A tension-sensitive "fail safe" protein helps make sure that when our cells divide the two resulting cells inherit the normal number of chromosomes, researchers from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center report today, May 5, in the journal Cell.
When a cell divides, in a process called mitosis, the dividing cell makes a copy of each of its chromosomes. It then distributes them so that each daughter cell inherits one copy of each chromosome.
COLLEGE STATION -- A team of researchers who two years ago announced a "Trojan horse" method of entering a cell without harming it have now found, in effect, the lock to the cellular "trap door."
The research, led by Dr. Jean-Philippe Pellois, appears in the May 5 issue of the journal Cell Chemical Biology.
"We had the key to the cell from the previous research, and now we understand the lock," said Pellois, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station.
Every process that sustains life is carried out by proteins.
But understanding how these complex molecules do their jobs depends on learning the arrangement of their atoms -- and how the structure changes -- as they interact. No effective method for observing molecular movement with such detail and speed had been available, until now.
EUGENE, Ore. -- May 5, 2016 -- A cell-to-cell signaling network that serves as a developmental timer could provide a framework for better understanding the mechanisms underlying human heart valve disease, say University of Oregon scientists.
The research, which appeared in the journal Development, examined a process called Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in mice during heart valve development. The UO team showed how the process, which mediates communication between cells, ensures that stages of valve development unfold in a coordinated manner.
Small, non-coding molecules called microRNAs are known to play an important role in cancer development. Researchers now have shown their significance is greater than previously thought, a finding that could lead to new therapeutic approaches for the most common and deadly form of ovarian cancer.
The study results, published in the May 5 online issue of Cell Reports, were reported by a team led by Gordon Mills, Ph.D., chair of Systems Biology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A study providing new information about neuropathic pain afflicting some 90 percent of cancer patients who have had nerve damage caused by tumors, surgery, chemotherapy or radiation indicates gene therapy as a possible treatment.
The study in rats showed transfer of a gene known as KCC2 into the spinal canal restored chloride levels gone awry after nerve injury. Results from the research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were published in the May 5 online issue of Cell Reports.
Drinking tart Montmorency cherry juice significantly reduces high blood pressure at a level comparable to that achieved by medication, according to new research from Northumbria University, Newcastle.
The findings, which are published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition today (Wednesday 4 May), found that men with early signs of hypertension - more commonly known as high blood pressure - saw a 7% reduction in blood pressure after drinking Montmorency cherry concentrate when compared to drinking a fruit-flavoured cordial.
ORLANDO, FL - May 5, 2016 - Four new studies surrounding the effects of mango consumption suggest this superfruit has the potential to help combat adverse effects associated with high fat diets and obesity (animal study), as well inhibit growth of fat cells (anti-lipogenic properties in an in-vivo study), slow advancement of breast cancer tumors (animal study), as well as improve regularity and decrease inflammation associated with constipation (human subject study). The research was presented at the 2016 Experimental Biology conference in San Diego.
A review of large-scale studies involving more than 1.5 million people found all-cause mortality is higher for those who eat meat, particularly red or processed meat, on a daily basis. Conducted by physicians from Mayo Clinic in Arizona, "Is Meat Killing Us?" was published today in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
In a dramatic show of physician support for deeper health reform - and for making a decisive break with the private insurance model of financing medical care - 2,231 physicians called today [Thursday, May 5] for the creation of a publicly financed, single-payer national health program that would cover all Americans for all medically necessary care.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) -- A team of scientists have discovered a key mechanism that drives a bacteria that kills male insects, a development that could potentially be exploited to control insect pest species in the future.
T cells, the security guards of the immune system, use a kind of mechanical "handshake" to test whether a cell they encounter is a friend or foe, a new study finds.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the study, led by Khalid Salaita, a physical chemist at Emory University who specializes in the mechanical forces of cellular processes.
Vultures. Cartoon characters in parched deserts often wish them to disappear, since circling vultures are a stereotypical harbinger of death. But, joking aside, vultures in some parts of the world are in danger of disappearing. And according to a new report from University of Utah biologists, such a loss would have serious consequences for ecosystems and human populations alike.
DENVER - A pre-competitive consortia of pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic companies, and academic associations, including the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), announced phase I results of the "BLUEPRINT PD-L1 IHC ASSAY COMPARISON PROJECT" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) on April 19. The study compared four PD-L1 IHC diagnostic assays developed in conjunction with four PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are used in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) clinical trials.
The health benefits of walking and cycling outweigh the negative effects on health of air pollution, even in cities with high levels of air pollution, according to a study led by researchers from the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) and Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. This new evidence strengthens the case for supporting cycling even in polluted cities -- an effort that in turn can help reduce vehicle emissions.