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Study finds hundreds of genes and genetic codes that regulate genes tied to alcoholism

INDIANAPOLIS - Using rats carefully bred to either drink large amounts of alcohol or to spurn it, researchers at Indiana and Purdue universities have identified hundreds of genes that appear to play a role in increasing the desire to drink alcohol.

The study, published in PLOS Genetics, not only reinforces the view that the genetics of alcoholism are important, are complex and involve many genes, but also that the sections of the genetic code that regulate the actions of genes are at least as important as the genes themselves.

Multitasking proteins: Unexpected properties of galectin-3

A new study, published in Biochemistry this week, examines the biomechanics of sugar-seeking proteins. Specifically, it delves into galectin-3's interaction with glycosaminoglycans (GAG) and proteoglycans. Tarun Dam, an associate professor of chemistry at Michigan Technological University, led the study.

"Seeing galectin-3 interact with GAGs and proteoglycans is like finding a rose in the petunias--it's very unexpected," Dam says. "It's fair to say that this requires revisiting the reported biological functions of GAGs, proteoglycans and galectin-3."

Protein Chemistry

Big step towards cure for lifelong viral infections

New research has taken us a step closer to finding a cure for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as other infections including the glandular fever virus, which is associated with the development of lymphoma. Some infections, such as HIV, cannot be cured with antiviral therapy because the virus effectively hides from the immune system.

Brazilian study identifies new target for treatment of melanoma

A Brazilian study shows that inhibition of an RNA named RMEL3, which is encoded by a previously uncharacterized gene (also named RMEL3), can reduce the viability of cultured melanoma cells by up to 95%.

Although RMEL3 is a non-coding RNA and hence does not contain information for protein synthesis, it appears to modulate the main signaling pathways related to cell proliferation and survival. How it does so is not fully understood.

What sports matches reveal about gender roles

In the modern era, it's clear that women can do just about anything that men can do. But, according to researchers reporting evidence based on hours watching online videos of social interactions after professional sports matches, men and women still manage conflict differently, most likely based on differences in traditional gender roles that go way, way back. The findings are published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 4.

Hunter-gatherers experimented with farming in Turkey before migrating to Europe

Clusters of hunter-gatherers spent much of the late Stone Age working out the basics of farming on the fertile lands of what is now Turkey before taking this knowledge to Europe. In an analysis of ancient genomes published August 4 in Current Biology, researchers at Stockholm University and Uppsala University in Sweden and Middle East Technical University in Turkey report that at least two waves of early European settlers belonged to the same gene pool as farmers in Central Turkey--genealogy that can be traced back to some of the first people to cultivate crops outside of Mesopotamia.

Whales' ultrasonic hearing has surprisingly ancient history, fossilized ear shows

All living toothed whales rely upon echoes of their own calls to navigate and hunt underwater, a skill that works best in conjunction with high-frequency hearing. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on August 4 who studied one of the best-preserved ears of any ancient whale ever discovered find that whales' high-frequency hearing abilities arose earlier than anticipated.

Pancreatic cancer resists personalized medicine -- what researchers are doing to fight back

A team led by University of Arizona researchers is taking a new, patient-directed approach to treating pancreatic cancer. Rather than relying on conventional cell lines that have defined effective drug targets for other types of cancers, they are creating and sequencing cell lines from a cancer patient's own tissue. Their results, outlined August 4 in Cell Reports, reveal that pancreatic tumors are more varied than previously thought and that drug sensitivity is unique to each patient.

Buck Institute study sheds light on gender differences in diabetes and aging

All's not fair in love and glucose intolerance - overweight men are more prone to get type 2 diabetes than are overweight women. The same phenomena holds true in mice and no one know why. Researchers at the Buck Institute provided a possible answer to that question by discovering that a protein involved in nutrient sensing and metabolism gets inhibited in male - but not female - mice fed a high fat diet.

Gene expression profile may ID renal cell carcinoma patients unlikely to benefit from nivolumab

Bottom Line: Renal cell carcinomas positive for the protein PD-L1 from patients who did not respond to treatment with the anti-PD-1 therapeutic nivolumab (Opdivo) had significantly higher expression of genes associated with metabolism, compared with PD-L1-positive tumors from patients who did respond to nivolumab.

Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Mitochondrial maps reveal new connections to poorly understood diseases

MADISON -- Mitochondria are the engines that drive cellular life, but these complex machines are vulnerable to a wide range of breakdowns, and hundreds of their component parts remain a functional mystery.

Analysis of metastatic prostate cancers suggests treatment options

Cancer researchers have applied a comprehensive set of analytical tools to lethal cases of metastatic prostate cancer, yielding a detailed map of the complex networks of interactions among genes and proteins that enable prostate cancer cells to proliferate and evade treatment. The team also developed a computational approach for analyzing patient-specific data to help doctors choose the most effective drugs for individual patients.

Echo hunter: Researchers name new fossil whale with high frequency hearing

A newly-named fossil whale species had superior high-frequency hearing ability, helped in part by the unique shape of inner ear features that have given scientists new clues about the evolution of this specialized sense.

Breakthrough in understanding how stem cells become specialized

Lake Nona, Fla., August 4, 2016 -- Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have made a major advance in understanding how the cells of an organism, which all contain the same genetic information, come to be so diverse. A study published today in Molecular Cell shows that a protein called OCT4 narrows down the range of cell types that stem cells can become.

African-American men negatively impacted by hormone therapy for treatment of prostate cancer

Boston, MA-- In a retrospective study analyzing patients' medical records, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that patients' race significantly affected their longevity by increasing the likelihood of death after receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). ADT was used to reduce the size of the prostate to make a patient eligible for prostate brachytherapy. These findings are published in the August 4, 2016 issue of Cancer.