A clue from macaques yields evidence for impaired retroviral defense genes in humans

Researchers Harmit Malik and Michael Emerman and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found that a surprisingly large fraction of humans may be impaired in the function of a recently discovered arm of the body's defense against invading retroviruses such as HIV. One of t...

Chimp genome reveals a retroviral invasion

It's been known for a long time that only 2% -- 3% of human DNA codes for proteins. Much of the rest of our genomes -- often referred to as junk DNA -- consists of retroelements: genomic elements that are transcribed into RNA, reverse-transcribed into DNA, and then reinserted into a new spot in the...

New tool isolates RNA within specific cells

...detect cell type-specific gene expression. The researchers say the method should work in other systems, including vertebrates, by using gene transfer, retroviral delivery, electrical pulses of molecules through cell membranes, or messenger RNA injection. ...

New method developed by UC San Diego bioengineers gives regenerative medicine a boost

... nuclear reprogramming of differentiated adult human cells into pluripotent stem cells. "We found that nuclear reprogramming based on the existing retroviral carriers appears to result in over-reprogramming, which will have profound implications on the use of induced pluripotent cells for personalized regen...

New gene-silencing pathway found in plants

... Pikaard and his colleagues' work may have important implications for applied medical research. For instance, gene therapy procedures sometimes use retroviral vectors as a way of introducing a foreign gene to replace a function impaired by disease. Often this foreign gene, called a transgene, restores the m...

ASU researchers receive NIH awards for studies of malaria and emergent disease

...udies. Two of the studies will examine the ecology and evolution of malaria and a third will delve into the genetic mysteries behind the host shift of retroviral disease from primates to humans. Escalante, lead investigator of the malarial studies, will undertake a global comparative study of the evolution ...

Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies

...uripotent stem cells, out of many adult cell types, but there are two major hurdles remaining. First, the methods currently used rely on the unnatural retroviral insertion of genes into patients' cells, and these genes are capable of forming tumors. Second, this method is very inefficient as well because only o...

UT pathologists believe they have pinpointed Achilles heel of HIV

...r millions of years of evolution a lot of viral fragments called endogenous retroviral sequences. These endogenous retroviral sequences are overproduced in people with lupus, and an immune response to ...

2 French scientists win European award for communication

...us were confirmed for many other retroviruses, including HIV, and may represent a novel target for therapeutic intervention on the incoming phases of retroviral infections. On hearing the news of his selection, he said, "I'm really honored to receive this Award. Communicating life sciences to the public an...

Penn Veterinary Medicine report new strategy to create genetically-modified animals

...te transgenic animals. These inefficient and difficult methods also carry a risk of producing offspring with developmental abnormalities. The use of retroviral or lentiviral vectors has been reported in rodents, but it requires that animals be handled and maintained under higher biosafety precautions that ren...

Prions and retroviruses -- an unholy alliance?

...the case of endogenous retroviruses, this involves retroviral infections from long ago, which were transmitted t...e genome of mice and humans consists of endogenous retroviral sequences that have accumulated during the course ... showed that the expression of a set of endogenous retroviral sequences is influenced by the prion infection: in...

Ancient retrovirus sheds light on modern pandemic

...PtERV1 and humans have none." It is believed that retroviruses have been entering the genome for many millions of years, and so humans share many retroviral DNA fragments with their primate cousins. Such vestiges of primitive infection, rendered inactive by eons of genetic mutation, make up about 8 percent...

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers find a peptide that encourages HIV infection

... that increases the ability of HIV-1 to enter a broad range of human cells, retroviral vectors are currently being explored as vehicles for gene therapy," the authors wrote. "In this area, at least, agents that enhance retroviral uptake could contribute to an emerging field of medicine." "So many p...

Cornell researcher helping develop quick, cheap HIV/AIDS test

..."When patients are infected with HIV/AIDS, the number of circulating CD4 T-cells drops significantly," explains Baeumner. "If they get the appropriate retroviral treatment, their life span can be increased by many years. CD4 counts assist in the decisions on when to initiate and when to stop the treatment, whic...

Researchers discover that sheep need retroviruses for reproduction

...retroviruses, are present in the genome of all mammals, including humans. Consequently, endogenous retroviruses can be considered remnants of ancient retroviral infections, Spencer said. Many scientists believed these endogenous retroviruses were junk DNA, he said. "Indeed, these endogenous retrovirus...

Scientists resuscitate a 5 million-year-old retrovirus

... HERVs, called the HERV-K(HML2) family, an evolutionarily "young" family of retroviral elements. They aligned HERV-K(HML2) elements, determined their consensus s...d some 'genomic offspring' that may be responsible for the synthesis of the retroviral particles that can be observed in some human cancers such as germline tumor...

Scientists discover new regulating mechanism in cells

...nced "june D). The regulation of junD is lost in many cancers. The researchers examined junD because it has something important in common with the retroviral proteins. The mRNA in both cases does not pass through the processing step of the four-step protein-making process. Normally, that processing step als...

New human retrovirus originated in mice

..., is that this is the first really solid example of an authentic xenotropic retroviral infection in a human being," said Ganem. According to DeRisi, the Viroch... which suggests strongly RNASEL is an important part of the defense against retroviral infection. This is the first evidence in humans of findings that were previ...

HIV inserts into human genome using a DNA-associated protein

... genome, which has implications for better design of gene-therapy delivery. retroviral vectors are often used to introduce therapeutic genetic sequences into huma...ies that LEDGF is part of the machinery that helps dictate the placement of retroviral integration sites within chromosomes," says Bushman. Bushman notes that ...

Leptin-signaling Protein Maintains Normal Body Weight And Energy Balance In Mice

...tions of proteins, vitamins and minerals that help fortify people with HIV and AIDS against secondary infections while increasing the effectiveness of retroviral drugs. "Small fish ponds are a valuable addition to farms without substantially adding to the labour burden," says Daniel Jamu, the WorldFish Cente...

Crisis in African fish supplies looms, experts warn Africa leaders

...tions of proteins, vitamins and minerals that help fortify people with HIV and AIDS against secondary infections while increasing the effectiveness of retroviral drugs. "Small fish ponds are a valuable addition to farms without substantially adding to the labour burden," says Daniel Jamu, the WorldFish Cente...

Retroviral resistance gene found

... Dr. Stephen Goff and colleagues have identified a novel retroviral resistance gene, called FEZ1, that can mediate a potent resistance to murin...ession in a specific laboratory rat cell line caused a significant block to retroviral infection ?retroviruses were able to enter the host cells and synthesize th...

Study reveals candidate targets for anti-retroviral therapeutics

...r relatives of retroviruses. In budding yeast, these mobile elements (called Ty ?or transposable yeast ?elements) encode proteins that are homologs of retroviral proteins. The proteins encoded by Ty elements and the steps of the life cycle in yeast are similar to the proteins encoded by retroviruses and their l...