cyclic

Strongest proof yet found for prion hypothesis

...a method they developed called "protein misfolding cyclic amplification" (PMCA) to vastly accelerate the activity of a small number of prions taken from infected hamsters and placed in test tubes containing healthy brain proteins. When the healthy proteins had been largely transformed into prions, the sampl...

Supercomputers to focus brains on AIDS dilemma

...se to bind at the catalytic site, typically with a cyclic moiety, or "wing," to the "west" of the active cen...ossible to develop inhibitors that bind with their cyclic moieties to the "east" of the active center as well as to the "west." Based on these simulations, th...

Newly discovered genetic disease sheds light on body's water balance

...r of this activity is an increase in the amount of cyclic AMP (cAMP) within the cell. He worked in the laboratory of pediatric endocrinologist Walter Miller, MD, using a method to determine cAMP levels in cells by using a luciferase plasmid that responds to cAMP. Luciferase is the substance that lights up ...

Environmental chemical cocktail may sabotage sperm

...lphenol significantly stimulated the production of cyclic AMP ?a chemical messenger, produced within the cell after external compounds have acted on the cell, that prompts an appropriate response. In the case of sperm, increased cAMP production appeared to stimulate premature sperm capacitation. "The sperm ...

What Makes The Brain Tick, Tick, Tick: Researchers Gaining New Insights Into Brain's Internal Clock

...rom the visual system and outputs that control the cyclic release of circadian hormones. "So, this process has to be distributed so it can integrate information from all the senses," said Meck. "But more importantly, because it's involved in learning and memory, you could argue that time isn't directly per...

Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel switch between sugar and fat

...viding energy to cells, and the signaling molecule cyclic AMP -- did not produce the same effect. The mice injected with 5'-AMP also were found to have a lower body temperature, a sign of torpor. Core body temperature measurements confirmed their lethargic state. Mice kept in constant dark also ate less...

Stowers scientists demonstrate mechanism of vertebral formation

...anscription factors called Snail is expressed in a cyclic fashion during the formation of the vertebral precursors in the mouse and chick embryo. The findings, which were published in the March 7 issue of Developmental Cell, indicate that the genes governing many cellular properties are downstream of the ...

Viagra improves high altitude exercise performance up to 45% for some

...iting phosphodiestrase-5, an enzyme which degrades cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) a cell messenger that causes the blood vessels to relax, Friedlander explained. By inhibiting the enzyme, the drug allows greater vasodilation and greater blood flow. Although the drug works in different target sites, t...

First 'encyclopedia' of nuclear receptors reveals organisms' focus on sex, food

...ted changes in receptor activity helps explain the cyclic behavior of metabolism. This also suggests that the superfamily acts as a mega-network to influence metabolism, rather than in a series of independent signaling pathways. "Understanding timing patterns of receptors might help explain aspects of th...

Prion find points way to test for human 'mad cow' disease

...a Saá used a technique known as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), invented by Soto's group, which greatly accelerates the process by which prions convert normal proteins to misshapen infectious forms. "With this method, for the first time we have detected prions in what we call the silent pha...

Lack of key enzyme associated with development of rare tumor

...n triggers the cell to produce substances known as cyclic nucleotides. These function as "second messengers... begin an activity. In the case of adrenal cells, cyclic nucleotides, such as cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP, may stimulate cell growth or other activities. Once...

Uniform tungsten trimers stand and deliver

Like tiny nano-soldiers on parade, the cyclic tungsten trioxide clusters line up molecule-by-molecule on the titanium dioxide platform. One tungsten atom from each cluster is raised slightly, holding forth the potential to execute catalytic reactions. The nanostructures constitute a new model ...

Pourquié lab identifies genes involved in formation of vertebral precursors

...pectively, on a paper that identifies a network of cyclic genes that shed light on the molecular basis of sp...ives the periodic expression of a large network of cyclic genes involved in cell signaling. Mutually exclusive activation of the Notch/FGF and Wnt pathways du...

Need to pull an all-nighter?

...mulating production of a signaling molecule called cyclic GMP, and it may be possible to achieve the same effect by using drugs that block cyclic GMP's breakdown, Rosenberg says. One surprise in the research was that the main message telling t...

NHGRI aims to make DNA sequencing faster, more cost effective

...ced in massive parallel though a process involving cyclic sequencing by ligation, a process where an enzyme is used to join pieces of DNA together. This phased award will increase if specific milestones are met in the initial experiments. Amit Meller, Ph.D., Boston University, Boston,$2.2 million (3 year...

Scientists unravel clue in cortisol production

...hormone is continuous, the molecular production is cyclic in nature ?involving a rhythmic binding and unbind...ause adrenal cells to increase their production of cyclic AMP (cAMP), a chemical that encourages proteins to interact. So they began by causing the cells to m...

Brain networks strengthened by closing ion channels

...in ion channels called hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (HCN) that reside on dendritic spines, the tiny protrusions on neurons that are specialized for receiving information. These channels can open when they are exposed to cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate). When open, the in...

OHSU lab finds meth receptor that could lead to therapy

...oduction of an important second messenger known as cyclic adenosine monophosphate, or cAMP, inside cells expressing the rat TAAR1. Encouraged by this observation, Grandy's team explored the effects of these drugs on mouse TAAR1 and a human-rat TAAR1 hybrid and found all three receptors respond in similar wa...

NIDA study identifies genes that might help some people abstain from smoking

...ls recognize and connect to their neighbors) and a cyclic G-dependent protein kinase gene, which plays a key role in normal brain development. In addition to genes implicated in intracellular signaling and intercellular interactions, a number of genes involved in other processes have also been identified. ...

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers find a peptide that encourages HIV infection

...he infection of CD4 cells with HIV. RC-111 is also cyclic and has the same amino acid sequence as retrocyclin-1. In both peptides, the amino acids are strung like 18 beads along the molecule's backbone. The amino acids in RC-111, however, are in reverse order. The researchers had initially wanted to qua...