Activation in Biological News

Case Western Reserve researchers develop 'wireless' activation of brain circuits

Traditionally, stimulating nerves or brain tissue involves cumbersome wiring and a sharp metal electrode. But a team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University is going "wireless." And it's a unique collaboration between chemists and neuroscientists that led to the discovery of a remarka...

USC researchers identify mechanism that controls activation of stem cells during hair regeneration

Los Angeles, Jan. 16, 2007 -- Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel cyclic signaling in the dermis that coordinates stem cell activity and regulates regeneration in large populations of hairs in animal models. The signaling switch involves bone morphoge...

Diverse genetic abnormalities lead to NF-κB activation in multiple myeloma

Two new studies may lead to the development of more effective therapies for individuals with multiple myeloma (MM), a common and incurable blood cell cancer. The research, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cancer Cell, provides new insight into the molecular mechanisms tha...

Protein 'chatter' linked to cancer activation

Hamilton, ON. August 13, 2007 Scientists have found the existence of cross-talk between human chromosome ends and the protein complexes central to the stability of the entire human genome, a chat that contributes to cancer development. The research, published today in Nature Structural & Mole...

Scripps Research study reveals new activation mechanism for pain sensing channel

The researchers found that TRPA1, a protein that helps transmit pain signals, is a direct sensor of reactive chemicals. "While many noxious and pungent compounds were known to activate this pain receptor, we discovered that they do so by directly and irreversibly binding to the cysteine amino acid...

EGF receptor activation prevents microbes from going more than skin deep

Our skin not only serves as a physical barrier against infection but skin cells themselves can mount an immune response to kill invading microbes by producing antimicrobial polypeptides (AMPs). As overt infection in the skin is a rare event, researchers have theorized that AMPs must not only help...

St. Jude study shows genes play an unexpected role in their own activation

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered how a single molecular “on switch” triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver. The “on switch,” a protein called CREB, is a transcription ...

Protecting cells from their neighbors

...r. Casanova explains the context of the study, "it is crucial to unveil all the actors and molecular mechanisms that participate in the repression and activation of the genomes of distinct species because failures in these mechanisms are at the bases of many diseases, such as certain types of cancer." FROM ...

Got zinc? New zinc research suggests novel therapeutic targets

...ly supports healthy immune function, but increases activation of the cells (T cells) responsible for destroying ... taken from the zinc-supplemented group had higher activation than those from the placebo group. Specifically, cell activation stimulated the zinc transporter in T cells called ...

Experimental treatment halts hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in newborns

...AI-1 greatly reduced the activity of both tPA and another brain enzyme, urokinase-type plasminogen activator. It also blocked hypoxic-ischemia-induced activation of matrix metalloproteinases and damage to the blood-brain barrier. The researchers also applied magnetic resonance imaging tests and microscopic anal...

Protein that promotes cancer cell growth identified

... neighboring tissues--a critical process in cancer metastasis. "Caspase-8 has a well defined role in promoting apoptosis, especially in response to activation of the so-called death receptors on the outside of cells," said Darren Finlay, Ph.D., first author on the paper. "Although Caspase-8 is involved in ap...

Scientists discover gene mutation responsible for hereditary neuroendocrine tumor

...e tumor called paraganglioma (PGL). The gene, called hSDH5, is required for activation of an enzyme complex that plays a critical role in the chemical reactions t...SDH complex to function normally. They also found that Sdh5 is required for activation of another protein called Sdh1 that is also part of the SDH complex. S...

Penn-Wistar team gains insight into HIV vaccine failure

... whether the Ad5-specific CD4 T-cells functioned any differently before or after administering the Ad5 vector. They found no significant difference in activation or expansion of CD4 T-cells in either the high- or the low-Ad5 antibody groups. "It doesn't appear that vaccination increases the pool of potentia...

UCLA researchers discover new molecular pathway for targeting cancer, disease

...ng to the researchers. How LXR was able to inhibit tumor cell growth by impeding the Hh pathway was previously unknown. "Our finding shows that activation of LXR signaling is a novel strategy for inhibiting Hh pathway activity and for targeting various cell types, including cancer cells, which may provid...

Chasing tiny vehicles

...ld one day ferry drugs or even genes into cells. So far, the only way of testing these approaches has been to wait for the desired effect to show the activation of a transported gene inside a cell for example. Under the direction of LMU Munich physicochemist Professor Christoph Bruchle, a research group coope...

Hush little baby... Linking genes, brain and behavior in children

... temperament" depending on internal conditions (the environment inside their bodies) and conclude that the pattern of brain activity (that is, greater activation in left or right frontal cortex) may influence whether this gene is a protective factor or a risk factor for soothability and attention problems. The ...

MS study offers theory for why repair of brain's wiring fails

...peractivated the Wnt pathway in the oligodendrocytes of mice, which caused a profound delay in repair. Further analysis suggested that the Wnt pathway activation was creating a roadblock that prolonged oligodendrocyte precursor development. "While the animals eventually showed repair, it was delayed compared...

New trigger for chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis discovered

... attack the joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We hope our new findings can be used to develop new therapies that interfere with tenascin-C activation of the immune system and that these will reduce the painful inflammation that is a hallmark of this condition," added Dr Midwood. The researchers r...

Trio of signals converge to induce liver and pancreas cell development in the embryo

...ins help with this, exposing a small domain near the target gene. They then act as a landing pad on which other proteins assemble to continue the gene activation process. The Science paper addresses how chemical signals from neighboring cells in the embryo tell early progenitor cells to activate genes encodi...

Pushmi-pullyu of B-cell development discovered

...sidered epigenetic states, modifications to existing DNA that control their activation or silencing. Dr. Hagman and his colleagues previously identified a prot...eling complexes. When the researchers inactivated the SWI/SNF complex, that activation fell to 8-fold, suggesting that SWI/SNF helped promote B-cell development. ...

Fate in fly sensory organ precursor cells could explain human immune disorder

...er cells, Notch is activated in one and not in the other. This differential activation of signaling results in two different kinds of cells which arise from the s... Notch signaling is required for proper development, differentiation and activation of a class of immune cells called the T-cells. T-cell function is compromis...

The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes

...here it contributes to the development of hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose levels. We asked whether chronic ER stress in obesity leads to abnormal activation of the fasting switch that normally controls glucose production in the liver." The ER, short for endoplasmic reticulum, is a protein factory within th...

Tips from the journals of the American Society for Microbiology

...ty in the abdominal cavity. "In conclusion, we found that L5 induced the activation of the host immune responses and protected the mice from death due to infec...n bacterium-infected mice by a synthetic antimicrobial peptide, L5, through activation of host immunity. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy , 53. 6: 2510-251...

Scientists capture the first image of memories being made

...zed the increased local translation, or protein synthesis, during memory formation. Importantly, this translation was synapse-specific and it required activation of the post-synaptic cell, showing that this step required cooperation between the pre and post-synaptic compartments, the parts of the two neurons th...

GARP makes the difference

...ts. The result was a substantial advance for medicine: the transplant-rejecting T cells developed permanently into Tregs those cells that inhibit the activation of aggressive T cells and thus prevent organ rejection. Furthermore, the researchers also furnished the counter evidence: Michael Probst-Kepper muted ...

Huntington's disease deciphered

... JNK3, which is expressed only in neurons and, further, to show what effect activation of that enzyme has on neuron function. Huntington's disease is an adult ... This mechanism also explains the late onset of the disease, Brady said. activation of JNK3 reduces transport but does not eliminate it. Young neurons have a r...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 3, 2009

...discovery of a group of molecules that could be used to help scientists better understand transcription. Known as activator artificial transcriptional activation domains, these small molecules mimic natural activators and could provide insights on how mistakes in gene regulation result in various diseases. "Evi...

Fatty foods -- not empty stomach -- fire up hunger hormone

...head and point to a novel stomach enzyme (GOAT) responsible for the ghrelin activation process that could be targeted in future treatments for metabolic diseases....data by Tschp and his team suggests that the fatty acids needed for ghrelin activation actually come directly from ingested dietary fats. In a departure from an e...

Small molecules mimic natural gene regulators

... and their artificial counterparts typically have two essential parts: a DNA-binding domain that homes in on the specific gene to be regulated, and an activation domain that attaches itself to the cell's machinery through a key protein-to-protein interaction and spurs the gene into action. The researchers wante...

Protein linked to mental retardation controls synapse maturation, plasticity, CSHL team finds

...the gap, the team was able to unravel a key link between OPHN1 function and synaptic activity. They showed that neuronal activity, which triggers the activation of post-synaptic cellular receptors, called NMDA receptors, is needed for the function of OPHN1 at the synapse, and that in turn, OPHN1 regulates the ...

Activated stem cells in damaged lungs could be first step toward cancer

...xt of disease if we could understand which pathways regulate lung stem cell activation and then target these pharmacologically," said lead author Adam Giangreco, ...erms of lung cancer susceptibility, however, our observation that stem cell activation leads to clonal expansion after injury could, in the context of additional ...

The evolution of gene regulation

...mulations and theoretical analyses that another indeed opposing principle also comes into play: "wear-and-tear". According to this principle, direct activation can lead to harmful changes. "Which of the two principles prevails depends on evolutionary criteria such as the population size and the periods over w...

TB -- hiding in plain sight

... the adaptive immune response in establishment of clinical TB [is] skewed towards a suppressive or regulatory phenotype that may inhibit proper immune activation and down-regulate the host response at the local site of infection. Compartmentalization of the immune response in human TB could be part of the reaso...

Strong immune response to new siRNA drugs in development may cause toxic side effects

...Ian MacLachlan, from Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), describe the different possible mechanisms for siRNA-mediated immune activation in various cell types, present preferable siRNA sequences and strategies for chemically modifying the siRNA to minimize its immunostimulatory effects,...

Key protein regulating inflammation may prove relevant to controlling sepsis

... Dr. Tergaonkar and his colleagues discovered that the kinase enzyme IκB kinase 2 (IKK2), which is known for causing inflammation through the activation of NFκB, is also responsible for "ordering" the destruction of the tumour suppressor protein p53. This discovery, published in the Februar...

Heart protein regulates blood vessel maintenance

...nce of smooth muscle cells in the pulmonary artery. In this study, the research demonstrates that FHL2 (Four-and-a-Half LIM Domain Protein 2) inhibits activation of genes that are involved in contraction of smooth muscle cells by at least one of the BMPs. "We also found that FHL2 is important in the regulat...

Cell's split personality is a major discovery into neurological diseases

...forms of dementia and neurodegeneration. For years, the main explanation for the toxic effects of glutamate is that it overexcites neuronal cells via activation of glutamate receptors and thereby kills them. "The most interesting aspect of our study and the reason we are so excited is that the pathway lead...

Limping rat provides sciatica insights

...tis and asthma. "This finding suggests a possible role for immune system activation in contributing to symptoms of sciatica," said Shamji, now completing his n...eriments were published online in the journal Spine . "If immune system activation is involved, and it turns out to be an important part of the condition, it ...

Uncooperative voltage sensors

...for this assertion is that preventing the outward movement of only one S4 segment, by photocrosslinking it to a neighboring region, prevents Shaker 's activation gate from opening (Horn et al., 2000). Therefore, channel opening requires the participation of all four voltage sensors. This conclusion is furthered...

MIT: Making waves in the brain

... brain," explains co-lead author Marie Carln, a postdoctoral fellow at the Picower Institute. The trick for inducing gamma waves was the selective activation of the "fast-spiking" interneurons, named for their characteristic pattern of electrical activity. When these cells were driven with high frequency la...