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Tag: "initiates" at biology news

Just the expectation of a mirthful laughter experience boosts endorphins 27 percent, HGH 87 percent

... a humor/laughter eustress (positive stress) event initiates changes in neuroendocrine response prior to the onset of the event itself," Berk said. "From our prior studies, this modulation appears to be concomitant with mood state changes, and taken together, these would appear to carry important, positive imp...

Ocean acidification threatens cold-water coral ecosystems

...e for coral growth." The uptake of CO2 by oceans initiates a series of chemical reactions that increase acidity and decrease carbonate ion concentration in seawater. Corals and other marine organisms (e.g. some species of plankton and mollusks) use carbonate ions to build their skeletons or shells. Model pr...

Synthetic molecule causes cancer cells to self-destruct

... changes into the executioner enzyme caspase-3 and initiates programmed cell death, called apoptosis. In cancer cells, however, the signaling pathway to procaspase-3 is broken. As a result, cancer cells escape destruction and grow into tumors. "We have identified a small, synthetic compound that directly acti...

Studies suggest new brain protein may help in treating schizophrenia, insomnia and anxiety

...acts much like an excitatory neurotransmitter that initiates an impulse by the receiving neuron. Currently, the team is looking at whether natural mutations in the genes of NPS and its receptor might be associated with mental disorders and developing animal models that lack parts of the NPS system in order to ...

Brain enzyme treatment relieves memory lapse in Alzheimer's mice

...the possibility that, in the Alzheimer's brain, Aß initiates a signaling cascade that results in the partial inhibition of proteasome activity more rapidly than is likely as the result of the accumulation of misfolded or undigestable proteins." "Our data suggest that Uch-L1 could be an attractive target for ...

Genetic tug of war determines sexual differentiation

...Sox9 activates the Fgf9 gene which blocks Wnt4 and initiates a cascade of events leading to the development of a testis," said Blanche Capel, Ph.D., senior member of the international research team. "If XY mice lose Fgf9, they develop ovaries, while XX mice that lose Wnt4 develop incomplete testes. This sugges...

University of Minnesota researchers take new look at cellular suicide

...maging amounts of ultraviolet light, a form of JNK initiates both of the cellular processes that culminate in DNA destruction. In one process, JNK starts a chain reaction that leads to the activation of an enzyme that chops up DNA. In the other process, JNK activates the histone H2AX. The activated enzyme and...

Scientists discover that ancient genes dictate flowering, fall bud set

...d that CO accumulates in response to long days and initiates the formation of FT, and in the short days of fall, the pattern of CO accumulation changes so that FT is not activated. They also observed that the same species of tree at different latitudes will respond to local conditions in order to become dorma...

Scientists find a key to immune system's ability to remember

...ous agent. Following infection or vaccination, Lck initiates a biochemical chain of events that vastly increases the number of T cells that march off to combat the invader. After the infection subsides, the number of T cells marshaled to fight that agent decreases dramatically. But a smaller subset, known a...

Mayo discovers protein as potential tactic to prevent tumors

... Clinic researchers have found that a protein that initiates a "quality control check" during cell division also directs cell death for those cells damaged during duplication. This knowledge represents a potential "bulls eye" for targeting anti-tumor drugs. The findings appear in the current issue of Science. ...

Molecules in blood foretell development of preeclampsia

...ch, or bind, to the receptors, the binding process initiates a chain of events in the cells. PlGF binds to Flt1 on the lining of blood vessels. Another substance, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) also binds to Flt1. This binding process is essential to keeping blood vessels healthy and maintaining ...

Novel experiment documents evolution of genome in near-real time

... mutations appeared in the gene for an enzyme that initiates the process of enzymatically breaking down glycerol. Cells with mutations in the so-called glycerol kinase gene grew 20 to 60 percent faster than those without the mutation. Mutations also appeared in a second, unrelated gene for an enzyme called R...

Genetic pathways to curable and incurable forms of pancreatic cancer identified

...elium called mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN). This initiates a process that results in the rarer but far less deadly cystic pancreatic cancer. MCN lesions often are large enough to be detected early by MRI or CT scan and also to cause symptoms. The cells in this cancer also react differently to a key signal...

Bacterial walls come tumbling down

... in the first step of the biochemical pathway that initiates assembly of the sugar coating. The second step is targeted by penicillin and has been well studied. Although scientists have spent many years identifying bacterial components whose structural features might have weaknesses that can be exploited by...

Glucose triggers brain cell death in rats after hypoglycemic coma

... activates the enzyme NADPH oxidase, which in turn initiates a process of oxidative stress that is fatal to neurons. Oxidative stress occurs when cells are poisoned by highly reactive forms of oxygen. Previously, it had been assumed that oxidative stress in neurons was initiated primarily by mitochondria, ...

Salty oceans provide early warning for climate change

...ng in additional water from surrounding areas, and initiates an ocean circulation loop called thermohaline overturning. The scientists discovered that a build up of salt in the waters off the coast of South Africa could help to speed up ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, despite the two areas being th...

A new plant-bacterial symbiotic mechanism promising for crop applications

...y recognized model of molecular communication that initiates the rhizobia-legume symbiosis. This common model requires the presence of several nod genes which allow synthesis of the Nod factor, a compound elaborated by the bacterium which enables the plant to recognize it, by molecular recognition, thereby all...

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