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Structure of important neurotransmitter regulator determined

02-04-2008 · Brookhaven National Laboratory

Researchers from Virginia Tech and the Brookhaven National Laboratory have solved the structure of an enzyme that is critical in the regulation of the neurotransmitter system in the human brain.

Keywords: structure, important, neurotransmitter, regulator, determined

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Structure of important neurotransmitter regulator determined
02-01-2008 · EurekAlert!
Researchers from Virginia Tech and the Brookhaven National Laboratory have solved the structure of an enzyme that is critical in the regulation of the neurotransmitter system in the human brain.
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An early ape shows its hand
08-08-2007 · EurekAlert!
Dr. C. Owen Lovejoy, Kent State University professor of anthropology, comments on a study published in the latest journal issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences that reports on the structure of the hand of Hispanopithecus, a critically important fossil from an ape that lived during the late Miocene of Spain.
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Proton-powered pooping
01-09-2008 · EurekAlert!
Muscles usually contract when a neurotransmitter molecule is released from nerve cells onto muscle cells. But University of Utah scientists discovered that bare subatomic protons can act like larger, more complex neurotransmitters, making gut muscles contract in tiny round worms so the worms can poop.
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Scientists solve structure of gene regulator that plays key role in cancer
02-13-2008 · EurekAlert!
Scientists at the Wistar Institute have collaborated on a major advance in understanding a gene regulator that contributes to some of the deadliest cancers in humans. Their research paves the way for the development of new cancer therapies. The scientists have elucidated the 3-D structure of a key segment of p300/CBP, one of the most studied enzymes in the HAT family. Aberrant p300/CBP activity contributes to pancreatic, colon, and lung cancer and also can suppress tumors.
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Pretty in Pictures: Details of molecular machinery gain Nobel
10-14-2006 · Science News Online
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to a researcher who determined the structure, in atomic detail, of RNA polymerase taken from yeast cells.
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ATR checkpoint-activating DNA structure
04-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
As published in the April 15th issue of Genes & Development, Dr. Karlene Cimprich and colleagues at Stanford University have determined the minimal DNA structure sufficient to activate the ATR-mediated DNA damage checkpoint.
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First 3-D map of the universe's dark matter scaffolding
01-07-2007 · EurekAlert!
By analysing the COSMOS survey -- the largest ever survey undertaken with Hubble -- an international team of scientists has assembled one of the most important results in cosmology: A three-dimensional map that offers a first look at the web-like large-scale distribution of dark matter in the universe. This historic achievement accurately confirms standard theories of structure formation.
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Researchers find that childhood sarcoma increases risk of blood clots
04-18-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers at NCI have determined that children and young adults with a form of cancer called sarcoma are at increased risk of having a thromboembolic event in their veins. Thromboembolic events can be a blood clot in a vessel that can interfere with normal blood flow. Investigating the association between sarcoma and TE is important because the majority of children with sarcoma can be cured of their cancer, but the occurrence of TEs could adversely compromise this success.
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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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USC team reveals structure of APOBEC family protein
12-24-2006 · EurekAlert!
USC researchers have determined the 3-D atomic structure of the Apo2 protein, the first of the APOBEC enzyme family to be described. The protein structure has guided them to a new understanding of what goes wrong on a molecular level in a rare, but serious immunodeficiency syndrome.
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