consumed 50 grams ... than when they ate 24 grams a day. Excreting less calcium indicates that they absorbed less of the mineral. ...

A diet rich in calcium aids weight loss

... Qubec City, March 12, 2009 Boosting calcium consumption spurs weight loss, according to a ... of Nutrition , but only in people whose diets are calcium deficient. Angelo Tremblay and his team at ... consumed on average less than 600 mg of calcium per day, whereas recommended daily intake is 1000 ...

Many middle-aged and older Americans not getting adequate nutrition

... be older, women, Caucasian and college-educated. calcium and vitamin C supplements were most common. ... have the lowest dietary intakes, particularly in calcium where both Chinese and African Americans had significantly lower dietary intakes of calcium than Caucasians and Hispanics. The study also ...

Cells with double vision

... which visualizes changes in the concentrations of calcium within the cells. The calcium concentration in many kinds of nerve cells, ... when the cell becomes active. Changes in the calcium level therefore reveal when and where a nerve ...

While focusing on heart disease, researchers discover new tactic against fatal muscular dystrophy

... cardiac muscle in heart failure. The leak lets calcium slowly seep into the skeletal muscle cells, which are damaged from the excess calcium in Duchenne. In people with chronic heart failure, a similar calcium leak continuously weakens the force produced by ...

A crystal clear view of chalk formation

... researchers investigated the crystallization of calcium carbonate, known commonly as chalk, and found ... form in water with a small quantity of dissolved calcium carbonate - not how it was assumed to happen in ... unknown fact that the structure of crystallized calcium carbonate depends on the alkalinity of the ...

Studies point to novel target for treating arrhythmias

... and his colleagues have focused on the role of calcium inside heart muscle cells. calcium is central to the contractile cycle. After it is ... contractile apparatus. The interaction of calcium with troponins regulates myofilament activation ...

Fishdunnit! Mystery solved

... contribute a significant fraction of the oceans' calcium carbonate production, which affects the delicate ... estimate of three to 15 percent of marine calcium carbonate being produced by fish, but the ... Until now, scientists believed that the oceans' calcium carbonate, which dissolves in deep waters making ...

Fish guts explain marine carbon cycle mystery

... now, scientists have believed that the oceans' calcium carbonate, which dissolves to make seawater ... estimates that three to 15 per cent of marine calcium carbonate is in fact produced by fish in their ... rising CO2 will cause fish to produce even more calcium carbonate. To reach these results, the team ...

UBC researcher gives first-ever estimate of worldwide fish biomass and impact on climate change

... team discovered that fish do this by binding the calcium to bicarbonate, and then excreting it as pellets of calcium carbonate, a chalk-like substance also known as ... www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/download. As the calcium carbonate from these pellets dissolves, it turns ...

DREAM: 1 gene regulates pain, learning and memory

... that the devastating condition may be related to calcium regulation gone awry. The accumulation of amyloid ... rather than the culprit for the disease. And calcium regulation is also responsible for tuning the activity of the DREAM-gene. calcium homeostasis may thus be the link between pain ...

Ocean acidification could have broad effects on marine ecosystems

... organisms that build shells and skeletons out of calcium carbonate. Scientists fear that acidification will slow the growth of these organisms and cause calcium carbonate structures to dissolve. Potts agrees ... of organisms to build and maintain structures of calcium carbonate. Many phytoplankton--microscopic ...

Rare disease provides clues about enzyme role in arrhythmias

... study helps uncover the enzyme's interplay with calcium channels, which provide the main way for calcium to enter heart cells. calcium is needed to trigger each heartbeat and to help ...

Calcium and vitamin D may not be the only protection against bone loss

... an excess of acid in the body which may increase calcium excretion and weaken bones, according to a new ... comes to dietary concerns regarding bone health, calcium and vitamin D have received the most attention, ... had a favorable effect on bone resorption and calcium excretion. This suggests that increasing the ...

Queen's University biologists find new environmental threat in North American lakes

... biological damage caused by declining levels of calcium in many temperate, soft-water lakes. Calling ... Jeziorski, lead author of the study, notes that calcium is an essential nutrient for many lake-dwelling organisms. "Once calcium declines below a certain threshold, some keystone ...

'Deranged calcium signaling' contributes to neurological disorder, UT Southwestern researchers find

... DALLAS Nov. 25, 2008 Defective calcium metabolism in nerve cells may play a major role ... researchers previously had found that calcium flow within nerve cells is disrupted in ... in Huntington's, involves the same "deranged calcium signaling," researchers said. Both SCA3 and ...

Bacterial biofilms as fossil makers

... the bacteria likely excrete tiny crystals of calcium phosphate (CaPO 4 ), which eventually replace the ... our experiments, we observed bacteria depositing calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), but not calcium phosphate. We'll need to simulate different ...

Cold water corals conference to be held in Woods Hole

... unique archive of ocean climate history in their calcium carbonate skeletons. "We are able to use the ... in deep-water temperature and chemistry. They use calcium carbonate to create their stony skeletons. The ... it more acidic and more difficult to precipitate calcium carbonate skeletons. This threat is doubled for ...

Majority of osteoporosis patients not receiving calcium and vitamin D with treatment

... with osteoporosis are claiming to take both calcium and vitamin D supplementation with their ... treatment (such as a bisphosphonate) with calcium and vitamin D supplementation, yet the majority ... this approach. "Patients with a low intake of calcium and vitamin D may not be receiving the full ...

Exploding chromosomes fuel research about evolution of genetic storage

... chromosomes explode upon the removal of calcium and magnesium cations. Levi-Setti has produced ... These images verify that cations, mainly of calcium and magnesium, neutralize DNA's enormous negative ... structure. "Chromosomes would fall apart when calcium and magnesium were removed," Levi-Setti said. ...

Measuring calcium in serpentine soils

... soils requires accurate measurement of the calcium they hold. Research published this month in the ... techniques are needed to accurately measure calcium content in serpentine soils. To make these ... crop yield. Accurate measurement of the available calcium in serpentine soils is vital to determining the ...

Largest study of its kind implicates gene abnormalities in bipolar disorder

... machinery involved in the balance of sodium and calcium in brain cells. Researchers supported in part by ... reduces expression of ANK3. Variation in a calcium channel gene found in the brain showed the second ... similarly regulates the influx and outflow of calcium and is the site of interaction for a hypertension ...

Like eavesdropping at a party

... Cells rely on calcium as a universal means of communication. For example, a sudden rush of calcium can trigger nerve cells to convey thoughts in the ... appropriately sense and respond to the variety of calcium fluctuations within cells. Reporting in the ...

Study of marine snail leads to new insights into long-term memory

... postsynaptic neuron, it causes an elevation of calcium within the postsynaptic neuron, and somehow this elevation of postsynaptic calcium causes synthesis of presynaptic proteins. In ... the signals that are activated by postsynaptic calcium that travel across the synapse or somehow affect ...

Prevent a bone break, drink milk to boost calcium

... Boosting calcium intake by drinking milk could reduce healthy ... men and women supplemented with 1,200 mg of calcium per day the amount in four glasses of milk ... was given a placebo, while the other took a daily calcium supplement containing 1,200mg ...

Jefferson receives $11.6M NIH grant to study novel mechanisms of heart failure

... of Medicine, will investigate how the influx of calcium ions can potentially damage the heart or aid in its regeneration, depending on the calcium channels involved. Previous data indicates that an influx of calcium through one type (L) of channel can increase ...

Advertisements saying dairy products help you lose weight are misleading

... Nutrition Reviews reveals that neither dairy nor calcium intake promotes weight loss. Amy Joy Lanou of ... assessed the effect of milk, dairy products, or calcium intake on body weight and BMI, with or without ... the trials showed that neither dairy products nor calcium supplements helped people lose weight. Of the 49 ...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and redox signaling in atrial tachyarrhythmia

... II type 1 receptor, inhibition of L-type calcium channels, inhibition of NADPH oxidase, ... Atrial ischemia produces an increase in cellular calcium load and oxidative stress in the atria. Thereby, ... Recent experimental and clinical data showed that calcium channel blockers have a specific efficacy to ...

Vitamin D and calcium influence cell death in the colon, researchers find

... study of 92 patients, supplementing diet with calcium and vitamin D appeared to increase the levels of ... 464). Previous studies have shown that calcium and vitamin D tend to reduce colon cancer risk. "We were pleased that the effects of calcium and vitamin D were visible enough in this small ...

Pitt and University of Chicago researchers uncover process behind heart muscle contraction

... By inhibiting HDACs, they increased the calcium sensitivity of the muscle fibers and strengthened ... heart muscle weakness by boosting cellular calcium content, Shroff said. The heightened calcium improves muscle contraction but also results in ...

Chloroform provides clue to 150 year old medical puzzle

... that the chloroform inhibited, or blocked, the calcium ion channel TRPC5 it was quite a striking ... and the timing of the heart beat. TRPC5 calcium ion channels are found in many tissues around the ... so I was left wondering whether inhibiting this calcium ion channel was one mechanism by which ...

Specially-designed soils could help combat climate change

... oozes out of a plants roots may react with the calcium to form the harmless mineral calcium carbonate. The carbon then stays securely locked in the calcium carbonate, which simply remains in the soil, ...