Body

Damaged heart tissue is not known for having much inherent capacity for repair. But now, scientists are closing in on signals that may be able to coax the heart into producing replacement cardiac muscle cells. Using a zebrafish model system, researchers have identified a family of molecules that can stimulate stem cells to develop into beating heart muscle cells. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 21st issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, may pave the way towards new therapeutic approaches for cardiac regeneration and repair.

Sepsis, a form of systemic inflammation, is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. Sepsis is linked with massive cell death; however, the specific mechanisms involved in the lethality of sepsis are unclear. Now, a new study published by Cell Press in the December 23rd issue of the journal Immunity finds that inhibition of a specific cell death pathway called "necroptosis" protected mice from lethal inflammation. The research may lead to new therapeutic interventions for fatal inflammatory conditions that are notoriously hard to control.

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Life is complicated enough, so you can forgive the pioneers of DNA biology for glossing over transcriptional elongation control by RNA polymerase II, the quick and seemingly bulletproof penultimate step in the process that copies the information encoded in our DNA into protein-making instructions carried by messenger RNA.

AMHERST, Mass. – A research team led by biochemist Scott Garman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a key interaction at the heart of a promising new treatment for a rare childhood metabolic disorder known as Fabry disease. The discovery will help understanding of other protein-folding disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, as well. Findings are featured as the cover story in the current issue of Chemistry & Biology.

FINDINGS: Whitehead Institute scientists have identified conserved, long intervening non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) that play key roles during brain development in zebrafish, and went on to show that the human versions of these RNAs can substitute for the zebrafish lincRNAs.

Maintaining balance is crucial. In Drosophila, the common fruit fly, the creation and maintenance of the blood supply requires such balance.

UCLA stem cell scientists have now uncovered that two-way signaling from two different sets of cells is necessary for that balance, both to ensure enough blood cells are made to respond to injury and infection and that the blood progenitor cell population remains available for future needs.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Small, mobile sequences of DNA left over from viruses, called transposons or "jumping genes" because of their ability to move around the genome, pose a significant threat to the genetic integrity and stability of an organism. Considered genetic parasites, these transposable elements are believed to comprise as much as 50 percent of the human genome. Because of the damage transposons can do to an organism's DNA, an immune-like response has evolved to turn off, or silence, these mobile genetic elements.

December 22, 2011—(BRONX, NY) —Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered the first known mechanism by which cells control the survival of messenger RNA (mRNA) —arguably biology's most important molecule. The findings pertain to mRNAs that help regulate cell division and could therefore have implications for reversing cancer's out-of-control cell division.

ATLANTA -- A new study finds that while colorectal cancer mortality rates dropped in the most recent two decades for every stage in both African Americans and whites, the decreases were smaller for African Americans, particularly for distant stage disease. The authors say concerted efforts to prevent or detect colorectal cancer at earlier stages in blacks could improve worsening black-white disparities.

SEATTLE -- Physicians use inhalation anesthetics in a way that is incredibly safe for patients, but very little is known about the intricacies of how these drugs actually work in children and adults. Now, researchers have uncovered what cells respond to anesthesia in an organism known as the C. elegans, according to a new study from the Seattle Children's Research Institute. C. elegans is a transparent roundworm used often in research. The study, "Optical reversal of halothane-induced immobility in C.

Using a mouse model, Heidelberg University Hospital researchers have for the first time successfully treated a severe congenital disorder in which sugar metabolism is disturbed. The team headed by Prof. Christian Körner, group leader at the Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine, demonstrated that if female mice are given mannose with their drinking water prior to mating and during pregnancy, their offspring will develop normally even if they carry the genetic mutation for the congenital disorder.

When the Mountains Call . . .

. . . don't climb too fast! Lack of acclimatization and excessively rapid ascent are the main risk factors for acute mountain sickness, as Kai Schommer and Peter Bärtsch explain in this issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2011; 108 [49]: 839-48).

More and more tourists are climbing up mountains that are 5000 to almost 7000 meters high, such as Kilimanjaro, without any prior experience at high altitudes. The low oxygen content in the air can cause altitude sicknesses of various kinds.

London, December 22, 2011 – Elsevier's Journal of Clinical Virology in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced the publication of a special supplement entitled 'Update on HIV Diagnostic Testing Algorithms'. This timely supplement contains articles which summarize studies since the 2010 US HIV Diagnostics Conference validating the proposed new US HIV diagnostic testing algorithm. In addition, review articles and original research related to the topic of HIV diagnosis and viral load monitoring are included.

The researchers evaluated the role of Mediterranean diet ingredients in the prevention and mitigation of cell damage.

Oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol –present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil– and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids –found in fish– affect the cellular mechanisms involved in the development of acute pancreatitis, a disease of oxidative-inflammatory etiology. Therefore, oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol can be considered potential functional ingredients, as they may prevent or mitigate this disease.

The entire Hawaiian population of the peat moss Sphagnum palustre appears to be a clone that has been in existence for some 50,000 years researchers have discovered. The study is published in New Phytologist.

Among the most long-lived of organisms, every plant of the Hawaiian population appears to have been produced by vegetative rather than sexual propagation and can be traced back to a single parent.