Yearly Archives: 2004
Newly discovered gene controls levels of “bad” cholesterol in mice
Heart disease researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered the function of a gene associated with high cholesterol levels in humans. Using mice as test subjects, the Rockefeller scientists determined that the gene, called Pcsk9, can decrease the number of receptors on liver cells that remove the “bad” LDL cholesterol from the blood. More »
Tags: cholesterol, heart disease, Jan L. Breslow
Brain visualized in real time as animal “smells”
In real time in a living animal, scientists have observed regions of the brain as they respond to odors. The Rockefeller University study with mice, reported as the cover story in the April 8 issue of the journal Neuron, promises to advance research on how animals, as well as humans, sense odors. More »
Tags: olfactory, Peter Mombaerts
Fat hormone leptin alters brain architecture and activity, which in turn shapes feeding behavior
Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Rockefeller University in collaboration with investigators at Yale University have found that leptin – a hormone found in fat tissue and critical to regulating weight – affects both the architecture and function of neural circuits in the brain. The hormone alters the wiring by controlling synapses – the inputs and outputs to neurons that, in this case, regulate feeding behavior. More »
Tags: Jeffrey M. Friedman
Mouse produced from cloning a single neuron yields answers about the genetics of olfaction
Scientists led by Rockefeller’s Peter Mombaerts, M.D., Ph.D., used cloning technology to produce an entire mouse from the DNA in just one of the animal’s olfactory neurons. They then traced the spread of that neuron’s nucleus as the mouse embryo developed and eventually as the mouse itself grew. More »
Tags: olfactory, Peter Mombaerts
Rockefeller University scientists take on controversial and widely publicized “vibration theory” of smell
Two researchers at Rockefeller University have put a controversial theory of smell to the sniff test and have found no evidence to support it. They say their study, published in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience, should raise firm doubts about the validity of “vibration theory,” which states that molecules in each substance generate a specific vibration frequency that the nose can interpret as distinct smells. More »
Immunity runs amok without Csk
Inflammation is emerging as a new window on chronic diseases such as cancer, heart ailments and autoimmunity. Two Rockefeller University scientists have recently revealed one of the molecular keys to inflammation. Their discovery may help clinicians understand shortcomings in the inflammatory response that lead to potentially life-threatening conditions. More »
Tags: Csk, Sasha Tarakhovsky, t cells
Rockefeller researchers identify how protein linked to cancer correct cells when they divide
A protein, which has been linked to tumor formation when it is overproduced, in normal amounts actually helps correct errors during cell division that can lead to cancer and other diseases, according to new research by scientists at Rockefeller University in the March issue of Nature Cell Biology. More »
Tags: aurora kinase, Tarun Kapoor, tumors
Biological clock scientist takes on VP for Academic Affairs position at Rockefeller University on March 1
Rockefeller University scientist Michael W. Young, who investigates the genetic pathways that enable the body’s biological clock to tick, will become Rockefeller University’s Vice President for Academic Affairs on March 1. More »
Tags: Michael W. Young
Natural killer cells are made, not born
For years, scientists regarded natural killer cells as a blunt instrument of the body’s immune defense system. Born to kill, these cells were thought to travel straight from the bone marrow, where they are manufactured, to the blood, circulating there and infiltrating the sites of early tumors or infectious agents in the body. Now, Rockefeller University scientists, led by Christian Münz, Ph.D., have learned otherwise. More »
Tags: cell activation, Christian Munz, t cells
Feeder-free system for maintaining embryonic stem cells pioneered at Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University researchers, in collaboration with two European scientists, have devised a system for maintaining human embryonic stem cell lines that excludes the need for troublesome mouse feeder cells.
More »
Tags: Ali H. Brivanlou, BIO, HESC, stem cells
