'RNA sponge' mechanism may cause ALS/FTD neurodegeneration
The most common genetic cause of both ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and FTD (frontotemporal dementia) was recently identified as an alteration in the gene C9orf72. But how the mutation causes...
View ArticleOncogene mutation hijacks splicing process to promote growth and survival
An international team of researchers – led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor in the Department of Pathology at the...
View ArticleResearchers pinpoint how smoking causes osteoporosis
(Medical Xpress)—Human bone breaks down and regenerates naturally all the time, in a perfectly balanced dance that maintains skeletal integrity.
View ArticleMeet CLAMP: A newly found protein that regulates genes
(Medical Xpress)—A newly discovered protein, found in many species, turns out to be the missing link that allows a key regulatory complex to find and operate on the lone X chromosome of male fruit...
View ArticleStudy examines ways to restore immunity to chronic hepatitis C infection
The hepatitis C virus hijacks the body's immune system, leaving T cells unable to function. A new study in animal models suggests that blocking a protein that helps the virus thrive could restore...
View ArticleA small molecule may help reduce damage in aging-related heart attacks
(Medical Xpress)—A small molecule developed at Yale University to limit damage done by ischemia – restricted blood flow – during heart attacks or surgery has been shown to reduce by 40 percent the...
View ArticleRare childhood disease may hold clues to treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
Scientists at Rutgers University studying the cause of a rare childhood disease that leaves children unable to walk by adolescence say new findings may provide clues to understanding more common...
View ArticleProtein seipin regulates fat development through cytoskeleton remodeling
People with mutations in a gene called BSCL2 suffer from a rare medical condition known as lipodystrophy in which fat tissue is lost from where it is supposed to accumulate while being deposited at...
View ArticleDetailed studies reveal how key cancer-fighting protein is held in check
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have mapped the structural details of how p53 attaches to its regulatory protein, called BCL-xL, in the cell. The protein p53 is a key activator of the...
View ArticleAberrant mTOR signaling impairs whole body physiology
The protein mTOR is a central controller of growth and metabolism. Deregulation of mTOR signaling increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer. In the...
View ArticleCellular protein may be key to longevity
Researchers have found that levels of a regulatory protein called ATF4, and the corresponding levels of the molecules whose expression it controls, are elevated in the livers of mice exposed to...
View ArticleTeam finds general mechanism that accelerates tumor development
ICREA professor Raúl Méndez publishes a study in Nature describing how the CPBE1 protein "takes the brakes off" the production of proteins associated with the cell switch from being healthy to...
View ArticleSame signaling enzymes can trigger two different processes in the cell
Stroke, heart attacks and numerous other common disorders result in a massive destruction of cells and tissues called necrosis. It's a violent event: As each cell dies, its membrane ruptures, releasing...
View ArticleOne step closer to understanding biology behind genetic variants linked to...
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and University of Cambridge have unpicked genetic variants that affect the formation of blood cells. They found that around a third...
View ArticleModulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer
Cancer cells spread and grow by avoiding detection and destruction by the immune system. Stimulation of the immune system can help to eliminate cancer cells; however, there are many factors that cause...
View ArticleResearchers discover new proteasome regulatory mechanism
Dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) has been detected in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and certain types of cancer. Such dysfunction is...
View ArticleExercise rescues mutated neural stem cells
CHARGE syndrome is a severe developmental disorder affecting multiple organs. It affects 1 in 8500 newborns worldwide. The majority of patients carry a mutation in a gene called CHD7. How this single...
View ArticleScientists discover kill-switch controls immune-suppressing cells
Scientists have uncovered the mechanism that controls whether cells that are able to suppress immune responses live or die.
View ArticleCompounds outsmart solid tumors' malfunctioning machinery
Molecular biologists in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio have found a novel way to fine-tune the activity of cells' protein-disposing machinery, with...
View ArticleScientists discover gene that controls the birth of neurons
Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have discovered an unusual gene that controls the generation of neurons. This important finding, which is crucial in understanding serious...
View ArticleKey regulator of blood vessel formation could be a potential new target for...
During formation of the vascular system, successively smaller blood vessels sprout from existing ones to form networks of capillaries in patterns uniquely adapted to the function of the organ they...
View ArticleMucus might prove useful in treating IBD, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
Imagine mucus—which most people find unpleasant—actually helping your body maintain its equilibrium, prevent inflammation, and reduce food allergy problems.
View ArticleNo 'brakes': Study finds mechanism for increased activity of oncogene in...
The increased activation of a key oncogene in head and neck cancers could be the result of mutation and dysfunction of regulatory proteins that are supposed to keep the gene, which has the potential to...
View ArticleExercising restraint to stall tumor growth
Many proteins undergo an assembly line-style process of glycosylation as they travel from a cellular structure called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus and on through its various...
View ArticleResearchers identify genes linked to cataract formation
When cataracts encroach on the eyes, the only effective remedy is to surgically replace the eyes' lenses with synthetic substitutes.
View ArticleIron regulators join war on pathogens
Proteins responsible for controlling levels of iron in the body also play an important role in combatting infection, according to a study published today in Cell Host & Microbe.
View ArticleStudy suggests new way to help the immune system fight off sleeping sickness...
Some infectious diseases are particularly difficult to treat because of their ability to evade the immune system. One such illness, African sleeping sickness, is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma...
View ArticleResearchers discover a critical cellular 'off' switch for the inflammatory...
Working with human immune cells in the laboratory, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified a critical cellular "off" switch for the inflammatory immune response that contributes to...
View ArticleDetailed images reveal interactions that affect signaling in the brain
Scientists at Columbia University have obtained the first detailed images of interactions between the AMPA receptor and molecules that regulate chemical signaling in the brain. Their findings may help...
View ArticleDiscovery of potent parasite protein may lead to new therapeutic options for...
A single protein from a worm parasite may one day offer new therapeutic options for treating inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis, that avoid the potentially serious side...
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