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Tag: "breakdown" at biology news

Feeling old?

...keep the two processes in balance, but when we age breakdown starts to win. However, adding the amino acid leuc...s slows down, and previous work also suggests that breakdown may be affected. While adding leucine to the diet restores protein building there was no knowledge a...

UCLA imaging study of children with autism finds broken mirror neuron system

...y bolster a growing body of evidence pointing to a breakdown of the brain's mirror neuron system as the mechanism behind these autism symptoms. "Our findings suggest that a dysfunctional mirror neuron system may underlie the social deficits observed in autism," said Mirella Dapretto, lead author and assistant...

Alcoholism, smoking and genetics among Plains American Indians

...hat the enzyme COMT plays an important role in the breakdown of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain, its activity varying according to a common COMT polymorphism, Val158Met. "The Met allele results in a less efficient enzyme and therefore probably more dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain," she said....

Environmental metagenomics diagnosing extreme environments, tapping opportunities for clean energy

...if we can harness the termite microbe enzymes that breakdown lignocellulose and make hydrogen, we may end up with a commercially viable process," says Rubin. ...

New research demonstrates bone-marrow derived stem cells can reverse genetic kidney disease

...s cause structural damage to the GBM, leading to a breakdown of the organ's filtration system, and resulting in the seepage of blood and protein into the urine and eventual kidney failure. "With no known cure, treatment options for Alport syndrome are limited to kidney transplantation or lifelong dialysis," h...

Earth Rx: A microbial biotechnology prescription for global environmental health

... up by a bacterial-laden sludge that speeds up the breakdown of the organic material in sewage. With recent advances in biology, materials, computing, and engineering, environmental biotechnologists now are able to use microbial communities for a wealth of services to society. These include detoxifying cont...

Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing way to new treatment

... clots. Finally, he said, polyphosphate delays the breakdown of clots, which causes renewed bleeding. "The net effect is accelerating the rate at which blood clots form and then prolonging how long they last," Morrissey said. The successful research already has landed the U. of I. a three-year, $300,000 gran...

Gut protein found to protect against infection and intestinal breakdown

...old the key to preventing infection and intestinal breakdown in people with conditions such as obstructive jaundice or irritable bowel syndrome, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered. "What we've identified is one of the mechanisms for how the body keeps the number of bacteria low in ...

Imaging study links key genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease to myelin breakdown

A new UCLA imaging study shows that age-related breakdown of myelin, the fatty insulation coating the brain'... and add to a growing body of evidence that myelin breakdown is a key contributor to the onset of Alzheimer disease later in life. In addition, the study demons...

Albatross study shows regional differences in ocean contamination

...ully understood. Concentrations of DDE (the main breakdown product of DDT) and PCBs in both black-footed and Laysan albatrosses were 130 to 360 percent higher in the samples Finkelstein collected in 2000 and 2001 than in samples collected by previous researchers in 1991 and 1992. The increases were much grea...

Vegetables inhibit growth of prostate cancer in mice with human tumors

...ully understood. Concentrations of DDE (the main breakdown product of DDT) and PCBs in both black-footed and Laysan albatrosses were 130 to 360 percent higher in the samples Finkelstein collected in 2000 and 2001 than in samples collected by previous researchers in 1991 and 1992. The increases were much grea...

New MRI technique shows emphysema in asymptomatic smokers

...g smoking history, the ADC maps showed progressive breakdown of the lung structure in all regions of the lungs. All smokers with a history greater than 18 pack-years (equivalent to one pack of cigarettes per day for 18 years) showed significant abnormalities compared to nonsmokers. CT was performed after MRI,...

Memory loss affects more of the brain than previously thought

...arliest stages of AD suggests the possibility of a breakdown in the communication pathway between these two regions, which house short-term and long-term memory, respectively," said lead author Jeffrey R. Petrella, M.D., associate professor of radiology and director of Alzheimer's Disease Imaging Research Labo...

Bones hold the key to blood renewal

... our understanding of the processes of renewal and breakdown in the body, and the relationship between blood-forming stem cells, bone, and the immune system. In some forms of osteoporosis, autoimmune arthritis, and cancer that has metastasized to the bone, for instance, the osteoclasts demolish bone faster tha...

Matrilin-3 gene discovered to prevent onset of osteoarthritis

...common type of arthritis. It is characterized by a breakdown in cartilage, commonly affecting the knees, hips and lower back. While younger people can develop osteoarthritis from joint injuries, the disease most often occurs in people over 65. The causes of osteoarthritis are not known, but they are believed t...

Research highlights how bacteria produce energy

...first step in a quest to develop bacteria that can breakdown and ferment cellulose biomass directly to ethanol. "Currently ethanol is produced primarily from sugarcane or cornstarch, but much more biomass in the whole plant, including stems and leaves, can be converted to ethanol using clean technology," says...

Blood test predicts success of quitting smoking using the nicotine patch

... liver. This study measured the ratio of these two breakdown products of nicotine among 480 smokers. A high ratio meant rapid metabolism of nicotine, which was associated with higher amounts of craving and greater difficulty in quitting cigarettes using the nicotine patch. The smokers who participated in the ...

Researchers find 'secret weapon' used by SARS virus

... SARS coronavirus protein called "nsp1" causes the breakdown of biochemical messages that normally prompt the production of a protein critical to defending the body against viruses. "The SARS nsp1 protein degrades the messenger RNA instructions sent from DNA to make interferon beta, which is crucial to host...

Mechanism for neurodenegerative diseases linked to transport proteins

...r and head of anatomy and cell biology at UIC. "A breakdown in fast axonal transport would selectively kill neurons because neurons are especially dependent on the transport system," Brady said. Kennedy disease is also known as spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, or SBMA. Like the better-known ALS and Huntin...

Gene linked to rare disease activates fat breakdown

...58 in cells having the CDS mutation restores lipid breakdown and reverses the abnormal triglyceride accumulation typical of patients with the lipid storage disease. "These data establish an important biochemical function for CGI-58 in the lipolytic degradation of fat, implicating this lipolysis activator in t...

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