Mechanisms

Plants, animals share molecular growth mechanisms

A newly discovered plant protein complex that apparently switches on plants' growth machinery, has opened a scientific toolbox to learn about both plant and animal development, according Purdue University scientists. The protein complex triggers communication between molecules along a pathway that leads to the creation of long protein strings, called actin filaments, that are necessary fo...

PET/MRI scans may help unravel mechanisms of prenatal drug damage

Scientists have demonstrated a new way to assess the potentially damaging effects of prenatal drug exposure--a technique that could also be used to monitor a fetus's response to therapeutic drugs--using sophisticated, noninvasive medical imaging tools. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, whose findings are reported in the February issue of the Society of...

Researchers uncover mechanisms of estrogen in promoting cell death in breast cancer

A laboratory study has uncovered new details about how estrogen can activate natural pathways that kill certain breast cancer cells or tumors. The results raise the possibility that estrogen therapy may overcome resistance to certain breast cancer hormonal therapies. The study appears in the December 7 issue of the When cancer treatments...

High-resolution light microscope reveals the fundamental mechanisms of nerve communication

In a simultaneous publication (Science Express, 13th April 2006), STED microscopy revealed the spatial distribution of the bruchpilot protein and aided neurobiologists from the European Neuroscience Institute and the University of Würzburgin understanding the protein's central role in the formation of active synaptic zones. STED microscopy radically distinguishes itself from conventional farfield...

FSU biologists uncover mechanisms that shape cells for better or worse

In a landmark study, biologists at Florida State University have uncovered a specific genetic and molecular mechanism that causes cell polarity -- the asymmetric shape or composition critical to a cell's proper functioning. Their findings in fruit fly eggs may help to clarify how muscular dystrophy and some cancers develop in humans. That's because many of the genes involved in the cell-t...

Common mechanisms for viral DNA replication

How DNA replicates is a critical question for understanding life. DNA replication remains difficult to investigate in eukaryotes,where it occurs within the confines of the double-membrane nucleus. However, the process is far easier to study in the much simpler virus. In simian virus 40 (SV40), the large T-antigen protein (T-ag) is responsible for recognizing DNA sequences required to start replic...

Mechanisms involved with tumor relapse identified

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center studying the interaction between the immune system and cancer cells have identified interferon gamma as one of the signaling proteins involved with tumor relapse. The findings may help researchers develop tailored vaccines and other immunotherapeutic strategies to fight a number of cancers. Immunotherapy involves the ma...

Stem cells act through multiple mechanisms to benefit mice with neurodegenerative disease

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold great promise for benefiting degenerative diseases, and do so by invoking multiple mechanisms. Such cells can be grown in a manner compatible with clinical use (i.e., without animal feeder layers) and even without the need for immunosuppression. These were a few of a number of conclusions arrived at by an international collaboration led by Evan Y. Snyder, M...