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Tag: "regulating" at biology news

Striking the right balance between excitation and inhibition

...w uncovered a pathway that plays a central role in regulating this choice. That path is described in a study from Martyn Goulding, PhD., an associate professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. Goulding, along with co-lead authors, postdoctoral fellow Rumiko Mizuguchi, PhD., and Sonja Kriks, a graduate...

New path from estrogen to survival in breast cancer cells described

..., a protein that blocks transcription factors from regulating genes. "When NEDD8 modified BCA3, it binds to p65 and recruits SITR1 to suppress NFkB-mediated transcription," Yeh said. Finally, the researchers discovered that estrogen blocks NEDD8 from modifying BCA3, a finding which goes some way to "explainin...

A simple feedback resistor switch keeps latent HIV from awakening

... a molecular switch, making it a likely target for regulating latency. In some kinds of molecular switches, the conversion between on and off states is regulated by self-oligomerization, or binding to several other identical molecules. The shape changes induced by binding or unbinding drive the complex into two...

Molecular 'on/off switch' controls immune defenses against viruses

...ction between RIG-I and LGP2 is vital for properly regulating immunity, but viruses such as hepatitis C can disrupt the normal process to shut down immune defenses early, the research team found. "This knowledge will help us design drugs that mimic the viral effects on these proteins to either activate a ho...

Ecstasy can harm the brains of first-time users

... communicate. Serotonin plays an important role in regulating a number of mental processes including mood and memory. Research has shown that long-term or heavy ecstasy use can damage these neurons and cause depression, anxiety, confusion, difficulty sleeping and decrease in memory. However, no previous stu...

Jefferson scientists find aging gene also protects against prostate cancer development

...delphia have shown that a gene that is involved in regulating aging also blocks prostate cancer cell growth. The researchers, led by Kimmel Cancer Center director Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., hope the newly found connection will aid in better understanding the development of prostate cancer and lead to new dru...

Squid skin reveals hidden messages

...ors. Squid also produce polarized skin patterns by regulating the iridescence of their skin, possibly creating a "hidden communication channel" visible only to animals that are sensitive to polarized light. In research published today in the journal Biology Letters, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) research...

Experimental cancer drugs counter muscle deterioration seen in muscular dystrophy

...at NIH, on the biochemical and molecular mechanism regulating the expression of genes that coordinate muscle regeneration. These studies led to the identification of different enzymes (called acetyltransferases and deacetylases) that promote or inhibit the expression of regeneration genes, and have the potentia...

Does missing gene point to nocturnal existence for early mammals?

...t but uses light for non-visual processes, such as regulating our day-night rhythms and pupil constriction." Although the melanopsin gene is present in all vertebrates, the version in mammals was unusually different to that found in fish, amphibians and birds. "At first, we put this genetic anomaly betwee...

Novel regulatory mechanism identified for key tumor suppressor p53

...udies to identify methylation as playing a role in regulating the activity of proteins that are not histones. Hi...ne other study has shown a role for methylation in regulating p53. In that study, a methyl group added to a specific site on p53 called K372 was shown to activate...

Some butterflies travel farther, reproduce faster

...appears to be a key. It plays an important role in regulating egg and larval development and also regulates reproduction, particularly egg maturation, in adults, Fescemyer said. Vitellogenin is the protein precursor to egg yolk, which the embryo uses for food. Total protein is the most important nutrient for eg...

From managing sugar to managing healing

Insulin is a hormone known primarily for regulating sugar levels in the blood, yet researchers at the University of California, Riverside, recently found that applying insulin directly to skin wounds significantly enhanced the healing process. Skin wounds in rats treated topically with insulin healed...

Longer-lived rodents have lower levels of thyroid hormone

...e active component of T4 and is the key hormone in regulating metabolism, Pinto said. When an animal becomes cold, for example, its body converts T4 to T3 to speed metabolism and warm the body, he explained. "Mice strains that exhibit extended longevity tend to have lower thyroid hormone concentrations than ...

University of Iowa scientists explore function of 'junk DNA'

... not give rise to a protein, but do play a role in regulating protein production. In their study, Davidson and colleagues not only discovered that microRNAs could be expressed in a different way than previously known, they also found that some of the junk DNA is not junk at all, but instead consists of sequence...

'Erectile dysfunction' drugs heighten natural anti-cancer activity

... cells and found that sildenafil blocked two genes regulating enzymes -- arginase and nitric oxide synthase -- which are key to triggering immune suppression via MDSCs. Borrello’s team found that the arginase enzyme, which metabolizes a dietary supplement called L-arginine, also contributes to dampening the im...

Engineered yeast speeds ethanol production

... proteins typically control large groups of genes, regulating when these genes are turned on or shut off. When the researchers altered a transcription factor called the TATA-binding protein, it caused the over-expression of at least a dozen genes, all of which were found to be necessary to elicit an improve...

First major study of mammalian 'disorderly' proteins

...ctively concentrates the IUPs that are involved in regulating functions in the cell and transmitting signals within them." Unlike the classic description of proteins described in science textbooks, IUPs are not completely locked into rigid, 3-D shapes that determine their function in the cell. Instead, IUPs ...

Researchers create mouse lacking key inflammation gene

...studied NF-kB transcriptional regulator. Drugs regulating TNF-alpha through the better-known NF-kB pathway such as Remicade, Embrel, and Humira represent a multibillion market. The LITAF transcription factor offers a new approach to treating inflammatory disorders along with other immunological conditions....

RNA map provides first comprehensive understanding of alternative splicing

...d in or out in a binary, computer-like fashion. By regulating alternative splicing cells can produce a wide vari...tion of the peaks correlated with Nova's action on regulating whether the alternative exon is spliced in or out. The researchers tested whether this RNA map w...

Gene-bender proteins may sway to DNA

...make us who we are. Certain proteins do the job of regulating gene expression by clasping onto key spots of DNA -- the nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions. How does the protein recognize a particular binding site" Structural changes in both the protein and DNA, sometimes with the DNA within the...

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