Biology News Net - Molecular & Cell Biology

Epilepsy cured in mice using brain cells

Sun, 05 May 2013 18:13:17 -0500

UCSF scientists controlled seizures in epileptic mice with a one-time transplantation of medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells, which inhibit signaling in overactive nerve circuits, into the hippocampus, a brain region associated with seizures, as well as with learning and memory. Other researchers had previously used different cell types in rodent cell transplantation experiments and failed to stop seizures.

Cat and mouse: A single gene matters

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:58:57 -0500

When a mouse smells a cat, it instinctively avoids the feline or risks becoming dinner. How? A Northwestern University study involving olfactory receptors, which underlie the sense of smell, provides evidence that a single gene is necessary for the behavior.

New research findings on the brain's guardian cells

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:20:10 -0500

Researcher Johan Jakobsson and his colleagues have now published their results in Nature Communications.

'Love handles' melt away at the push of a button

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:17:29 -0500

For a long time, scientists have dreamt of converting undesirable white fat cells into brown fat cells and thus simply have excess pounds melt away. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now gotten a step closer to this goal: They decoded a "toggle switch" in mice which can significantly stimulate fat burning. The results are now being presented in the scientifc journal "Nature Communications".

New immune cells hint at eczema cause

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:56:28 -0500

These is a false color image of the skin showing newly discovered immune cells, which have a potential link to allergic skin diseases like eczema. Sydney researchers have discovered a new type of immune cell in skin that plays a role in fighting off parasitic invaders such as ticks, mites, and worms, and could be linked to eczema and allergic skin diseases.

Stanford researchers turn skin cells directly into the cells that insulate neurons

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:22:38 -0500

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in transforming skin cells directly into oligodendrocyte precursor cells, the cells that wrap nerve cells in the insulating myelin sheaths that help nerve signals propagate.

Newly discovered blood protein solves 60-year-old riddle

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:07:00 -0500

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered a new protein that controls the presence of the Vel blood group antigen on our red blood cells. The discovery makes it possible to use simple DNA testing to find blood donors for patients who lack the Vel antigen and need a blood transfusion.

Spinal tap -- using cactus spines to isolate DNA

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:43:00 -0500

Isolation of DNA from some organisms is a routine procedure. For example, you can buy a kit at your local pharmacy or grocery store that allows you to swab the inside of your cheek and send the sample for DNA sequencing. However, for other organisms, DNA extraction is much more problematic. Researchers at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, have developed a novel procedure that greatly simplifies genomic DNA isolation from cactus tissue.

Reading the human genome

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:55:40 -0500

Eva Nogales and Yuan He used cryo-electron microscopy to record how a complex of biomolecules is able to read the human genome one gene at a time. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have achieved a major advance in understanding how genetic information is transcribed from DNA to RNA by providing the first step-by-step look at the biomolecular machinery that reads the human genome.

'Activating' RNA takes DNA on a loop through time and space

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:29:04 -0500

Long segments of RNA— encoded in our DNA but not translated into protein—are key to physically manipulating DNA in order to activate certain genes, say researchers at The Wistar Institute. These non-coding RNA-activators (ncRNA-a) have a crucial role in turning genes on and off during early embryonic development, researchers say, and have also been connected with diseases, including some cancers, in adults.