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Tag: "breakdown" at biology news

Smoking changes brain chemistry

.... Reduced choline levels can be a precursor to the breakdown of cell membranes. Concentration of total creatine (tCr) levels in the frontal lobes was typically higher in the smokers who did not use patches compared to those who did. The metabolite tCr plays an important role in supplying energy to the muscl...

A simple feedback resistor switch keeps latent HIV from awakening

...n of the two forms, coupled with the known rate of breakdown of Tat, was sufficient to encode a resistor that explained Tat circuit shutoff and possibly the stability of HIV's latent state. In the Tat resistor model, as in the cell, Tat deacetylation occurs at a much faster rate than acetylation. Deacetyla...

Climate change has surprising effect on endangered naked carp

...rating river fish are anorexic, relying on protein breakdown and higher oxygen consumption to generate energy. "The MO2 [oxygen consumption] data indicate that the cost of living for the naked carp is 40 percent lower in lake-water than in river-water, and that this difference is almost complete within twe...

PNAS study reveals why organs fail following massive trauma

...gan failure, is also involved in the immune system breakdown leading to AIDS, according to an article in the August edition of Nature. "Our study proves for the first time that it is possible to identify the genetic and protein changes in specific immune cells that play a significant role in determining whet...

Two central mysteries in genome inheritance solved at UCSD

...ng cancer cells. While scientists have known that breakdown of this connection could stop the proliferation of cancerous cells, they didn't know how the connection itself was established. Using a biochemical approach, Desai and postdoctoral fellow Iain Cheeseman, Ph.D., have solved this mystery. In the De...

Protein 'fingerprint' in spinal fluid could spot Alzheimer's disease

...the panel were linked to synaptic dysfunction ?the breakdown of communication between brain cells that occurs as Alzheimer's disease progresses. "A subsequent validation group of 10 patients with suspected Alzheimer's and 18 healthy and demented control subjects turned up similar results," said Relkin. "Bas...

Hopkins scientists link immune response to 'ghost' parasites and severely congested sinuses

...ns have linked a gene that allows for the chemical breakdown of the tough, protective casing that houses insects and worms to the severe congestion and polyp formation typical of chronic sinusitis. A team of Hopkins sinus experts has found that the gene for the enzyme, acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase), ...

How mammals fuel milk production may have implications for cancer

... a shift toward a greater reliance on that sugar’s breakdown for energy, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. Such increased glycolytic metabolism in tumors is associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis, the researchers said. “Our findings demonstrating a physiological requiremen...

Lost in the labyrinth

... vitality of existing cells. Nerlov compares the breakdown to people standing at a fork in a labyrinth, hesitating before they go on. "We know there are strong connections to cells' decisions to divide, to develop or to die. If cells don't commit themselves to the right developmental path at the right time, ...

Scientists crack rhino horn riddle

...d stronger, and the melanin protects the core from breakdown by the sun's UV rays, the scientists report. The softer outer portion of the horn weakens with sun exposure and is worn into its distinctive shape through horn clashing and by being rubbed on the ground and vegetation. The structure of the rhino horn...

Research to spotlight carbon monoxide benefits

...ation and is produced naturally as a result of the breakdown of haemoglobin. This can be seen in the healing process of a bruise, where various colour changes indicate the degradation of haemoglobin and release of carbon monoxide. The slow release of carbon monoxide reduces blood pressure for someone who has a...

Penn study on lung-infecting bacterial enzyme suggests new approach to cystic fibrosis treatment

.... To make matters worse, the products of the lipid breakdown are also known to trigger inflammation and cell death. Together, these facts compellingly suggest that SMase plays a critical role in the heretofore mysterious pathogenesis of lung injury in CF patients. They also present a new paradigm for treat...

Protein sensor for fatty acid buildup in mitochondria

...ors at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This breakdown of fatty acids, in turn, provides the cell energy ...here a critical biochemical pathway for fatty acid breakdown is controlled by a specific enzyme," said Charles Rock, Ph.D., a member of the Infectious Diseases d...

New technologies coming too fast for Indian farmers

...r neighbors were," Stone says. "There has been a breakdown in the process of farmers evaluating new seed tech...h each village moves from seed to seed, reflects a breakdown in "environmental learning," leaving farmers to rely on "social learning." Stone refers to this situ...

Enhancing activity of marijuana-like chemicals in brain helps treat

... When they added a drug that slows the enzymatic breakdown of endocannabinoids in the brain - URB597, being developed by Kadmus Pharmaceuticals in Irvine, Calif. - the results were striking. "The dopamine drug alone did a little bit but it wasn't great, and the drug that targeted the enzyme that degrad...

In obesity, brain becomes 'unaware' of fat

... Cowley’s group set out to show exactly where that breakdown occurs. The researchers fed mice a high-fat diet for 20 weeks, a long time for the mice, which live only for a couple of years. For reasons that remain unclear, some of the genetically identical mice became obese when fed such a diet, while others di...

Blood sugar's manufacture limited by building blocks' supply

...y further found evidence that defective amino acid breakdown promotes the development of fasting hypoglycemia in the mutant animals by limiting the availability of a glucose substrate called pyruvate. Indeed, the mice had markedly reduced activity of genes that encode amino acid-degrading enzymes, the resea...

Genome sequencing reveals key to viable ethanol production

... time identified how genes responsible for biomass breakdown are turned on in a microorganism that produces valuable ethanol from materials like grass and cornstalks. Waste products such as grass clippings and wood chips—once thought too difficult to turn into ethanol—may soon be fodder for hungry, gene-tweak...

Fuel from fiber -- Pretreatment can put corn stalks, trees in your car's tank

...s, ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX), which makes the breakdown of cellulose ?the most difficult part of making ethanol from plant biomass ?more efficient. Dale and other members of the Biomass Refining Consortium for Applied Fundamentals and Innovation will discuss AFEX and other biomass pretreatment technolo...

A cherry on top: Tart cherries may alter heart/diabetes factors

... their blood tested multiple times to look for the breakdown products of cherries. ...

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