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Tag: "brake" at biology news

Common cancer gene sends death order to tiny killer

...e or miR-34a to stem tumor development, there's no brake in pancreatic cells and uncontrolled growth leads to cancer," says Anirban Maitra, M.B.B.S., associate professor of pathology, oncology and genetic medicine. Mendell and his team are looking for missing miR-34a in other cancers. If it's a widespre...

Researchers shed light on mechanism of action used by anti-cancer drug

...nown as eIF2á, a process that serves as a critical brake on protein translation in cells subjected to ER stress. Interestingly, they also found that sorafenib, by virtue of its ability to inhibit Raf, also prevented an increase in expression of a chaperone protein known as Grp78, which is classically induc...

Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the brain

...e amygdala,” he said. “In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses.” As a result, an individual may feel less angry or less sad. This is ancient wisdom,” Lieberman sa...

Salk scientists hammer out a pathway that promotes muscle cell survival in mice

...cific genes in response to exercise by releasing a brake that normally keeps these genes off. Learning how ...lase (HDAC), stuck in place. Without loosening the brake by a chemical modification process known as phosphorylation, muscle-specific genes could not be acti...

Slowing the racing heart

... been well studied, mechanisms that might act as a brake are poorly understood," said Solaro. "Identification of this previously unknown molecular mechanism for slowing the heartbeat may offer new avenues of diagnosis, drug design and treatment of many common heart diseases," said Solaro. "Further, n...

UCSD researchers discover variants of natural tumor suppressor

...y to tumor growth," said Newton. "PHLPP is like a brake that, when on, slows the driver but when 'off' all...ell survival. Therapies directed at releasing the brake on this driver would allow cells involved in heart or neurological diseases to better survive. "B...

Morphine makes lasting -- and surprising -- change in the brain

...y boost the brain’s reward response. "It’s as if a brake were removed and dopamine cells start firing," she explained. "That activity, combined with other brain changes caused by the drugs, could increase vulnerability to addiction. The brain may, in fact, be learning to crave drugs." Kauer and her team...

Signal protein shows promise for blocking tumor promoters in skin cells

...the researchers discovered that Srcasm acts like a brake in epithelial cells, preventing uncontrolled cell growth caused by a family of proteins called Src kinases. This finding, published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, suggests a target for future gene therapy to treat skin, head, neck, co...

Detailed 3-D image catches a key regulator of neural stem cell differentiation in action

...otein called Scp1, at will. "Scp1 is an important brake that regulates the transition from neuronal precur...cal Institute investigator at Salk. "Loosening the brake with an inhibitor would allow us to influence the timing of neuronal differentiation," he adds. ...

Think fast! Rice undergrad unlocks nerve speed secret

...r," McNew said. "We also knew there was a chemical brake in the system, something that held the pre-positio...r release. These new studies clearly show that the brake is a protein called complexin." Rice's study, which was conducted in McNew's lab, largely by under...

A switch between life and death

...o shut down cell division. With bantam around, the brake is off, and they continue to divide." Cohen and his lab have been studying microRNAs like bantam for some time because of their important role in the regulation of many vital processes across species. The next step will be to identify the RNAs that...

Researchers find molecular 'brake' to cell death

...uld take a two-pronged approach to overriding this brake in order to force a tumor cell to die. Very few drugs do this now, they say. The discovery "demonstrates that apoptosis is more complicated than had been believed, and consequently harder to achieve," says the study's lead author, Dean G. Tang, Ph.D...

Researches discover gene critical for protection against septic-shock-induced death

...se. "Sepsis syndrome is like a speeding car with a brake failure. Nrf2 may function like a brake that regulates the speed," said Biswal, senior author of the study and assistant professor in the Bl...

Protein found to control tumor growth in certain breast cancers

...indicating that Nod1 acts as an effective cellular brake on estrogen-dependent tumor growth. In addition, the presence of Nod1 reduced the expression of the naturally occurring estrogen receptor in vitro, further indication that the protein mediates the sensitivity of hormone-dependent breast cancer cells...

Mechanism for Epstein-Barr virus protein's role in blood cancers discovered

...the retinoblastoma protein, an important molecular brake for cell proliferation. Erle S. Robertson, PhD, an Associate Professor of Microbiology who leads the Tumor Virology Program at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, and MD/PhD student Jason Knight, published their results last week in the Proceedings of th...

Customized gene chip provides rapid detection of genetic changes in children's cancer

...involved is a tumor suppressor gene, LOH removes a brake on uncontrolled cell growth, the growth that is the hallmark of cancer. Researchers in Dr. Maris' laboratory previously established that LOH in a region of chromosome 11 allows aggressive neuroblastoma to take hold. The new microarray can detect suc...

Visceral Leishmaniasis: Successful Vaccine Trial In Dogs

...mans. Development of a vaccine for dogs could help brake transmission of the disease to humans, by reducing this reservoir. Such prevention treatment has just been tested successfully on dogs by an IRD team in Montpellier, in conjunction with the Rocher veterinary clinic (La Garde, Var) and the biopharmace...

Discovery suggests why stem cells run through stop signs

...stem cells, just like ordinary cells. The cellular brake (in this case a protein called Dacapo, a fruit fly homologue of a human tumor suppressor) kept the stem cells from proliferating. "Determining which of the 80 microRNAs is responsible for deactivating the stop signal is the next step of our research...

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

...pen and poised for gene activity. "REST keeps the brake on lightly until a trigger tells embryonic stem cells it's time to make a neuron," Mandel said. The cell then triggers the expression of an ensemble of genes that coordinates nervous system development by removing REST in three distinct phases, endin...

Yale Scientists Find MicroRNA Regulates Ras Cancer Gene

...rt a mutated Ras to normal; instead it acts like a brake on an accelerated Ras." Lung cancer currently has a poor prognosis with less than 15 percent of patients surviving five years. The lungs, however, are relatively accessible for inhalation of potential gene therapy agents. "While this is not likely t...

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