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Sea Squirt Cells Shed Light on Cancer Development

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2011Scienceblood vessels, bradley davidson, cancer cells, cancer therapy, cancerous mutations, cell types, ciona embryo, control mechanisms, elimination processes, embryos, epithelial barriers, growth factors, heart cells, heart progenitor cell, invadopodia, laser microscope, model organism, natural barriers, periods of time, sea squirt, sea squirt ciona intestinalis, tissues, tumors, university of arizona, vertebrates

*Specialized structures used by cancer cells to invade tissues could also help them escape protection mechanisms aimed at eliminating them, a UA-led research team has discovered.*

Delicate, threadlike protrusions used by cancer cells when they invade other tissues in the body could also help them escape control mechanisms supposed to eliminate them, a research group led by led by Bradley Davidson in the University of Arizona’s department of molecular and cellular biology reports in Nature Cell Biology.

Studying embryos of the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis, the researchers discovered that even non-invasive cells make the delicate, highly transient structures known as invadopodia. The group found that future heart cells in the Ciona embryo use invadopodia to pick up chemical signals from their surroundings. These so-called growth factors provide the cells with clues as to where they are in the developing embryo and what type of cell they are supposed to turn into. (more…)

Two Genetic Variations Predict Second Cancers after Radiation Treatment for Children with Hodgkin’s

By Guest PostJuly 28, 2011Health, Scienceandrew skol, apoptosis, cancer types, cells, differentiation, fundamental cellular processes, gene, genetic variations, hodgkins lymphoma, hodgkins survivors, kenan onel, nature medicine, prdm1, prmd1 gene, proliferation, radiation and chemotherapy, radiation induced second cancers, radiation therapy, sarah jackson, single nucleotide polymorphisms, timothy best, treatable cancers

A genome-wide association study published in the August issue of Nature Medicine has found two tiny genetic variations that can predict which patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma are most likely to develop radiation-induced second cancers years after treatment. Knowing in advance who is at risk could help physicians tailor treatment to reduce the risks for patients who are most susceptible to long-term damage.

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most treatable cancers, with more than 90 percent of patients surviving after a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. But nearly 20 percent of patients treated as children develop a second cancer within 30 years. The younger the patients are when treated and the higher the radiation dose, the greater the risk. This late side effect of treatment is the second leading cause of death for long-term Hodgkin’s survivors. (more…)

Researcher Discovers Mitochondria Share an Ancestor with SAR11

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2011Scienceeukaryotic cells, evolutionary event, marine bacteria, mitochondria

Billions of years ago, an astounding evolutionary event occurred: certain bacteria became obliged to live inside other cells, thus starting a chain of events that resulted in what is now the mitochondria, an organelle found in all eukaryotic cells. A recent study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Oregon State University (OSU) provides strong evidence that mitochondria share a common evolutionary ancestor with a lineage of marine bacteria known as SAR11, arguably the most abundant group of microorganisms on Earth. (more…)

NASA and Chevron Partner to Benefit the Energy Industry

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2011Sciencechevron energy, drilling operations, energy future, geothermal energy

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, Calif., have announced a partnership to develop a range of advanced technologies that can be used in harsh environments, both on Earth and in space. (more…)

What is War Good for? Sparking Civilization, Suggest UCLA Archaeology findings from Peru

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2011Culture, Scienceabigail levine, andes highlands, anthropology, charles stanish, civilization, downfall of taraco, excavations in taraco, fifth century, first century, grassland pampas, iconographic evidence, mesoamerica, mesopotamia, neolithic site in armenia, political conflict, pottery and obsidian industry, predecessors to civilization, pukara, ramis river, regional trade, southern peru, titicaca basin, ucla study, war, warfare

Warfare, triggered by political conflict between the fifth century B.C. and the first century A.D., likely shaped the development of the first settlement that would classify as a civilization in the Titicaca basin of southern Peru, a new UCLA study suggests.

Charles Stanish, director of UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and Abigail Levine, a UCLA graduate student in anthropology, used archaeological evidence from the basin, home to a number of thriving and complex early societies during the first millennium B.C., to trace the evolution of two larger, dominant states in the region: Taraco, along the Ramis River, and Pukara, in the grassland pampas. (more…)

Researchers Find Potential Key for Unlocking Biomass Energy

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2011Environment, Sciencebiofuel, bruce dale, cellulose, corn leaves, economically viable, energy potential, enzymes, ethanol, great lakes bioenergy research center, michigan state university, non edible biomass, plant cells, ratio of ammonia, renewable energy, shishir chundawat, stalks, switch grass, toxic chemicals

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Pretreating non-edible biomass – corn leaves, stalks or switch grass – holds the keys for unlocking its energy potential and making it economically viable, according to a team of researchers led by Michigan State University.

Shishir Chundawat, a postdoctoral researcher, and Bruce Dale, professor of chemical engineering and materials science, of MSU led a team of researchers in identifying a potential pretreatment method that can make plant cellulose five times more digestible by enzymes that convert it into ethanol, a useful biofuel. The research was supported by the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, a partnership between the University of Wisconsin and MSU and published in the current issue of Journal of the American Chemical Society. (more…)

Twisted Tale of our Galaxy’s Ring

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2011Sciencegiant telescope, herschel observations, milky way galaxy, neighbor galaxy, twisted ring

New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Herschel’s view reveals the entire ring for the first time, and a strange kink that has astronomers scratching their heads. (more…)

Life Scientists Use Novel Technique to Produce Genetic Map for African Americans

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2011Scienceafrican american, african american dna, african ancestry, african and european ancestry, african caribbeans, ancestry, bioinformatics, biological process, cag, chicago asthma genetics, chromosome, collaborative study on the genetics of asthma, csga, daniel wegmann, david reich, discover genes, disease mapping, DNA, european populations, european rate, genestar, genetic diseases in african americans, genetic map, genetic network of arteriopathy, genetic research on asthma in the africa diaspora, genetic study of atheroscleoris risk, genoa, genome, graad, high resolution genetic maps, john novembre, journal nature genetics, nelson freimer, recombination, saarp, scales of the genome, searle foundation, severe asthma research program, simon myers, snp typing for association with multiple phenotypes from existing epidemiological data, stampeed, ucla life scientists

UCLA life scientists and colleagues have produced one of the first high-resolution genetic maps for African American populations. A genetic map reveals the precise locations across the genome where DNA from a person’s father and mother have been stitched together through a biological process called “recombination.” This process results in new genetic combinations that are then passed on to the person’s children.

The new map will help disease geneticists working to map genetic diseases in African Americans because it provides a more accurate understanding of recombination rates among that population, said the senior author of the research, John Novembre, a UCLA assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of bioinformatics. The map could help scientists learn the roots of these diseases and discover genes that play a key role in them. (more…)

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