'Sticky' mice lead to discovery of new cause of neurodegenerative disease
When a faulty protein wreaks havoc in cells and causes disease, researchers are usually quick to point the finger at a wayward gene. Now scientists are learning that some neurodegenerative diseases can develop even though a gene is perfectly normal. The diseases c...Study reveals how cells destroy faulty proteins in cystic fibrosis
The cellular system that degrades faulty proteins created by the cystic fibrosis gene has b... "Most cases of CF are caused by the inability of faulty CFTR to get in the correct shape, which leads cells to place it in the trash bin," said senior autho...New strategy rapidly identifies cancer targets
...y technical, but it cuts the time needed to find a faulty gene by months. "If you try to sift through DNA, it takes almost a year," said Druker. "This technique takes a couple of months and further automation would make it even quicker." So quick, in fact, that Druker envisions the technique as a method ......curs when a mutant beta hemoglobin gene results in faulty production of hemoglobin. The new study suggests i...t be possible to use regulatory sequences from the faulty gene to activate a similar gene, essentially creating an embryonic or juvenile beta hemoglobin gene ...'Smart' genetic therapy helps the body to heal itself
...rdam, The Netherlands. Instead of replacing a faulty gene (commonly referred to as gene therapy) these new 'smart' approaches make use of the therapeutic potential that already exists in human biology. Professor Brunhilde Wirth, from the Institute of Human Genetics, University of Cologne, Germany, wil...New angiogenesis finding may help fight cancer growth
...nding of NK-B's role in angiogenesis suggests that faulty blood-vessel formation may be to blame. Because NK-B prevents endothelial cells from organizing into blood vessels, Bresnick says, "Maybe excess levels of NK-B are responsible for or contribute to impaired vascular development/function and certai...Inheriting a tendency to brain infection
...her than normal risk of inheriting two copies of a faulty gene. In 2005, Casanova later identified a 15-year-old boy who developed brain damage due to herpes simplex infection. Casanova found that the boy's blood cells failed to produce an important immune signalling molecule, type I interferon, when cha...Researchers discover new gene responsible for brittle bone disease
...age are built. People with OI were known to have a faulty gene that instructed their bodies to make either too little or weak collagen because of defects or mutations in one of the collagen genes, of which there are more than 20. The current study found a new gene, that when mutated, reduces the ability of ...Therapeutic role found for carbon monoxide
...he highly toxic gas emitted from auto exhausts and faulty heating systems ?has proven effective in treating the symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), an extremely debilitating condition that typically leads to right heart failure and eventual death. The new findings, made in an animal study le...Researchers image molecular motor structural changes
...of human disorders such as Down syndrome caused by faulty molecular motors, and possibly to the development of new treatments, the researchers said. For example, molecular motors are responsible for dividing genetic material during cell division, and understanding how motors work in cancer cells, which unde...New dyslexia theory blames 'noise'
...data suggest is that the mechanism responsible for faulty phonological development is quite general and has to do with attention in a broad sense.... "This is a great paper of very high significance... As people like Steve Grossberg [of Boston University] have argued for many years, attention ... is cruc...Mutant mouse provides insights into breast cancer
...live normal lives but greatly increase the rate of faulty DNA replications and genomic instability. "It's insidious because there is no warning that one might have this cancer predisposing allele [DNA codings at a given site] because the mice live normally," said Schimenti, who is also director of the Cen...Scientists uncover new target in cancer mutation puzzle
...hers, for example, are seeking ways to normalize a faulty gene such as p53, which is involved in half of all human tumors, Land's research group is taking the opposite approach. They are looking for ways to stop tumors by interfering with features of cancer cells dependent upon p53 and Ras mutations. For...Cancer researchers add spice to research against rare neuromuscular disease
...rn on the receptor, we look for ways to attack the faulty receptor directly. In this experiment, for instance, the mice treated with ASC-J9 have normal fertility and are completely healthy sexually, which wouldn't be the case if we simply took away testosterone." ...Scientists find new genetic clue to cause of Alzheimer's disease
...es of Health (NIH). The researchers suggest that faulty versions of the SORL1 gene contribute to formation of amyloid plaques, a hallmark sign of Alzheimer's in the brains of people with the disease. They identified 29 variants that mark relatively short segments of DNA where disease-causing changes could...Scientists learn the origin of rogue B cells
... retain both receptors: a good, useful one and the faulty self-reactive one that the good receptor was designed to replace. This means that the aberrant B cells have escaped the body's mechanism to correct them. "Our research goes against the theory that B cells should only express a single receptor," says ...Study shows isolation of stem cells may lead to a treatment for hearing loss
...rs can cause hearing loss in humans due to loss or faulty development of the sensory ‘microphones?(hair cells) inside the ear ?the cochlea. Lost hair cells are not replaced and people exposed to these conditions face permanent hearing loss. Identification of the stem cells from the adult cochlea would be a ...Simple home spit test to spot deadly pre-eclampsia
...r than the delivery of the baby and removal of the faulty placenta, early detection and management of the problem can have a big impact on patient outcome. ......of epigenetics, which identifies genes silenced by faulty DNA methylation, says Christoph Plass, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and of veterinary biosciences, and also co-principal investigator on the study. "Our findings show that it's important to look for both geneti...