New research shows how the protein missing in fragile X syndrome – the most common inherited form of intellectual disability – acts as a molecular toggle switch in brain cells.
The fragile X protein, called FMRP, hooks up with a group of molecules called microRNAs to switch the production of other proteins on and off in response to chemical signals, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.
The results appear in the June 10 issue of Molecular Cell.
An alarming new article in Respirology issues a serious warning of massive rises in deaths from asbestos-related lung diseases in Asia. Dr Ken Takahashi, Acting Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational Health, and his team put together important data on asbestos use in 47 Asian countries in this landmark article. Cyprus, Israel and Japan had the highest age-adjusted mortality rates in Asia.
New Haven, Conn.—Microcredit, which involves giving small loans to very small businesses in an effort to promote entrepreneurship, has been widely touted as a way to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. A multitude of both non- and for-profit institutions are spending billions of dollars each year on microcredit ventures in developing nations around the globe.
Washington, DC— Carbonaceous chondrites are a type of organic-rich meteorite that contain samples of the materials that took part in the creation of our planets nearly 4.6 billion years ago, including materials that were likely formed before our Solar System was created and may have been crucial to the formation of life on Earth. The complex suite of organic materials found in carbonaceous chondrites can vary substantially from meteorite to meteorite.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Given how much patients invest in in vitro fertilization (IVF), both financially and emotionally, tools to inform couples about what they might expect during their treatment can be welcome. A study by researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital shows that as the IVF cycle is beginning, a blood test for levels of a hormone called AMH, or antimullerian hormone, can help predict the number of eggs that will be harvested.
After eight years of work, researchers have unearthed what has been a well-kept secret of our immune system's success. The findings published online on June 9th in Immunity, a Cell Press publication, offer an explanation for how specialized immune cells are able to kill infected or cancerous cells without killing themselves in the process.
The focus of the study is a molecule known as perforin, whose job it is to open up a pore in cells targeted for destruction. With that pore in place, proteases known as granzymes can enter target cells and destroy them.
Biologists have uncovered a key regulatory mechanism used for gene expression in the visual system. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the journal Cell, offer new insights into the complexity behind the genetic make-up of biological systems.
CLEVELAND – June 9, 2011 – Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a cellular mechanism that is critical in maintaining normal cell function.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (June 9, 2011) – Whitehead Institute researchers have identified signals from breast epithelial cells that can induce those cells to transition to and maintain a mesenchymal and stem cell-like cell state that imbues both normal and cancer cells with a greater ability to migrate and self-renew. Interrupting these signals strips the cells of the migratory, invasive and self-renewal abilities used by cancer stem cells to seed new tumors.
Mutations in genes essential to survival are behind so-called orphan diseases, explaining in part why these diseases are rare and often deadly, according to a study appearing in The American Journal of Human Genetics.
The new finding contrasts sharply with what is known about mutations in non-essential genes being the drivers of common diseases having higher prevalence rates, according to scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who conducted the research.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Banning federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research would have "disastrous consequences" on the study of a promising and increasingly popular new stem cell type that is not derived from human embryos, according to a University of Michigan researcher and his colleagues.
BOSTON--Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have uncovered a new role for a key cancer protein, a finding that could pave the way for more-effective radiation treatment of a variety of tumors.
Many cancers are driven in part by elevated levels of cyclin D1, which allow the cells to escape growth controls and proliferate abnormally. In the new research, reported in the June 9 issue of Nature, researchers discovered that cyclin D1 also helps cancer cells to quickly repair DNA damage caused by radiation treatments, making the tumors resistant to the therapy.
PHILADELPHIA — For tens of thousands of years, the genomes of malaria parasites and humans have been at war with one another. Now, University of Pennsylvania geneticists, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, have developed a new picture of one way that the human genome has fought back.
(Garrison, NY) Should physicians be banned from assisting in a lethal injection execution, or lose professional certification for doing so? A recent ruling by the American Board of Anesthesiology will revoke certification of anesthesiologists who participate in capital punishment, and other medical boards may act similarly.
Savvy career minded individuals have known for some time that ingratiating oneself to the boss and others – perhaps more commonly known as 'sucking up'– can help move them up the corporate ladder more quickly. However, a recent study published in the Journal of Management Studies suggests that politically savvy professionals who use ingratiation as a career aid may also avoid the psychological distress that comes to others who are less cunning about their workplace behavior.