Daily non-political popular news in brief.

Researchers discover gene crucial for nerve cell insulation

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a defect in a single master gene disrupts the process by which several genes interact to create myelin, a fatty coating that covers nerve cells and increases the speed and reliability of their electrical signals

Read more »

Keywords: researchers, discover, gene, crucial, nerve, cell, insulation, researcher

« Previous | Next »

Similar news on "Researchers discover gene crucial for nerve cell insulation":

1. Researchers find 'zip code' spurs cargo transport in neurons
   10-24-2006 · EurekAlert!
   Getting molecular cargo from the cell body to the synapse of nerve cells is crucial for learning and memory, even for survival of the cell itself. New research conducted at Brown University and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., shows that a single peptide can load and direct this biological material. This peptide "ZIP Code" comes from amyloid precursor protein, the principal player in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
2. Jefferson scientists find guardian gene's choices crucial to stopping cancer process
   01-05-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Scientists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas JeffersonUniversity have uncovered a novel pathway by which the anti-cancer gene p53 springs into action, protecting a damaged cell from becoming cancer. The gene can either halt the cell's growth or send it spiraling toward certain death. How this choice is made, the researchers say, could have implications for future strategies in chemotherapy drug development.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
3. Penn researchers discover new molecular path to fight autoimmune diseases
   03-06-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and arthritis are among a variety of autoimmune diseases that are aggravated when one type of white blood cell, called the immune regulatory cell, malfunctions. In humans, one cause of this malfunction is when a mutation in a gene called FOXP3 disables the immune cells’ ability to function. Penn researchers have discovered how to modify enzymes that act on the FOXP3 protein, in turn making the regulatory immune cells work better.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
4. Description of a gene implicated in the development of Fanconi anemia and predisposition to cancer
   06-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
   An international research consortium, which included the participation of UAB researchers, has made outstanding progress in the study of Fanconi anemia. They have described the function and the possible mutations of a gene implicated in this disease that affects functions like nerve and skeletal development, blood cell formation and predisposition to cancer. This discovery will aid in detecting the defective gene that causes Fanconi anemia, which is fundamental in prenatal diagnosis and even pre-implantation diagnosis.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
5. Isolation of a new gene family essential for early development
   08-22-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Researchers at BRIC, University of Copenhagen, have identified new gene family essential for embryonic development. The family controls the expression of genes crucial for stem cell differentiation, and the results may contribute significantly to the understanding of cancer development. The results are published in Nature, and it follows up on two other high-impact articles on related gene families published in Nature and Cell by the same researchers within the last year.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
6. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists discover new gene that prevents multiple types of cancer
   02-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
   A decades-old cancer mystery has been solved by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). "We not only found a critical tumor suppressor gene, but have revealed a master switch for a tumor suppressive network that means more targeted and effective cancer therapy in the future," said CSHL Associate Professor Alea Mills, Ph.D. The study, headed by Mills, was published in the February issue of Cell.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
7. Researchers discover important tool in understanding differentiation in human embryonic stem cells
   10-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
   Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute have used an existing genetic tool to study how human embryonic stem cells self-renew. The researchers used "knockdown" technology to reduce the expression, and plasmid vectors to increase the expression of oct4, a gene known to be necessary for self renewal. Both procedures resulted in differentiation, but with similar patterns, unlike mouse ES cells that differentiate into a different cell types with oct4 up-and down-regulation.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
8. Researchers discover new gene responsible for brittle bone disease
   10-19-2006 · EurekAlert!
   A team of researchers has identified a new genetic mutation responsible for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a condition that makes bones much more likely to break, according to a study published today in the journal Cell. Victims may experience just a few fractures in a lifetime or several hundred beginning before birth. The number of Americans affected is unknown, but estimates range from 20,000 to 50,000.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
9. Penn researchers discover how microRNAs control protein synthesis
   07-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
   While most RNAs work to create, package and transfer proteins as determined by the cell's immediate needs, miniature pieces of RNA, called microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression. Recently, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine determined how miRNAs team up with a regulatory protein to halt protein production.
   Similar news · Read more »
   
10. Exploring the dark matter of the genome
    06-14-2007 · EurekAlert!
    "Junk DNA" is what biologists used to call heterochromatin, the highly repetitive, gene-poor DNA concentrated near the centromeres and telomeres of chromosomes. With the publication of version 5.1 of the genome of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and their colleagues, the term "junk" will be heard less often. Heterochromatin, it appears, is crucial to genome maintenance and cell biology.
    Similar news · Read more »