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New Key to Organism Complexity Identified

By Guest PostJanuary 26, 2013Sciencegene pool, genetic message, metazoan evolution, split personality, transcription factor

Berkeley Scientists Find that a Critical Transcription Factor Co-exists in Two Distinct States

The enormously diverse complexity seen amongst individual species within the animal kingdom evolved from a surprisingly small gene pool. For example, mice effectively serve as medical research models because humans and mice share 80-percent of the same protein-coding genes. The key to morphological and behavioral complexity, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests, is the regulation of gene expression by a family of DNA-binding proteins called “transcription factors.” Now, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley has discovered the secret behind how one these critical transcription factors is able to perform – a split personality. (more…)

Yale Team Discovers How Stress and Depression Can Shrink the Brain

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2012Health, Scienceanimal model, antidepressant therapy, ashley lepack, bhavya voleti, brain, brain cell, brain mass, brain volume, chronic stress, cognitive impairment, depression, emotional, gata1, gene, gene activation, genetic switch, h j kang, mounira banasr, pattern, pawel licznerski, prefrontal cortex, ronald duman, shrink, stress, symptoms of depression, synaptic connection, transcription factor, yale

Major depression or chronic stress can cause the loss of brain volume, a condition that contributes to both emotional and cognitive impairment. Now a team of researchers led by Yale scientists has discovered one reason why this occurs — a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.

The findings, reported in the Aug. 12 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, show that the genetic switch known as a transcription factor represses the expression of several genes that are necessary for the formation of synaptic connections between brain cells, which in turn could contribute to loss of brain mass in the prefrontal cortex. (more…)

Chemical in Spice Turmeric Kickstarts Cancer-Killing Mechanisms in Human Saliva

By Guest PostSeptember 18, 2011Health, Scienceanti aging agent, anti inflammatory effects, cancer enhancing cytokines, curcumin, enzyme, eri srivatsan, head and neck cancer, hpv virus, human saliva, ikk, India, kappa β kinase, marilene wang, medicinal properties, menstrual cramps, nfκβ, not toxic, nuclear factor kappa β, oral cancers, poultice, pro inflammatory cytokines, signaling molecules, south asian and middle eastern cooking, spice turmeric, transcription factor, turmeric, wound healing

Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The inhibition of the pathway also correlated with reduced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling molecules, in the saliva that promote cancer growth, said senior study author Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher. (more…)

Tag Archives: transcription factor

New Key to Organism Complexity Identified

Yale Team Discovers How Stress and Depression Can Shrink the Brain

Chemical in Spice Turmeric Kickstarts Cancer-Killing Mechanisms in Human Saliva