Category Archives: Science News
Scientists discover new way protein degradation is regulated
Scientists discover gene mutation that causes children to be born without spleen
An international team of scientists led by Rockefeller University researchers has identified the defective gene responsible for a rare disorder in which children are born without a spleen, which makes them susceptible to life-threatening bacterial infections early in life. The findings may lead to new diagnostic tests and raises new questions about the role of this gene in the body’s protein-making machinery.
Scientists use Nature against Nature to develop an antibiotic with reduced resistance
Scientists at Rockefeller University and Astex Pharmaceuticals have discovered a new broad range antibiotic that kills a wide range of bacteria, including drug-resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) bacteria that do not respond to traditional drugs, in mice. The antibiotic, Epimerox, targets weaknesses in bacteria that have long been exploited by viruses that attack them, known as phage.
Mechanism of mutant histone protein in childhood brain cancer revealed
Scientists in David Allis’s laboratory have shown how a mutated histone protein inhibits an enzyme, which normally keeps cell growth in check, and causes a rare form of pediatric brain cancer called DIPG. Their findings reveal a mechanism for inhibiting enzymes and could lead to the development of pharmaceuticals that mimic the action of these mutant proteins.
Researchers create map of “shortcuts” between all human genes
Researchers at Rockefeller University, along with colleagues at Necker Hospital for Sick Children and the Pasteur Institute in Paris and Ben-Gurion University in Israel, have generated the full set of distances, routes and degrees of separation between any two human genes, creating a map of gene “shortcuts” that aims to simplify the hunt for disease-causing genes in monogenic diseases. More »
In sync: stem cells work together to make hair grow, give it color
Researchers in Elaine Fuchs’ Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development have elucidated how adult stem cells in hair follicles communicate with each other and what keeps them silent for prolonged periods of time. More »
Ant executions serve a higher purpose, research shows
Daniel Kronauer and his colleagues at University of Paris 13 have found that when Cerapachys biroi ants execute their fellow colony-members for laying eggs when they shouldn’t, it’s not because of a fight for reproductive dominance, as some had thought. More »
Changes in population growth, consumption and farming begin to return former farmlands to nature
Researchers led by Rockefeller’s Jesse Ausubel analyzed factors such as global land use and population growth over the last 50 years. Looking at the production index of all crops of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, they found that from 1961 to 2009 land farmed grew by only 12 percent while the index rose about 300 percent.
Brain displays an intrinsic mechanism for fighting infection
Researchers in the St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases have shed light on how a genetic defect leaves some children susceptible to a rare and damaging brain infection and have found evidence of an intrinsic immune mechanism in the brain that fights the viral infection in healthy people. More »
Potent antibodies neutralize HIV and could offer new therapy, study finds
Rockefeller researchers in Michel Nussenzweig’s Laboratory of Molecular Immunology have found that a newly-discovered class of especially potent antibodies is effective at neutralizing HIV infection in mice for a 60 day period, longer than current antiretroviral drugs which require daily application. The antibodies, which suppressed the virus when used in combination, could one day be given to humans to treat the disease. More »
Tags: antibodies, Florian Klein, HIV, Michel C. Nussenzweig
Neurotransmitters linked to mating behavior are shared by mammals and worms
New research from Rockefeller University has shown that chemicals in the brain — neuropeptides known as vasopressin and oxytocin — play a role in coordinating mating and reproductive behavior in animals ranging from humans to fish to invertebrates. More »
Pearl Meister Greengard Prize to be awarded to pioneering RNA researcher Joan Steitz
A prestigious Rockefeller University award for exceptional women scientists recognizes a pioneer in the field of RNA biology whose discoveries involved patients with a variety of autoimmune diseases. Steitz will receive the award from National Geographic Explorer in Residence Sylvia Earle at a ceremony in Rockefeller’s Caspary Auditorium on November 29. More »
Vitamin D supplements do not improve cholesterol as previous research suggested
A team of scientists has shown that, at least in the short term, cholesterol levels did not improve when volunteers with vitamin D deficiency received mega-doses of vitamin D. Although previous evidence suggested there might be a link between vitamin D and heart disease, the clinical results confirm those from a data mining study published in July. More »
Researchers demonstrate how ‘interfering’ RNA can block bacterial evolution
Experiments in pneumococcal bacteria show how an RNA interference mechanism known as CRISPR can be used to prevent the uptake of genetic material from the environment. Harnessing this mechanism could be a new way to manipulate bacterial evolution in ways that might be medically useful. More »
Tags: bacteria, CRISPR, Luciano Marraffini, RNA interference
Protein proves vital in immune response to bacteria
Research led by Rockefeller University scientists found that a protein once thought to be mainly involved in antiviral immunity is instead vital to fighting a type of bacteria that cause diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy.
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Collaboration finds kidney disease tied to DNA damage
A research collaboration involving Rockefeller University and more than two dozen other institutions found that patients who had a specific kind of kidney disease — called karyomegalic interstitial nephritis — were likely to also have a mutation on FAN1, a gene that is involved in fixing DNA damage. More »
Cell 150: 533-548 (August 3, 2012)
Cell 150: 533-548 (August 3, 2012) Exome capture reveals ZNF423 and CEP164 mutations, linking renal ciliopathies to DNA damage response signaling Moumita Chaki, Rannar Airik, Amiya K. Ghosh, Rachel H. Giles, Rui Chen, Gisela G. Slaats, Hui Wang, Toby W. … More »
Starr collaboration illuminates mysterious pathway to immortality in cancer cells
Tags: cancer, Telomeres, Titia de Lange
Sweat glands grown from newly identified stem cells
A team of researchers led by scientists at Rockefeller University have shown how sweat glands develop and how their cells respond to injury. Their research also identifies the stem cells within the sweat glands and sweat ducts and enables scientists to begin to explore the cells’ potential for making tissues for the first time. More »
Tags: Elaine Fuchs
Rockefeller scientists pioneer new method to determine mechanisms of drug action
Sarah Wacker, Tarun Kapoor and their colleagues have hit on a new method for determining a drug’s molecular target that takes the guesswork out of the equation. The approach makes use of RNA sequencing and advances in data processing technologies to examine all of the differences between a drug-resistant cell and a normal cell and pinpoint the change most likely to cause resistance, which may suggest the drug’s target. More »
