Body

Researchers have shown that they can detect tiny, misfolded protein fragments in cerebrospinal fluid taken from patients. Such fragments have been suggested to be the main culprit in Alzheimer's disease. The findings reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports lend hope that doctors might soon have a way to diagnose the disease while treatments might have a better chance of working—that is, before extensive brain damage and dementia set in.

Scientists used to think amyloid plaques were the problem in Alzheimer's disease.

In this scenario, MLL proteins serve as chromatin modifiers, an activity characterized by Shilatifard over a decade ago in their yeast counterpart studies. Shilatifard's lab found that the yeast MLL homolog is a methyltransferase enzyme that planted methyl groups on a histone called H3. Shilatifard's lab since has shown that mammalian cells harbor six MLL-like proteins. And in a 2013 study led by Hu, they reported that human MLL3/4 are "monomethylases functioning on enhancers," meaning they decorated H3 with only one methyl group.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a substance called Vacquinol-1 makes cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumour, literally explode. When mice were given the substance, which can be given in tablet form, tumour growth was reversed and survival was prolonged. The findings are published in the journal Cell.

When tumours grow, new blood vessels are formed that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the tumour cells. A research group at Uppsala University has discovered a new type of cell communication that results in suppressed blood vessel formation and delayed tumour growth. The results might explain why healthy individuals can have microscopic tumours for many years, which do not progress without formation of new blood vessels.

Researchers from The University of Manchester have discovered a new mechanism that governs how body clocks react to changes in the environment.

And the discovery, which is being published in Current Biology, could provide a solution for alleviating the detrimental effects of chronic shift work and jet-lag.

The team's findings reveal that the enzyme casein kinase 1epsilon (CK1epsilon) controls how easily the body's clockwork can be adjusted or reset by environmental cues such as light and temperature.

Many diseases have their origins in either the genome or in reversible chemical changes to DNA known as the epigenome. Now, results of a new study from Johns Hopkins scientists show a connection between these two "maps." The findings, reported March 20 on the website of the American Journal of Human Genetics, could help disease trackers find patterns in those overlays that could offer clues to the causes of and possible treatments for complex genetic conditions, including many cancers and metabolic disorders.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Scientists at Indiana University have unlocked one of the mysteries of modern genetics: how acquired traits can be passed between generations in a process called epigenetic inheritance. The new work finds that cells don't know to silence some genes based on information hardwired into their DNA sequences, but recognize heritable chemical marks that are added to the genes. These chemical tags serve as a form of molecular memory, allowing cells to recognize the genes and remember to silence them again in each new generation.

The shortage of oxygen, or hypoxia, created when rapidly multiplying kidney cancer cells outgrow their local blood supply can accelerate tumor growth by causing a nuclear protein called SPOP—which normally suppresses tumor growth—to move out of the nucleus to the cytoplasm, where it has the opposite effect, promoting rapid proliferation.

Scientists using passive acoustic monitoring to track minke whales in the Northwest Atlantic have found clues in the individual calling behaviors and movements of this species. These findings, recently published online in the journal Behaviour, provide insight into one of the least studied baleen whales.

At first glance, colonies of thousands of social spiders all look the same and are busy with the same tasks. Not so, says researchers Carl Keiser and Devin Jones of the University of Pittsburgh in the US, after carefully studying various gatherings of Stegodyphus dumicola social spiders of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. The size and condition of a particular spider's body indicates which task it generally performs within a colony.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Anticancer agents that inhibit tumor growth by targeting a regulatory protein called CDK4 might actually promote the development and progression of certain B-cell lymphomas, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).

The study indicates that inhibiting CDK4, a regulator of the cell cycle, promotes genetic instability and the development or progression of B-cell lymphomas that are driven by the MYC oncogene.

Given the evolutionary ability of microbes to rapidly adapt, the threat of antimicrobial resistance likely will never be eliminated. Today, many factors compound the problem, including the inappropriate use of antibiotics and a dwindling supply of new medicines, leading to a global crisis of antimicrobial resistance. This crisis must be addressed with a multi-faceted approach that includes a strong base of basic, clinical and translational research, according to a new commentary in the journal JAMA from Anthony S.

Until the '50s, bluefin tuna fishing was a thriving industry in Norway, second only to sardine fishing. Every year, bluefin tuna used to migrate from the eastern Mediterranean up to the Norwegian coasts. Suddenly, however, over no more than 4-5 years, the tuna never went back to Norway.

Alexandria, Va., USA – Today, at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR), held in conjunction with the 38th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, R. Constance Wiener, from West Virginia University, Morgantown, will present a research study titled "Association of Tooth Loss and Depression and Anxiety."

Over 35 percent of American adults and 17 percent of American children are considered obese, according to the latest survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Associated with diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even certain types of cancer, obesity places a major burden on the health care system and economy. It's usually treated through a combination of diet, nutrition, exercise, and other techniques.