Infused spleen cells found not to impact islet recovery and reversal of type 1 diabetes in mice
...ify DNA sequences, known as enhancers, involved in turning on a gene. In studying RET, the major gene implicated in Hirschsprung disease and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN2), the team identified DNA sequences that can control RET but had not been identified using standard methods. Hirschsprung disease, al...Mechanism for memory revealed in neurons of electric fish
...urons store a memory of the sizzling communiqué by turning on special cell membrane channels. The channels give the fish neurons the ability to retain a memory long after its original stimulus is gone. "There is short-term stimulation that results in long-term changes in excitability," says Zakon, profess...The closest look ever at the cell's machines
...investigate the entire protein household of yeast, turning up 257 machines that had never been observed. It also revealed new components of nearly every complex already known. In the course of the work, new computational techniques were developed at EMBL that gave new insights into the dynamic nature of pr...... of cancer is boosted too, so it is not just about turning on the GDNF tap indiscriminately. It must be tightly regulated, Sariola pointed out. The Dutch researchers are also hunting for the ideal conditions and nutrients that will coax spermatogonial stem cells into becoming sperm. So far, they have found ...Gene therapy 'turns off' mutation linked to Parkinson's disease
...veloping a novel gene therapy aimed at selectively turning off one of the genes involved in the development of Parkinson's disease. The gene therapy, described in the January online issue of the journal Experimental Neurology, was designed by Martha Bohn and her laboratory group at Northwestern University F...Gene patterns in white blood cells quickly diagnose disease
...re to a BTA host cells initiate a unique response, turning specific genes on and off. Leukocytes in the bloodstream course throughout the body in a matter of minutes. If they encounter something that is not normally there they make a record in their gene expression. They first drew blood from healthy don...Cloned stem cells prove identical to fertilized stem cells
...l, shutting off genes specific for skin tissue and turning on genes needed for embryonic development, genes that are normally dormant in tissue-specific cells. In other words, the egg needs to erase all tissue-specific memories from the skin cell and revert it into a genomic blank slate. But this entire pr...New brain hormone puts brakes on reproduction
...l and white-crowned sparrows confirmed its role in turning down production of GnRH and thus switching off the gonads. While Bentley collaborated with Tsutsui to determine how GnIH works in birds, the two also teamed up with Kriegsfeld to explore the implications in mammals. Kriegsfeld began collaborating wi...UCSD team unmasks family of immune system invaders
...s, it might be possible to target these effectors, turning their virulant actions into something benign." The researchers used a molecular "fingerprinting" approach to identify the family of hijackers. Using this molecular fingerprint and computer-aided searches, they discovered a number of proteins having...Removing DNA repair gene causes metabolic syndrome
...They also were extremely lethargic, their hair was turning gray, and some were even going bald. And there were gender differences. "The NEIL1 knock-out males throughout all of our studies usually show a more severe form of the disease and earlier onset of the disease than the females. We have consistently ...Tumor cells that border normal tissue are told to leave
...o leave the tissue." The tumors were generated by turning off an inhibitor of a major oncogene called Src (pronounced sarc), making the tumor cells high in Src oncogene activity. (An oncogene is a gene that increases the malignancy of a tumor cell.) This particular genetic change is common in human breast t...Creation of antibiotic in test tube holds promise for better antibiotics
...of another enzyme (LctM) responsible for naturally turning a small protein into a lantibiotic. That discovery, reported in Science in 2004, involved lacticin 481. The new research also showed that NisC has unexpected structural similarities with mammalian farnesyl transferases, which are important for the a...Uncovering sex-change secrets of black sea bass
...nes as well as the enzymes that control them. By turning off estrogen production, Berlinsky says, he can turn a female fish into a male within a week. Giving 11-ketotestosterone to a female converts it into a male. "We're studying the ways to control the enzymes that control sex reversal," he explains. "We...Blood flow in brain takes a twist, affecting views of Alzheimer's
...intain a healthy environment for neurons. But it's turning out that astrocytes may play a central role in many human diseases," said neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., Ph.D., who has produced a string of publications fingering astrocytes in diseases like epilepsy and spinal cord injury. "In a disease l...Loosen leash on cancer protein 'watchdog,' researchers say
...hdog from doing more harm than good. "Research is turning up lots of possible inroads for combating disease these days, and other research teams had found that p53 was a good prospect for fighting cancer," she said. "With too little p53 protein, people and mice are more likely to develop cancer. But it's no...Study finds 60 new genes controlled by DNA snippet
...und within regulatory sequences that control genes turning on or off," Miano said. "We therefore are very interested in defining as many functional regulatory elements as we can to help geneticists pinpoint a growing number of disease-causing mutations." Study Details In Miano's study, the regulatory sequ......wn as the "inversion effect," which has shown that turning a picture upside down has a strong effect on people's ability to recognize faces whereas the ability to recognize other objects, such as houses, is affected only slightly. "We think that this is because we are face 'experts,' having learned over man...Nanopore method could revolutionize genome sequencing
...pores were not successful because the twisting and turning of the DNA strand introduced too much noise into the signal being recorded. The new idea takes advantage of the electric field that drives the current perpendicular to the DNA strand to reduce the structural fluctuations of DNA while it moves throug...UC San Diego biologists solve plant growth hormone enigma
...ansported wherever it was needed. Not so, because turning auxin off in specific tissues of the plant led to defects in those tissues, while the rest of the plant appeared normal. "Knowing which auxin genes are activated when should make it possible to modify plant development," said Zhao. "It wouldn't req......o ask." The researchers are currently working on turning their prototype into a market-ready model and expect the device to be ready for the public within next two years. ...