Mechanism in Biological News

Airway cells use 'tasting' mechanism to detect and clear harmful substances

The same mechanism that helps you detect bad-tasting and potentially poisonous foods may also play a role in protecting your airway from harmful substances, according to a study by scientists at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. The findings could help explai...

Researchers gain insight into mechanism underlying Huntington's

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 13, 2009) Researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and Graduate Center for Toxicology (GCT) have gained new insight into the genetic mechanisms underlying Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative or neuromuscular disorders caused by trinucleotide...

Funxional successfully completes initial clinical trial of FX125L, an anti-inflammatory drug with a novel mechanism of action

CAMBRIDGE (UK). 8th July 2009 / b3c newswire / - Funxional Therapeutics Ltd (Funxional) has announced today the successful completion of the first Phase I study with FX125L , an orally available small molecule which belongs to a new therapeutic class named Broad Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitors ( BS...

Tiny but toxic: MBL researchers discover a mechanism of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease

WOODS HOLE, MATiny, toxic protein particles severely disrupt neurotransmission and inhibit delivery of key proteins in Alzheimer's disease, two separate studies by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) researchers have found. The particles are minute clumps of amyloid beta, which has long been kno...

New and unexpected mechanism identified how the brain responds to stress

Calgary, AB -- Chronic stress takes a physical and emotional toll on our bodies and scientists are working on piecing together a medical puzzle to understand how we respond to stress at the cellular level in the brain. Being able to quickly and successfully respond to stress is essential for surv...

Molecular mechanism of anaphylactic shock decoded

Researchers at Heidelberg University have found a molecular mechanism for anaphylactic shock. The activation of specific proteins in the cell walls of small blood vessels plays an important role. Suppressing the respective genes protects mice from the potentially fatal reactions of the immune and ...

Mayo Clinic: Brain disorder suggests common mechanism may underlie many neurodegenerative diseases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. A Mayo Clinic-led international consortium has found a mechanism that may help explain Parkinson's and other neurological disorders. Studying just eight families worldwide, the international team of researchers have discovered a genetic defect that results in profound depre...

Case Western Reserve finds mechanism underlying alt. splicing of premessenger RNA into messenger RNA

CLEVELAND December 24, 2008 An international research team led by Tim Nilsen, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and biochemistry and the director of the School of Medicine's Center for RNA Molecular Biology, has discovered an unexpected mechanism governing alternative splicing, the process by which...

Biologists learn structure, mechanism of powerful 'molecular motor' in virus

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have discovered the atomic structure of a powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly, an essential step in their ability to multiply and infect new host organisms. The researchers, from Purdue Unive...

Hebrew University scientists reveal mechanism that triggers differentiation of embryo cells

Jerusalem, December 21, 2008 The mechanism whereby embryonic cells stop being flexible and turn into more mature cells that can develop into specific tissues has been discovered by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The discovery has significant consequences towards furthering resea...

Shared survival mechanism explains why 'good' nerve cells last and 'bad' cancer cells flourish

CHAPEL HILL Cancer cells and nervous system neurons may not look or act alike, but both use strikingly similar ways to survive, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The study published in the December issue of Nature Cell Biology ...

UV-B light sensing mechanism discovered in plant roots

Scientists have discovered that plant roots can sense UV-B light and have identified a specific gene that is a vital player in UV-B signaling, the communication between cells. A study published Dec. 8 in the Early Edition of PNAS reveals that the gene RUS1 measures UV-B light levels and passe...

A little wine boosts omega-3 in the body: Researchers find a novel mechanism for a healthier heart

Moderate alcohol intake is associated with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells. This is the major finding of the European study IMMIDIET that will be published in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutriti on, an official publication of the Americ...

Argonne scientists discover possible mechanism for creating 'handedness' in biological molecules

ARGONNE, Ill. (December 1, 2008) The basic molecules that make up all living things have a predetermined chirality or "handedness," similar to the way people are right- or left-handed. This chirality has a profound influence on the chemistry and molecular interactions of living organisms. The inc...

New regulatory mechanism discovered for cell identify and behavior in forming organs

CINCINNATI Two proteins interact in a previously unknown molecular mechanism that may have broad implications in future studies looking for the causes of defective organs in fetuses, metastatic cancers and other diseases, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. ...

New cell division mechanism discovered

A novel cell division mechanism has been discovered in a microorganism that thrives in hot acid. The finding may also result in insights into key processes in human cells, and in a better understanding of the main evolutionary lineages of life on Earth. The study is published today in the online v...

Scientists unveil mechanism for 'up and down' in plants

Versatile hormone It is known for a long time that the plant hormone auxin is transmitted from the top to the bottom of a plant, and that the local concentration of auxin is important for the growth direction of stems, the growth of roots, the sprouting of shoots. To name a few things; auxin is...

Newly-discovered mechanism can explain the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome

Researchers from Uppsala University have discovered a mechanism that silences several genes in a chromosome domain. The findings, published in today's on-line issue of Molecular Cell , have implications in understanding the human disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. In mammals the cells conta...

Rong Li Lab probes mechanism of asymmetry in meiotic cell division

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has characterized a mechanism that allows for asymmetrical cell division during meiosis in oocytes. By tracking chromosome movement in live mouse oocytes, the team discovered that chromosomes can recruit to their vicinity a protein called formin-2. This protein ...

Conaway Lab identifies novel mechanism for regulation of gene expression

The Stowers Institute's Conaway Lab has demonstrated that an enzyme called Uch37 is kept in check when it is part of a human chromatin remodeling complex, INO80. The results were published in today's issue of Molecular Cell . Uch37 is a "deubiquitinating enzyme" that can remove protein tags (...

New mechanism for cardiac arrhythmia discovered

It has long been thought that virus infections can cause cardiac arrhythmia. But why has not been understood. Ulrike Lisewski, Dr. Yu Shi, Michael Radke and Professor Michael Gotthardt of the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered the molecular me...

Novel anti-cancer mechanism found in long-lived rodents

Biologists at the University of Rochester have found that small-bodied rodents with long lifespans have evolved a previously unknown anti-cancer mechanism that appears to be different from any anticancer mechanisms employed by humans or other large mammals. The findings are published in today's is...

Oxidative stress: Mechanism of cell death clarified

This press release is available in German . Life processes in cells require a reducing environment that needs to be sustained with the help of a large number of antioxidative enzymes. This may sound abstract and incomprehensible, but everyone knows the phenomenon that a piece of cut apple o...

Discovery of a mechanism that regulates cell movement

A study performed by researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), in collaboration with researchers at the Instituto de Biologa Molecular of the CSIC, reveal a mechanism that controls the movement of cells in a tissue by regulating cell adhesion. This same mechanism ma...

UCLA study identifies mechanism behind mind-body connection

BACKGROUND: Every cell contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides. Short telomeres are linked to a range of human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging. Previous studies show that an enzyme within the cell, called telomerase, keeps ...

UGA researchers discover mechanism that explains how cancer enzyme winds up on ends of chromosomes

Human cancer cells divide and conquer. Unless physicians can control that division with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, the wildly dividing cells will eventually destroy a person's life. Researchers have known for some time that an enzyme called telomerase is crucial to cancer's progress. ...

A single mechanism for hypertension, insulin resistance and immune suppression

Many of the 75 million Americans with essential hypertension also develop diabetes and other complications in addition to their high blood pressure, and researchers have discovered a common molecular mechanism in a strain of rat that explains why such metabolic disorders arise together in mammals....

LIAI researchers discover new cellular mechanism that will significantly advance vaccine development

SAN DIEGO (June 16, 2008) La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) scientists have discovered one for the textbooks. Their finding, reported Friday in the scientific journal Immunity , illuminates a new, previously unknown mechanism in how the body fights a virus. The finding runs co...

Fruit fly avoidance mechanism could lead to new ways to control pain in humans

At first, fruit flies eat like horses. Hatching inside over-ripe fruit where they were laid, they feed wildly in the sugar-rich environment until nature sends them an offer they cant refuse. To survive, they must leave the fruit, wander off and burrow into the earth where they avoid food as if it ...

Researchers uncover mechanism of action of antibiotic able to reduce neuronal cell death in brain

Research Highlights: Mechanism of action of compound found to induce neurotransmitter activity in brain cells The findings may lead researchers to develop potential novel therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntingtons disease, epilepsy, stroke/ischemia, d...

Scientists clarify a mechanism of epigenetic inheritance

Although letters representing the three billion pairs of molecules that form the rungs of the helical DNA ladder are routinely called the human genetic code, the DNA they comprise transmits traits across generations in a variety of ways, not all of which depend on the sequence of letters in the co...

CSHL scientists identify a mechanism that helps fruit flies lock-in memories

Synapses are the tiny gaps across which information crosses between nerve cells. Changes in the strength of synaptic connections, called plasticity, play a vital role in both memory formation and learning, and help determine how nerve signals propagate. Assistant professor Josh Dubnau, Ph.D.,...

A common genetic mechanism discovered in nitrogen-fixing plants

Some soil microorganisms are capable of forging associations with plant roots in the form of symbioses. Certain of these relationships play a highly important ecological and agronomic role. Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis (which links a plant to a fungus) thus gives plants a mechanism for improvi...

Scientists uncover a novel mechanism that regulates carbon dioxide fixation in plants

A team of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funded scientists at the University of Essex has discovered a new mechanism that slows the process of carbon dioxide fixation in plants. The research, published today (4 March 2008) in the Proceedings of the National Acad...

The Uukuniemi virus helps to explain the infection mechanism of bunyaviruses

The Uukuniemi virus helps to explain the infection mechanism of bunyaviruses causing hemorrhagic fevers and encephalitis A researcher group comprising Juha Huiskonen from the University of Helsinki and structural biologists from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and the Max Planck Biochemi...

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...

Novel mechanism for long-term learning identified by Carnegie Mellon researchers

PITTSBURGH Practice makes perfect or at least thats what were told as we struggle through endless rounds of multiplication tables, goal kicks and piano scales and it seems, based on the personal experience of many, to be true. Thats why neuroscientists have been perplexed by data showing that ...

Pathogens use previously undescribed mechanism to sabotage host immune system

New research identifies a previously unknown enzymatic mechanism that subverts the early host immune response and promotes pathogenicity by manipulating a common signaling pathway in host cells. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 14th issue of Molecular Cell, may have important ...

A mechanism to explain biological 'cross-talk' between 24-hour body cycle and metabolism

PHILADELPHIA Its well known that the bodys energy levels cycle on a 24-hour, or circadian, schedule, and that this metabolic process is fueled by oxygen. Now, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that a protein called Rev-erb coordinates the daily cycles of ...

Enhanced DNA-repair mechanism can cause breast cancer

Although defects in the "breast cancer gene," BRCA1, have been known for years to increase the risk for breast cancer, exactly how it can lead to tumor growth has remained a mystery. In the October 15, 2007, issue of the journal Cancer Research, scientists from the University of Chicago and Kyoto ...