Tag: "regulated" at biology news

Hormone helps mice 'hibernate,' survive starvation

...ome mammals also enter a hibernation-like state of regulated hypothermia, known as torpor, which conserves energy. The molecular driver behind this reaction to starvation, however, had been unknown. To find an answer, UT Southwestern researchers and other scientists examined potential molecular cues and ...

Exploring the dark matter of the genome

...e evidence suggests that heterochromatic genes are regulated differently from euchromatic ones. Besides pro...terochromatin is where transposons may be actively regulated -- they go in, get stuck, and get chopped up. Other researchers have shown that small interfering RN...

Discovery of 'master switch' for the communication process between chloroplast and nuclei of plants

...nuclear genes that encode chloroplast proteins are regulated by a "master switch" in response to environmental conditions. This "master switch," like a binary computer, can activate or de-activate certain sets of genes based on stress signaling processes. "One of our suggestions in the paper is that ABI4 se...

Rare cell prevents rampant brain activity

... The activity of this extremely complex network is regulated through a dynamic balance between excitatory signals, which are transmitted by one type of synapse, and inhibitory counter-signals, which are transmitted by another. An imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory activity is associated with diseas...

In obesity, brain becomes 'unaware' of fat

...y expenditure, Cowley explained. Energy balance is regulated by neural and hormonal signals that are integrated in the brain. Leptin sends signals to the brain about the body’s fat reserves, modifying appetite and energy expenditure accordingly. The arcuate nucleus in the brain’s hypothalamus, known as the ...

Misclassified for centuries, medicinal leeches found to be 3 distinct species

...ion by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Berne Convention, and the European Union Habitat Directive. Commercially available European medicinal leeches also are used extensively by biomedical researchers studying ...

ATR checkpoint-activating DNA structure

...nderstand how checkpoint signals are generated and regulated inside the cell....

Researchers from the UGR use a bacterium to obtain biopreservatives from food

...ch also determined the way of that these genes are regulated and expressed as well. ...

Protein found to shield pancreatic cancer cells from self-destruction

...ncer and melanoma. Expression of TG2 is tightly regulated in a healthy cell, Mehta says, and is temporarily increased in response to certain hormones or stress factors. "However, constitutive expression of this protein in a cancer cell helps confer protection from stress-induced cell death," Mehta says. "We...

Brain networks strengthened by closing ion channels

...lso evidence that this pathway may not be properly regulated with advancing age, resulting in destruction of cAMP. The dysregulation of the pathway may contribute to increased forgetfulness and susceptibility to distraction as we grow older. The research is also relevant to common disorders such as ADHD, wh...

Scientists identify a gene that may suppress colorectal cancer

...ment of colorectal cancer. Tumor development is regulated by modifier genes, which may function to enhance or suppress tumor initiation, growth and/or progression. Atp5a1 is a modifier gene, and it is located on the same chromosome as Apc in mice. Interestingly, the results suggest that the mutant At...

Microfluidic chip helps solve cellular mating puzzle

...ading to a cellular merger. This mating process is regulated by proteins inside the cell called mitogen-activated protein kinases, or MAPKs, through a chain of chemical reactions. First, sensors on the surface of a yeast cell pick up signals that a mating partner is nearby. Then the message is passed down t...

MicroRNA helps prevent tumors

... and perhaps certain other genes that are normally regulated by microRNAs, can help give rise to tumors if a mu... "Because hundreds of human genes appear to be regulated by the let-7 microRNA, we were afraid we wouldn't see any difference when we changed only one of the...

How stem cells are regulated

... develop into any type of cell through a carefully regulated process referred to as cellular differentiation. During differentiation, specific genes are switched on while other genes are switched off. The genes that are activated during differentiation determine which type of cell the stem cell will become. Th...

Scientists reveal structure of gateways to gene control

...structures that control how genes are packaged and regulated throughout an entire genome. "For the first time, we are seeing in very high resolution on a genome-wide scale how nucleosomes control the expression of an organism's genes," said B. Franklin Pugh, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and...

Stem cells engage in dialogue with the cells that regulate their futures

...ughout the life of an organism. They do so through regulated external stimuli that may initiate from stem cells. This regulation of cell division needs to be tightly controlled." Too little division results in poor maintenance of tissues, while too much can result in tumors or other malignancies. Her lab us...

Ongoing collapse of coral reef shark populations

...on with sustainable use, the Great Barrier Reef is regulated through an extensive series of management zones in which different areas are open to different levels of fishing. In their study, the researchers determined the status of two species of reef shark—the whitetip and grey reef sharks—by employing a uniq...

Scientists show drug can counteract muscular dystrophy in mice

..., or make less protein. Among the genes positively regulated by the inhibitors was a gene for a key protein called follistatin. "It was known that follistatin had a role in muscle development, so by understanding normal muscle development we knew that follistatin would block the activity of another protein c...

A silent pandemic: Industrial chemicals are impairing the brain development of children worldwide

...heir toxicity is available, most chemicals are not regulated to protect the developing brain," says Grandjean. ...t are known to be toxic to the human brain are not regulated to prevent adverse effects on the fetus or a small child." Grandjean and Landrigan conclude that ...

'Failed' experiment yields a biocontrol agent that doesn't trigger antibiotic resistance

...nt two decades studying how plasmid replication is regulated - made a critical observation. A plasmid with one or the other of the benign mutations persisted, although it replicated a little more frequently than a mutation-free plasmid. How could it be, he wondered, that a bacteria with both mutations could n...

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