Three “Tell Your Own Cell Story” videos commissioned by Celldance Studios, a.k.a. the ASCB’s Public Information Committee premiere online from the 2014 ASCB/IFCB meeting in Philadelphia on Monday, December 8. All three are streamable and downloadable. www.ascb.org/celldance-2014
In work to be presented at the ASCB/IFCB meeting in Philadelphia, researchers from the Institut Curie in Paris report that they have evidence of a coordinated attack on the basement membrane of human colon cells by cancer cells in situ and CAF cells in the extracellular matrix that begins long before the actual translocation of cancer cells.
Now bioengineering researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia have come up with an experimental workaround—a synthetic pediatric blood-brain barrier on a small chip—and have tested it successfully using rat brain endothelial cells (RBECs) from rat pups and human endothelial cells.
Jae-Won Shin and David Mooney of Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Cambridge, MA, describe building a three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel system with tunable stiffness to see how relative stiffness of the surrounding ECM affected the resistance of human myeloid leukemias to chemotherapeutic drugs.
The even more surprising answer was that rescuing the Golgi reduced Aβ accumulation significantly, apparently by re-opening a normal protein degradation pathway for the amyloid precursor protein (APP).
The average animal cell is 10 microns across but why? Princeton bioengineers take their story of gravity in cells one step further at ASCB, describing how cells manage to support thousands of membrane-less compartments inside the nucleus
A new method uses photoactivatable complementary fluorescent proteins (PACF) to observe and quantify protein-protein interactions in live cells at the single molecule level.
The search for a living laboratory model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)—the so-called “Alzheimer’s in a dish”—has a new candidate. Håkan Toresson and colleagues at Lund University in Sweden report success in creating induced neurons that model Alzheimer’s by starting with fibroblasts taken from skin biopsies.
“This new research tool offers us a more profound view of the immune responses that are involved in a range of diseases, such as HIV infection. At the level of gene transcription, this had been difficult, complex and costly to do with current technologies, such as microscopy” - Dr. Daniel Kaufmann, University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre
Researchers at the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore have comprehensively described the network of proteins involved in cell-cell adhesions, or the cadherin interactome. This work was published in Science Signaling (Guo et al. E-cadherin interactome complexity and robustness resolved by quantitative proteomics, Science Signaling, 02 Dec 2014, Vol 7, Issue 354).
Salk researchers tinker with a time-restricted diet in mice and find that it is remarkably forgiving.
Replenishing the supply of a molecule that normally activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain could relieve mood and anxiety disorders and enable some people to quit using marijuana, a Vanderbilt University study suggest
Researchers can now explore viruses, bacteria and components of the human body in more detail than ever before with software developed at The Scripps Research Institute. In a study published December 1 in the journal Nature Methods, the researchers demonstrated how the software, called cellPACK, can be used to model viruses such as HIV.
Scientists have believed that the lengthening of those repeats occur during DNA replication when cells divide or when the cellular DNA repair machinery gets activated. Recently, however, Tufts University researchers have traced expansive repeats to the process called transcription, which is copying the information from DNA into RNA.
Using a new imaging technique, National Institutes of Health researchers have found that the biological machinery that builds DNA can insert molecules into the DNA strand that are damaged as a result of environmental exposures. These damaged molecules trigger cell death that produces some human diseases, according to the researchers. The work, appearing online Nov. 17 in the journal Nature, provides a possible explanation for how one type of DNA damage may lead to cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and lung disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found a simple method to convert human skin cells into the specialized neurons that detect pain, itch, touch and other bodily sensations and are affected by spinal cord injury and involved in Friedreich’s ataxia.
A multi-disciplinary research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has made a breakthrough discovery of a new type of immune cells that may help in the development of a future treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS).
Berkeley Lab scientists have learned new details about how an important tumor-suppressing protein, called p53, binds to the human genome. As with many things in life, they found that context makes a big difference.
Life's extremists, a family of microbes called Archaea, may be an untapped source of new antibacterial drugs. That conclusion arises from the discovery of the first antibacterial gene in this ancient lineage.
The cohesin molecule ensures the proper distribution of DNA during cell division. Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna can now prove the concept of its carabiner-like function by visualizing for the first time the open form of the complex. The journal SCIENCE publishes the new findings in its current issue.
While investigating a rare genetic disorder, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a ubiquitous signaling molecule is crucial to cellular reprogramming, a finding with significant implications for stem cell-based regenerative medicine, wound repair therapies and potential cancer treatments.
The new method lets researchers identify weak and previously undetectable interactions between proteins inside living cells
Underlying circadian rhythms is a clock built of transcription factors that control the oscillation of genes, serving as the wheels and springs of the clock. But, how does a single clock keep time in multiple phases at once? A genome-wide survey found that circadian genes and regulatory elements called enhancers oscillate daily in phase with nearby genes – both the enhancer and gene activity peak at the same time each day.
Researchers debate whether the lung tissue in pulmonary fibrosis is directly damaged, or whether immune cells initiate the scarring process – an important distinction when trying to find new ways to battle the disease. Now research shows that both processes may be important, and suggest a new direction for developing novel therapies.
Case Western Reserve researchers have identified a protein mutation that alters specific gender-related tissue in males before birth and can contribute to cancer and other less life-threatening challenges. The findings appear in the November 21 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Protein misfolding” diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s may be seriously exacerbated by the body’s own response against that misfolding, according to a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.
Dr. Maya Schuldiner’s lab has identified an unusual cellular mechanism – a two-part zinc pump – that is faulty in some types of Alzheimer’s. While it’s not yet clear how the finding links to Alzheimer’s, it does offer new directions for investigating the causes of the disease.
An anti-cancer drug protects normal cells from radiation damage and increases the effectiveness of radiation therapy in prostate cancer models
New research in flies shows how cells in adult reproductive organs maintain their sexual identity. The study, published online on Nov. 13 in Developmental Cell, also identified a mutation that can switch the cells’ sexual identity. The findings could lead to new insights on how to alter cells for therapeutic purposes.
A team from the Morgridge Institute for Research regenerative biology group, led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and stem cell pioneer James Thomson, discovered a way to impose an immortal-like state on mouse progenitor cells responsible for producing blood and vascular tissue. By regulating a small number of genes, the cells became “trapped” in a self-renewing state and capable of producing functional endothelial, blood and smooth muscle cells.
Scientists have mostly ignored mRNA, the molecule that ferries information from DNA to the cellular machines that make proteins, because these DNA transcripts are ephemeral and soon destroyed. But mRNA can be just as important as DNA scientists at Washington University in St. Louis say. They found that oxidized messenger RNA jams the cellular machines that make protein. The failure to clear the jams and chew up bad messengers is associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Molecules called long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in breast cancer but exactly why they cause metastasis and tumor growth has been little understood…until now.
A newly identified signaling pathway that stimulates glucose uptake in brown fat cells might be useful for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity.
By transforming human scar cells into blood vessel cells, scientists may have discovered a new way to repair damaged tissue. The method, described in an upcoming issue of Circulation (early online), appeared to improve blood flow, oxygenation, and nutrition to areas in need.
Study shows that one way to solve problems of synthesis of natural compounds is to figure out how an organism solves the problem itself, and then modify it for a particular use.
Our genetic makeup influences whether we are fat or thin by shaping which types of microbes thrive in our body, according to a Cornell-led study published today in the journal Cell.
Induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) hold promise for therapeutic transplantation, but their potential in this capacity has been limited by failed efforts to maintain such cells in their multi-potent NSC state. Now, Whitehead Institute scientists have created iNSCs that remain in the multi-potent state—without ongoing expression of reprogramming factors. This allows the iNSCs to self-renew repeatedly to generate cells in quantities sufficient for therapy.
Basic research in 2002 and years of follow-up studies led UAB’s Anath Shalev, M.D., to a human trial of a diabetes drug unlike any in use.
Within weeks of publishing surprising new insights about how zebrafish get their stripes, the same University of Washington group is now able to explain how to "erase" them.
NYU Langone yeast geneticists report they have developed a novel tool — dubbed “the telomerator” — that could redefine the limits of synthetic biology and advance how successfully living things can be engineered or constructed in the laboratory based on an organism’s genetic, chemical base-pair structure.
A team of Whitehead Institute scientists has discovered the surprising manner in which an enigmatic protein known as SUUR acts to control gene copy number during DNA replication. It’s a finding that could shed new light on the formation of fragile genomic regions associated with chromosomal abnormalities.
UCLA scientists show that two genes not previously known to be involved with the immune system play an active role in directing stem cells to fight infection
Plants rely on sunlight to make their food, but they also need protection from its harmful rays, just like humans do. Recently, scientists discovered a group of molecules in plants that shields them from sun damage. Now, in an article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, one team reports on the mechanics of how these natural plant sunscreens work.
KU Cancer Center researchers have identified a protein that could prevent metastasis and recurrence of breast cancer.
Fourteen years ago, several genes were discovered that are more active in tumor-associated blood vessels than in normal blood vessels. New research now reveals the normal function of one of those genes and suggests it could be a good target for anticancer drug therapy.
A common protein plays a different role than previously thought in the opening and closing of channels that let ions flow in and out of our cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins report. Those channels are critical to life, as having the right concentrations of sodium and calcium ions in cells enables healthy brain communication, heart contraction and many other processes. The new study reveals that a form of calmodulin long thought to be dormant actually opens these channels wide. The finding is likely to bring new insight into disorders caused by faulty control of these channels, such as cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, the researchers say.
Amoebas aren’t the only cells that crawl: Movement is crucial to development, wound healing and immune response in animals, not to mention cancer metastasis. In two new studies from Johns Hopkins, researchers answer long-standing questions about how complex cells sense the chemical trails that show them where to go — and the role of cells’ internal “skeleton” in responding to those cues.
Six Case Western Reserve scientists are part of an international team that has discovered two compounds that show promise in decreasing inflammation in diseases such as ulcerative colitis and arthritis. The compounds appear to curtail inflammation-triggering signals from RIPK2. These findings appear in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Salk scientists identify a promising target for HIV/AIDS treatment
A new imaging platform developed by Eric Betzig and colleagues at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus offers another leap forward for light microscopy. The new technology collects high-resolution images rapidly and minimizes damage to cells, meaning it can image the three-dimensional activity of molecules, cells, and embryos in fine detail over longer periods than was previously possible. Betzig was one of three scientists who shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry earlier this month.
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