Body

Kinarm Ko and Hans Schöler's team at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster have succeeded for the first time in culturing a clearly defined cell type from the testis of adult mice and converting these cells into pluripotent stem cells without introduced genes, viruses or reprogramming proteins. These stem cells have the capacity to generate all types of body tissue. The culture conditions alone were the crucial factor behind the success of the reprogramming process. (Cell Stem Cell, July 2, 2009)

Obesity very often leads to insulin resistance, and now researchers reporting in the July 8 issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered another factor behind that ill consequence. The newly discovered culprit—a protein known as pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF for short)—is secreted by fat cells. They also report evidence to suggest that specifically blocking that protein's action may reverse some of the health complications that come with obesity.

Using a combination of innovative genomic tools, researchers have turned up twenty genes that have important roles in controlling cholesterol within cells. The findings reported in the July 8 issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, could point the way to important new risk factors for cardiovascular disease, according to the researchers.

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have come a step closer to understanding how cholesterol levels are regulated. In a study published today in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers identified 20 genes that are involved in this process. Besides giving scientists a better idea of where to look to uncover the mechanisms that ensure cholesterol balance is maintained, the discovery could lead to new treatments for cholesterol-related diseases.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University scientist has discovered a key process in cell growth that can lead to the formation of tumors.

Xiaoqi Liu, an assistant professor of biochemistry, found that an overabundance of the polo-like kinase 1, or Plk1, molecule during cell growth, as well as a shortage of the p53 molecule, will lead to tumor formation. Studies in Liu's laboratory showed that the Plk1 molecule indirectly attacks p53 in a process called ubiquitination.

INDIANAPOLIS – Structural cardiovascular abnormalities present at birth are the leading cause of heart failure in children. Nearly half a million children in the United States have structural heart problems ranging in severity from relatively simple issues, such as small holes between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, including complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

A new Northwestern University-led study of human colon, pancreatic and lung cells is the first to report that cancer cells and their non-cancerous cell neighbors, although quite different under the microscope, share very similar structural abnormalities on the nanoscale level.

The findings, obtained using an optical technique that can detect features as small as 20 nanometers, validate the "field effect," a biological phenomenon in which cells located some distance from a malignant or premalignant tumor undergo molecular and other kinds of abnormal changes.

The active form of vitamin D3 seems to have anticancer effects. To try and understand the mechanisms underlying these effects, researchers previously set out to identify genes whose expression in a human colon cancer cell line was altered by the active form of vitamin D3. One gene identified in this previous study was CST5, which is responsible for making the protein cystatin D.

Infants who weigh less than five and a half pounds at birth often enter the world with a host of medical complications, including respiratory problems. New research shows that these respiratory problems may persist well beyond their infancy and childhood and into adulthood.

Blacksburg, Va. – A research paper co-written by a Virginia Tech faculty member explains a 60-year mystery behind a rare bat's nose that is unusually large for its species. The findings soon will be published in the scientific trade journal, Physical Review Letters.

BOSTON—Stressing out can cause people to gain weight, according to a study appearing in the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. This new study is believed to be one of the first of its kind to look at the relationship between weight gain and multiple types of stress—job-related demands, difficulty paying bills, strained family relationships, depression or anxiety disorder—in the U.S. population.

FAIRFAX, Va.—"Society of Interventional Radiology 2009 Standards Division Guidelines" is the subject of a special supplement to the July issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

Plant roots provide the crops we eat with water, nutrients and anchorage. Understanding how roots grow and how hormones control that growth is crucial to improving crop yields, which will be necessary to address food security and produce better biofuels.

Now an international group of scientists, led by the Centre for Plant Integrative Biology at The University of Nottingham, has shed light on how a plant hormone is crucial in controlling the growth of plant roots.

DURHAM, N.C. – The virus that causes AIDS is classified as a lentivirus, a word derived from the Latin prefix, "lenti-," meaning "slow." But new research from the NIAID-funded Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology suggests that HIV-1 is anything but – moving at breathtaking speed in destroying and dysregulating the body's gut-based B-cell antibody-producing system.

San Diego, July 7, 2009 –The recent global swine flu outbreak has underscored the critical need for good surveillance and rapid access to epidemiological data. The US military, starting with early monitoring efforts in the 1970s, has developed a broad-based influenza monitoring system.