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Zebrafish help decode link between calcium deficiency and colon cancer

By Guest PostDecember 21, 2013Health, Sciencebetween, calcium deficiency, calcium depleted, calcium regulation mechanism, calcium transporter, colon cancer, colon cancer cells, cunming duan, decode, epithelial cell, growth factor, human, link, lisa hebda, low calcium environments, new mechanism, pathway, trpv5, university of michigan, water calcium level, xueping zhong, yan bai, zebrafish, zebrafish embryo skin

ANN ARBOR — A tiny, transparent fish embryo and a string of surprises led scientists to a deeper understanding of the perplexing link between low calcium and colon cancer.

By studying zebrafish embryo skin, University of Michigan researchers decoded cell messages underlying abnormal colonic cell growth of the kind that can lead to tumors and colon cancer in calcium deficient individuals. They have also tested this new mechanism in human colon cancer cells. (more…)

Method makes it easier to separate useful stem cells from ‘problem’ ones for therapies

By Guest PostMay 6, 2013Sciencebakers yeast, bone cells, cardiac development, carla koehler, cell functions, cell types, deepa dabir, differentiated daughter cells, michael teitell, mitoblock 6, mitochondria, model organism, model system, molecule, one cell model, power plants, saccharomyces cerevisiae, single celled microorganism, stem cells, therapeutic effects, ucla scientists, zebrafish

UCLA study IDs small molecule that destroys potentially dangerous cells

Pluripotent stem cells can turn, or differentiate, into any cell type in the body, such as nerve, muscle or bone, but inevitably some of these stem cells fail to differentiate and end up mixed in with their newly differentiated daughter cells.

Because these remaining pluripotent stem cells can subsequently develop into unintended cell types — bone cells among blood, for instance — or form tumors known as teratomas, identifying and separating them from their differentiated progeny is of utmost importance in keeping stem cell–based therapeutics safe. (more…)

Tiny Piece of RNA Keeps ‘Clock’ Running in Earliest Stages of Life

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2013Sciencechickens, cyclical gene activity, embryonic tissue, formation of somites, genetic clock, gerard nuovo, humans, kanu wahi, lfng, lfng gene, matthew bochter, maurisa riley, mice, mir 125a 5p, muscle, ohio state, oscillating pattern, oscillatory pattern, protein, protein production, rna, segmentation clock, single microrna, susan cole, tiny piece, transcripts, vertebrae, zebrafish

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research shows that a tiny piece of RNA has an essential role in ensuring that embryonic tissue segments form properly.

The study, conducted in chicken embryos, determined that this piece of RNA regulates cyclical gene activity that defines the timing of the formation of tissue segments that later become muscle and vertebrae.

Genes involved in this activity are turned on and off in an oscillating pattern that matches the formation of each tissue segment. If the timing of these genes’ activity doesn’t remain tightly regulated, the tissue either won’t form at all or will form with defects. (more…)

Green-Glowing Fish Provides New Insights into Health Impacts of Pollution

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Environmentbisphenol a, breast, change gender, charles tyler, contraceptive pharmaceutical, decrease, endocrine disrupting chemicals, environmental estrogens, ethinyloestradiol, fluorescent fish, genetic system, green fluorescent signals, humans, industrial detergents, industrial product, male fish, nonylphenol, oestrogen hormone, oestrogenic chemicals, okhyun lee, plastics, reproductive problems, river, sperm count, testicular cancer, tetsuhiro kudoh, transgenic zebrafish, ucl, university college london, university of exeter, wastewater, wildlife, zebrafish

Understanding the damage that pollution causes to both wildlife and human health is set to become much easier thanks to a new green-glowing zebrafish.

Created by a team from the University of Exeter, the fish makes it easier than ever before to see where in the body environmental chemicals act and how they affect health.

The fluorescent fish has shown that oestrogenic chemicals, which are already linked to reproductive problems, impact on more parts of the body than previously thought.

The research by the University of Exeter and UCL (University College London) is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. (more…)

Scientists Find Possible Cause of Movement Defects in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Healthamino acid, childhood disorder, christine beattie, emily caldwell, function, gene, genetic link, genetic manipulation, le hao, levels of protein, marc wolman, michael granato, motor neuron, muscle weakness, nerve cell, plastin 3, protein, sma, smn, spinal cord, spinal muscular atrophy, zebrafish

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An abnormally low level of a protein in certain nerve cells is linked to movement problems that characterize the deadly childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research in animals suggests.

Spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, is caused when a child’s motor neurons – nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles – produce insufficient amounts of what is called survival motor neuron protein, or SMN. This causes motor neurons to die, leading to muscle weakness and the inability to move. (more…)

Treatment For TB Can Be Guided By Patients’ Genetics

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2012Scienceanti-inflammatory, charles serhan, corticosteroids, david tobin, dexamethasone therapy, duke university, francisco roca, gene, gene variant, genetic sequence, goldilocks effect, guy thwaites, harvard university, heterozygous advantage, human genetics, hyperinflammation, infection, inflammation, inflammatory response, lalita ramakrishnan, leukotriene b4, lipoxins, lta4h, mary claire king, mutation, oxford university, patient, pro inflammatory, seattle, substance, tb, tb like infection, tb meningitis, tuberculosis, tuberculosis treatment, university of washington, Vietnam, zebrafish

A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis.

An international collaboration between researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, Duke University, Harvard University, the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam and Kings College London reported these findings Feb. 3 in the journal Cell. (more…)

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