Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Genes play important role in risk for dependence on illicit and licit drugs

11-05-2007 · EurekAlert!

The genes that play a role in illegal drug abuse are not entirely the same as those involved in dependence on legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, and caffeine addiction appears to be genetically independent of all the others, according to a study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.

Keywords: genes, play, important, role, risk, dependence, illicit, licit, drugs, gene, drug

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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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Tumor-suppressor gene is critical for placenta development
01-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages. Those conclusions come from a new study of the retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in mice. In humans, this gene, when mutated, raises the risk of a rare cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma.
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The most important candidate genes for pancreatic stone formation
11-13-2007 · EurekAlert!
Chronic pancreatitis, an inflammatory condition of the pancreas, is usually associated with parenchymal calcification and multiple stones in the pancreatic duct. Lithostathine, a major proteic component of pancreatic stones, is thought to play an important role in stone formation. A research group from India has investigated if mutations in the gene encoding lithostathine (reg1) are responsible for stone formation, using tropical calcific pancreatitis as their model of chronic pancreatitis.
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Studies identify DNA regions linked to nicotine dependence
02-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
Genetic factors play an important role in cigarette addiction, suggest scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They show that certain genetic variations can influence smoking behaviors and contribute to a person's risk for nicotine dependence.
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Scientists discover tiny RNAs play a big role in controlling genes
10-25-2007 · EurekAlert!
PiRNAs, a recently discovered class of tiny RNAs, play an important role in controlling gene function.
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Bleeding during endoscopy: Do anti-inflammatories play a role?
03-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Does an aspirin-a-day increase the risk of bleeding during invasive diagnostic procedure? This is an important concern for many patients who take these and other antiplatelet agents in an effort to reduce heart attacks or strokes. Researchers at the MUHC have shown that antiplatelet drugs do not contribute to post-endoscopic bleeding. Their findings are published in this month's issue of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
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Jefferson scientists find tumor suppressor gene protects against pre-cancerous development
11-01-2006 · EurekAlert!
Cell biologists have provided further evidence that a gene thought to play a role in suppressing tumors actually protects against the development of pre-cancerous cell growth as well. The researchers say that the gene, caveolin-1, which they found in two major types of breast cells, could be a potential target for future drugs aimed at preventing breast cancer. The work also suggests a potentially important role of the tumor "microenvironment" in the cancerous process.
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Mutation of the COX2 gene can double or treble a woman's risk of ovarian cancer
09-25-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers in Portugal have discovered that a specific mutation of the COX2 gene seems to play a role in the onset of ovarian cancer, increasing women's susceptibility to developing the disease. Dr. Ana Carina Pereira told the European Cancer Conference that the discovery raises the possibility that it might be possible to use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, which are used already for other conditions, to prevent ovarian cancer developing in women with the COX2 mutation.
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Cold sore virus might play role in Alzheimer's disease
01-03-2007 · EurekAlert!
A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene. The findings add some scientific heft to the idea, long suspected by some scientists, that herpes somehow plays a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease.
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St. Jude study shows genes play an unexpected role in their own activation
06-22-2007 · EurekAlert!
Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered how a single molecular "on switch" triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver.
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