Body

Johns Hopkins cancer scientists have discovered that a little-described gene known as FAM190A plays a subtle but critical role in regulating the normal cell division process known as mitosis, and the scientists' research suggests that mutations in the gene may contribute to commonly found chromosomal instability in cancer.

A team of scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has discovered why long-term treatment with many common antibiotics can cause harmful side effects—and they have uncovered two easy strategies that could help prevent these dangerous responses. They reported the results in the July 3rd issue of Science Translational Medicine.

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M University System scientists from the departments of nutrition and food science and poultry science have developed a new medium for the cultivation of beneficial microorganisms called lactobacilli.

A better understanding of lactobacilli metabolism can help improve feed efficiency in animals and combat malnutrition in humans, according to the researchers.

The idea of fighting infections and even cancers by inducing protective immune responses may now be a step closer to clinical practice. Researchers have removed a major obstacle to widespread use of so-called adoptive transfer therapy, in which a patient receives "killer" immune cells targeting a disease agent. Existing technologies can easily provide T cells that will recognize a specific antigen, but it has been challenging to identify individual cells most likely to succeed in fighting the disease – until now.

An international research team has used a novel approach to identify genetic factors that appear to influence susceptibility to cholera. The findings by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Broad Institute and the International Center for Diarrhœal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) indicate the importance of pathways involved in regulating water loss in intestinal cells and of the innate immune system in the body's response to the bacteria that causes cholera, which affects from 3 to 5 million people each year and causes more than 100,000 deaths.

A model of great ape history over the past 15 million years has been fashioned through the study of genetic variation in a large panel of humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. The catalog of great ape genetic diversity, the most comprehensive ever, elucidates the evolution and population histories of great apes from Africa and Indonesia. The resource will likely also aid in current and future conservation efforts which strive to preserve natural genetic diversity in populations.

Researchers of the Cancer Metabolism group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Catalan Oncology Institute (ICO) and the Division of Hematology-Oncology of the University of Cincinnati, led by George Thomas, have discovered a role for ribosomal 5S RNA in the formation of a complex that regulates the stability of p53. Normally, p53 prevents healthy cells from becoming tumorigenic. It is maintained at low levels when cells function properly and increases when there is a cellular damage.

Los Angeles, CA (July 3, 2013) – With more and more women representing the 50 states on Capitol Hill every year, many have noted that female politicians are not given the same treatment as males in the media. A recent study from a special mini symposium in Political Research Quarterly (a SAGE Journal) finds that news coverage of female politicians focuses more on character traits and less on their policy arguments than it does for their male counterparts.

Despite decades of research on the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), scientists have not had a comprehensive understanding of how the bacterium is wired to adapt to changing conditions in the host. Now, researchers at Stanford University, Seattle BioMed, Boston University and the Broad Institute, Max Planck Institute of Biology in Berlin, Germany, Caprion Proteomics Inc.

(Boston) – In a study from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), researchers have generated a map of the cellular circuitry of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human tuberculosis (TB). This information, which is being published online as an Advanced Online Publication in the journal Nature, sheds new light on the bacterium's ability to survive inactive in the human body for decades, resist treatment and cause disease.

Montréal, July 3, 2013 – A team of researchers at the IRCM, led by Dr. Javier M. Di Noia in the Immunity and Viral Infections research division, discovered a novel research model for the study of auto-immune diseases. The Montréal scientists are the first to find a way to separate two important mechanisms that improve the quality of antibodies. This study was featured in a recent issue of The Journal of Immunology.

Research published today shows why people find it hard to follow Government guidelines to cut their fat and sugars intake at the same time - a phenomenon known as the sugar-fat seesaw.

The review, published in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, looked at 53 scientific papers and found a strong and consistent inverse association in the percentage of energy coming from fats and sugars. People with diets low in sugars were likely to be high in fat, and vice-versa. Nutritionists have labelled this the 'sugar-fat seesaw'.

For young lizards born into this unpredictable world, their very first meal can be a major life changer. So say researchers who report evidence on July 3 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that this early detail influences how the lizards disperse from their birthplaces, how they grow, and whether they survive. A quick or slow meal even influences the lizards' reproductive success two years later in a surprising way.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Researchers are striving to understand the different genetic structures that underlie at least a subset of autism spectrum disorders. In cases where the genetic code is in error, did that happen anew in the patient, perhaps through mutation or copying error, or was it inherited? A new study in the American Journal of Human Genetics finds evidence that there may often be a recessive, inherited genetic contribution in autism with significant intellectual disability.

Scientists have identified the genetic cause of a rare skin condition that causes the hands and feet to turn white and spongy when exposed to water.

The study, led by researchers from Queen Mary, University of London, has provided scientists with an insight into how the skin barrier functions and could help with research into a variety of conditions.