Posts Tagged ‘biomedicine’

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Scientists track variant of gene-regulating protein in embryonic stem cells

March 10th, 2010

The path to fully developed cells from embryonic stem cells requires that the right genes are turned on and off at the right times. New research from Rockefeller University shows that tiny variations between gene-regulating histone proteins play an important role in determining how and when genes are read. The finding shows that each region of the genome may be even more specialized than previously expected and may open a new avenue of investigation regarding the mysterious causes of the human genetic disease known as ATR-X syndrome.

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Scientists track variant of gene-regulating protein in embryonic stem cells

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Research identifies gene that changes the brain’s response to stress

March 9th, 2010

Brains change. They change throughout life, responding to developmental but also environmental cues, like stress. Scientists know of several important proteins that play a role in what brains do with new experience. Now they have identified one, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which must be present at a certain level to enable the brain’s “adaptive plasticity,” particularly in response to stress.

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Research identifies gene that changes the brain’s response to stress

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Leaf veins inspire a new model for distribution networks

February 9th, 2010

Following the straight and narrow may be good moral advice, but it’s not a great design principle for a distribution network. In new research, a team of biophysicists describe a complex netting of interconnected looping veins that evolution devised to distribute water in leaves. The work, which bucks decades of thinking, may compel engineers to revisit some common assumptions that have informed the building of many human-built distribution networks.

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Leaf veins inspire a new model for distribution networks

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Newly engineered enzyme is a powerful staph antibiotic

February 5th, 2010

In the past decade, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, has ushered in a new era in the fight between man and bug. By harnessing the power of nature’s own antibiotics, scientists have engineered an enzyme known as a lysin that not only kills MRSA in mice but also works synergistically with antibiotics that were once powerless against the formidable organism.

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Clinical Trial to explore link between vitamin D and cholesterol

January 20th, 2010

An unusual finding in previous studies of vitamin D-deficient patients has prompted a new clinical study at The Rockefeller University Hospital. Investigator Manish Ponda aims to discover if there is a causative relationship between vitamin D supplementation and elevated levels of small LDL cholesterol. The hospital is currently recruiting subjects for the study.

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Clinical Trial to explore link between vitamin D and cholesterol

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Loss of epigenetic regulators causes mental retardation

January 8th, 2010

New findings, published in recent issues of Neuron and Science, indicate that malfunction of a protein complex that normally suppresses gene activation causes mental retardation in mice and humans and may even play a role in promoting susceptibility to drug addiction.

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Loss of epigenetic regulators causes mental retardation

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Titia de Lange awarded grant, named American Cancer Society Research Professor

December 23rd, 2009

The head of Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Cell Biology and Genetics has received a $400,000 grant from the American Cancer Society and has been named an American Cancer Society Research Professor. The five-year grant, which is effective January 1, 2010, will fund de Lange’s continuing research on telomeres, the strings of extra DNA that cap and protect the ends of chromosomes through numerous cycles of cell division.

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Rockefeller University receives nearly $27 million in ARRA grants

December 18th, 2009

Investigators at The Rockefeller University have so far been awarded 41 federal grants and supplemental awards through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) — the so-called “stimulus” legislation passed by Congress last winter. Ranging in size from about $5,000 to nearly $4.6 million, the grants will fund new and ongoing projects in biomedical and clinical research and training.

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Rockefeller University receives nearly $27 million in ARRA grants

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Elusive protein points to mechanism behind hearing loss

December 4th, 2009

A serendipitous discovery in zebra fish larvae born deaf has helped narrow down the function of an elusive protein necessary for hearing and balance. In addition to unveiling a potential target for therapy, the work suggests that hearing loss may arise from a faulty pathway that translates sound into electrical nerve impulses the brain can understand.

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Elusive protein points to mechanism behind hearing loss

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High fat diet increases inflammation in the mouse colon

November 11th, 2009

In mice fed a diet high in fat and low in fiber, vitamin D and calcium — the so-called Western diet — expression of a series of genes collectively associated with immune and inflammatory responses was altered. The findings show that a Western diet induces oxidative stress and alters immune responses in the colon of mice long before tumors occur.

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High fat diet increases inflammation in the mouse colon

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Scientists reveal a new mechanism that increases atherosclerosis in mice

November 4th, 2009

For all the good it does, a liver protein that senses and gets rid of drugs and pollutants from our body has a downside. For the first time, it has been shown that when it is chronically activated, the protein, called PXR, rejiggers how cholesterol is processed in the liver and increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis. The work has direct clinical consequences to patients under long-term treatment of PXR-activating drugs, including several antibiotic and anti-cancer medications — and your daily latte.

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Scientists reveal a new mechanism that increases atherosclerosis in mice

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Immune system uses a “leash” to restrict HIV’s spread

November 3rd, 2009

New research shows how an antiviral protein, tetherin, lashes newborn viral particles to infected cells, slowing the spread of infection. Understanding how this immune system defense works against HIV, Ebola and other deadly viruses could lead to better antiviral therapies.

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Immune system uses a “leash” to restrict HIV’s spread

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Disrupting sleep causes problems for the body and brain

October 26th, 2009

Modern life disrupts our natural sleep cycles with shift-work, jet lag and ubiquitous electric lighting, among other things. New research in mice suggests that the resulting disturbance of nature’s circadian rhythms could have major effects on the body and brain, from a slowing of metabolism to impaired thinking and poor impulse control.

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Disrupting sleep causes problems for the body and brain

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Clinical study to probe genetic link to Salmonella diseases

September 28th, 2009

Unusual symptoms of Salmonella infection in certain children may be caused a genetic mutation, according to researchers at The Rockefeller University Hospital, where a new clinical study is examining the immune profiles of affected children. (Source: The Rockefeller University Newswire)

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Clinical study to probe genetic link to Salmonella diseases

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“Promiscuous” protein interactions found in the nuclear pore complex

September 28th, 2009

The NPC is the only way in or out of a cell’s nucleus. It plays a key role in cellular metabolism and signaling, and any malfunction in these pores can have lethal consequences. Now new research reveals further insights into the design of this evolutionarily ancient and little-understood transport machinery. The findings suggest that the nuclear pore complex takes on different formations to carry out its function. (Source: The Rockefeller University Newswire)

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“Promiscuous” protein interactions found in the nuclear pore complex

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