Regulatory

White blood cell waste disposal system plays critical regulatory role

A new research study identifies a critical inhibitory step that is a key component of the feedback circuit regulating the balance between neutrophil production and destruction. The research, published in the March issue of Immunity, suggests that the process for disposal of dying neutrophils is actively linked to neutrophil production. A clear understanding of the processes that control neutrophi...

Researchers rein in regulatory RNAs

A team of scientists led by Dr. Kuniya Abe from the RIKEN BioResource Center in Japan has performed one of the most comprehensive genome-wide experimental analyses of sense-antisense transcripts to date. Their findings are published in the April issue of the journal Genome Research. Sense-antisense transcripts, or SATs, are pairs of RNA molecules generated from opposite DNA strands at the...

White Blood Cell 'Waste Disposal' System Plays Critical Regulatory Role

A new research study identifies a critical inhibitory step that is a key component of the feedback circuit regulating the balance between neutrophil production and destruction. The research, published in the March issue of Immunity, suggests that the process for disposal of dying neutrophils is actively linked to neutrophil production. A clear understanding of the processes that control neutrophi...

OneWorld Health drug receives 'Orphan' designation from U.S. and European regulatory agencies

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the U.S., announced today it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the two leading regulatory agencies in the world, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), for paromomycin to treat visceral leishmaniasis (VL). VL, also known as kala a...

Novel regulatory mechanism identified for key tumor suppressor p53

Collaborating scientists from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia and The Vienna Biocenter in Austria have identified a novel mechanism involved in normal repression of the p53 protein, perhaps the single most important molecule for the control of cancer in humans. The new molecular pathway described in the study suggests intriguing approaches to diagnosing or intervening in the progress...

New technique helps identify multiple DNA regulatory sites

Just as the printing press revolutionized the creation of reading matter, a "nano-printing" technique developed at MIT could enable the mass production of nano-devices currently built one at a time. The most immediate candidate for this innovation is the DNA microarray, a nano-device used to diagnose and understand genetic illnesses such as Alzheimer's, viral illnesses such as AIDS, and c...

Master regulatory gene found that guides fate of blood-producing stem cells

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that a protein called NF-Ya activates several genes known to regulate the development of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or blood-producing stem cells, in bone marrow. Knowing the details of this pathway may one day lead to new treatments for such blood diseases as leukemia, as well as a better understanding of how HSCs work...

Smoking damages key regulatory enzyme in the lung

Study in Journal of Nuclear Medicine uses PET, radiotracer to track enzyme in smokers, nonsmokersRESTON, Va.-- Smoking appears to reduce a key enzyme in the lungs, possibly contributing to some of smoking's deleterious health effects, according to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. The study, which used a radiotracer to track the enzyme, also shows that s...

Key brain regulatory gene shows evolution in humans

Researchers have discovered the first brain regulatory gene that shows clear evidence of evolution from lower primates to humans. They said the evolution of humans might well have depended in part on hyperactivation of the gene, called prodynorphin (PDYN), that plays critical roles in regulating perception, behavior and memory. They reported that, compared to lower primates, humans possess...

New methods offer insight into regulatory DNA

Through the Human Genome Project, the HapMap Project and other efforts, we are beginning to identify genes that are modified in some diseases. More difficult to measure and identify are the regulatory regions in DNA ?the 'managers' of genes ?that control gene activity and might be important in causing disease. Today, a team led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, together with colleagu...

Scripps research study shows humans and plants share common regulatory pathway

The study was published in an advance online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of April 9, 2007. The study provides new evidence that Nod1, a member of the Nod-like Receptor (NLR) protein family, is activated by the protein SGT1, which also activates Resistance (R) proteins in plants; R proteins protect plants from various pathogens. The study a...

Master regulatory gene of epithelial stem cells identified

The skin’s ability to replace the tissue it sloughs off is controlled by a variety of genes. A new study from Harvard Medical School published in the May 4 issue of Cell, however, identifies a "master regulator" of this regeneration process not only for skin, but for many epithelial tissues including breast, prostate, and urogenital tract. This master regulator of epithelial stem cells turns out...