Tag Archives: protein

Lack of Protein Sp2 Disrupts Neuron Creation in Brain

By Guest PostJanuary 21, 2013Sciencecancer research, cell cycle regulator, cerebral cortex, creation of neurons, experimental mice, function of sp2, genetic tools, guanxi xiao, haifeng yin, how protein works, huixuan liang, jon horowitz, mechanism, neural therapies, neurodevelopmental diseases, north Carolina, offspring, program stem cell, protein, regeneration, regenerative medicine, simon hippenmeyer, skin, sp2, state university, stem cells, troy ghashghaei, tumor

A protein known as Sp2 is key to the proper creation of neurons from stem cells, according to researchers at North Carolina State University. Understanding how this protein works could enable scientists to “program” stem cells for regeneration, which has implications for neural therapies.

Troy Ghashghaei and Jon Horowitz, both faculty in NC State’s Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences and researchers in the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, wanted to know more about the function of Sp2, a cell cycle regulator that helps control how cells divide. Previous research from Horowitz had shown that too much Sp2 in skin-producing stem cells resulted in tumors in experimental mice. Excessive amounts of Sp2 prevented the stem cells from creating normal cell “offspring,” or skin cells. Instead, the stem cells just kept producing more stem cells, which led to tumor formation. (more…)

Virus Caught in the Act of Infecting a Cell

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2013Health, Scienceaustin, bacterium, bo hu, cryo electron tomography, ct scan, e coli, experimental evidence, feelers, fibers, genetic, genetic material, head, human hair, ian molineux, image, infect, infect a cell, infected cell membrane, infection, infection process, jun liu, protein, protein path, robot like process, structure, t7, texas, thickness, university, ut health, viral dna, virus, visualize, william margolin

About the video: watch an animation showing the changes in the structure of a T7 virus as it infects an E. coli bacterium.

AUSTIN, Texas — The detailed changes in the structure of a virus as it infects an E. coli bacterium have been observed for the first time, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT Health) Medical School this week in Science Express. (more…)

Pesticides and Parkinson’s: UCLA Researchers Uncover Further Proof of a Link

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Environment, Healthaaron lulla, aldehyde dehydrogenase, aldh, aldh activity, arthur g fitzmaurice, benomyl, benomyl exposure, brain malformations, california, carcinogenesis, case, cellular event, central valley, common chemical, culprit, damage, degeneration of neurons, disease, dopal, dopaminergic neurons, drifting particles, environmental protection agency, enzyme, genetic variations, hoa a lam, jeff bronstein, link, lisa barnhill, liver tumors, maneb, mid brain, molecular tweezers, neurologist, neuron, neurotransmitter, nigel t maidment, paraquat, parkinson's, parkinsons symptoms, pesticide, progression of disease, protein, reproductive effect, rigidity, slowed movement, speech, spray, substantia nigra, therapeutic drugs, toxicological effect, toxin, tremor, ucla, ziram, α synuclein

Study suggests potential new target in fight against debilitating disease

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram — common chemicals sprayed in California’s Central Valley and elsewhere — have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

Now, UCLA researchers have discovered a link between Parkinson’s and another pesticide, benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger some 10 years after the chemical was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (more…)

Protein Strongest Just Before Death

By Guest PostDecember 13, 2012Health, Sciencecell death, cell growth, david arnosti, degradation, destruction, drosophila, fruit fly, genetic similarity, grave, humans, liang zhang, lifecycle, mechanism, michigan state university, molecular details, nontraditional lifestyle, one foot, protein, proteins, retinoblastoma, retinoblastoma proteins, treat cancer, tumor suppressor, wings

Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered a protein that does its best work with one foot in the grave.

The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, focuses on the nontraditional lifestyle of Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor proteins, which could lead to new ways to treat cancer.

“Retinoblastoma proteins are unique in that they use controlled destruction to do their jobs in a timely but restrained fashion,” said Liang Zhang, a lead author and MSU cell and molecular biology graduate student. “This is an unusual way for proteins to act.” (more…)

Another Muscular Dystrophy Mystery Solved; MU Scientists Inch Closer to a Therapy for Patients

By Guest PostDecember 9, 2012Healthbony, cell degeneration, chain reaction, damage, death, devastating disease, dmd, dongsheng duan, duchenne muscular dystrophy, dystrophin, fatty tissue, fibrous, function, gene mutation, humans, missouri, molecular compound, muscle cells, muscle tissue, muscular dystrophy, nnos, protein, united states, university, utrophin, yi lai

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Approximately 250,000 people in the United States suffer from muscular dystrophy, which occurs when damaged muscle tissue is replaced with fibrous, bony or fatty tissue and loses function. Three years ago, University of Missouri scientists found a molecular compound that is vital to curing the disease, but they didn’t know how to make the compound bind to the muscle cells. In a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, MU School of Medicine scientists Yi Lai and Dongsheng Duan have discovered the missing pieces to this puzzle that could ultimately lead to a therapy and, potentially, a longer lifespan for patients suffering from the disease.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), predominantly affecting males, is the most common type of muscular dystrophy. Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a gene mutation that disrupts the production of dystrophin, a protein essential for muscle cell survival and function. Absence of dystrophin starts a chain reaction that eventually leads to muscle cell degeneration and death. While dystrophin is vital for muscle development, the protein also needs several “helpers” to maintain the muscle tissue. One of these “helper” molecular compounds is nNOS, which produces nitric oxide that can keep muscle cells healthy after exercise. (more…)

Mutations in Genes that Modify DNA Packaging Result in form of Muscular Dystrophy

By Guest PostNovember 22, 2012Sciencebiopsies, chromatin structure, chromosome 4, culture, daniel g miller, devastating disease, dna sequence, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, family history, fshd, genetic deletions, genetic disorder, genetic material, genome, leiden university, medical geneticists, michael bamshad, muscle cell, muscle toxic dux4, mutation, protein, rabi tawil, rochester, silvere, smchd1 gene, stephen tapscott, symptom, the netherlands, university, van der maarel, Washington

A recent finding by medical geneticists sheds new light on how facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy develops and how it might be treated. More commonly known as FSHD, the devastating disease affects both men and women.

FSHD is usually an inherited genetic disorder, yet sometimes appears spontaneously via new mutations in individuals with no family history of the condition.

“People with the condition experience progressive muscle weakness and about 1 in 5 require wheelchair assistance by age 40,” said Dr. Daniel G. Miller, University of Washington associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Genetic Medicine. Miller and his worldwide collaborators study the molecular events leading to symptoms of FSHD in the hopes of designing therapies to prevent the emergence of symptoms or reduce their severity. (more…)

How Do Cells Tell Time? Scientists Develop Single-Cell Imaging to Watch the Cell Clock

By Guest PostNovember 18, 2012Science24 hour, activity, biological noise, cell, cell division, circadian clock, cyclic gene, cyclic protein, cyclical behavior, embryonic segmentation, embryonic segments, emilie delaune, gene, gene activation, life, lifespan, mesoderm, mitosis, molecular clock, muscle, nathan shih, nervous system, notch signaling pathway, oscillating pattern, oscillation, paul françois, phase, protein, sharon amacher, signal, signal reception, single cell, somites, synchronization, tissue segments, vasculature, vertebrae, visualization, visualize, zebrafish embryos

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new way to visualize single-cell activity in living zebrafish embryos has allowed scientists to clarify how cells line up in the right place at the right time to receive signals about the next phase of their life.

Scientists developed the imaging tool in single living cells by fusing a protein defining the cells’ cyclical behavior to a yellow fluorescent protein that allows for visualization. Zebrafish embryos are already transparent, but with this closer microscopic look at the earliest stages of life, the researchers have answered two long-standing questions about how cells cooperate to form embryonic segments that later become muscle and vertebrae. (more…)

Common Food Preservative May Slow, Even Stop Tumor Growth

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2012Healthanti tumor, antibacterial agent, antimicrobial, bacteria, bad cell, calcium, cancer fighting, cancer medicine, cancerous tumor, cell carcinoma, cell death, cell head, cell membrane, chac1, fda, food preservative, good cell, human consumption, key regulator, michigan, neck cancer, nisin, nisin treatment, oral cancer, potential, properties, protein, squamous, therapy, tumor, university, yvonne kapila

ANN ARBOR — Nisin, a common food preservative, may slow or stop squamous cell head and neck cancers, a University of Michigan study found.

What makes this particularly good news is that the Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization approved nisin as safe for human consumption decades ago, says Yvonne Kapila, the study’s principal investigator and professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. (more…)