Group items tagged

genetic adaptation for high production of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids is found only in humans

300 000 years ago in the evolutionary line that led to modern humans

important factor for human survival in environments with limited dietary access to fatty acids

In today’s life situation, with a surplus of nourishment, this genetic adaptation contributes instead to a greater risk of developing disorders like cardiovascular disease

first study to show a genetic adaptation of human fat metabolism

thrifty gene

adaptation that contributed to enhanced survival in an earlier stage of human development, but in a life situation with an excess of food instead constitutes a risk factor for lifestyle diseases

cloned the receptor and used this to genetically engineer human blood stem cells.

mature T cells that can attack HIV in tissues where the virus resides and replicates.

CD4 cells are white blood cells that are an important component of the immune system, helping to fight off infections.

CD4 "helper" T cells

HIV in the blood decreased.

increased

engineering stem cells to form immune cells that target HIV is effective in suppressing the virus in living tissues in an animal model

Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principle that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells

The engineered stem cells developed into a large population of mature, multi-functional HIV-specific CD8 cells that could specifically target cells containing HIV proteins. The researchers also discovered that HIV-specific T cell receptors have to be matched to an individual in much the same way an organ is matched to a transplant patient.

In this current study, the researchers similarly engineered human blood stem cells and found that they can form mature T cells that can attack HIV in tissues where the virus resides and replicates. They did so by using a surrogate model, the humanized mouse, in which HIV infection closely resembles the disease and its progression in humans.

increased, while levels of HIV in the blood decreased. CD4 cells are white blood cells that are an important component of the immune system, helping to fight off infections. These results indicated that the engineered cells were capable of developing and migrating to the organs to fight infection there.

The study defined a new role for a protein called polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPASE) in regulating the import of RNA into mitochondria. Reducing the expression--or output--of PNPASE decreased RNA import, which impaired the processing of mitochondrial genome-encoded RNAs. Reduced RNA processing inhibited the translation of proteins required to maintain the mitochondrial electron transport chain that consumes oxygen during cell respiration to produce energy. With reduced PNPASE, unprocessed mitochondrial-encoded RNAs accumulated, protein translation was inhibited, and energy production was compromised, leading to stalled cell growth.

Geng Wang developed a strategy to target and import specific RNA molecules encoded in the nucleus into the mitochondria and, once there, to express proteins needed to repair mitochondrial gene mutations.

First, the researchers had to find a way to stabilize the reparative RNA so that it was moved out of the nucleus and then localized to the mitochondrial outer membrane. This was accomplished by modifying an export sequence to direct the RNA to the mitochondrion. Once the RNA was in the area of the transport machinery on the mitochondrial surface, then a second transport sequence was required to direct the RNA into the targeted organelle. With these two modifications, a wide range of RNAs were targeted to and imported into the mitochondria, where they worked to repair defects in mitochondrial respiration and energy production in two different cell line models of human mitochondrial disease.

Analysis of miR-375 levels in a human disease characterized by IL-13 overproduction - the allergic disorder eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) - revealed downregulation of miR-375 in EE patient samples compared with control patients. Low levels of miR-375 expression levels indicated disease activity.

“MiR-375 is proof of principle that microRNAs are involved in fine-tuning IL-13-mediated responses, which opens up a set of new possibilities for novel therapeutic targets for treatment of allergic disease.”

“The identification of a microRNA that regulates IL-13-induced changes and inflammatory pathways is a significant advancement for the understanding and future treatment of allergic disease,

cording to the study by the University of Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, creatures who reproduce asexually are more likely to be lumbered with disease-causing genes

Combining the genes of two parents – rather than one in the case of fruit flies, stick insects and other animals – allows for damaging DNA to be removed within a few generations.

h longer, a

or muc

This is because individuals who inherit healthy genes tend to flourish and pass on their DNA to the next generatio

the offspring of parents who experience famine are at heightened risk for developing schizophrenia, some research suggests — perhaps because of the chemical signatures on the genes that parents pass on.

in some people with autism, epigenetic markers had silenced the gene which makes the receptor for the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin oils the brain’s social circuits, and is critical in cementing relationships; a brain short on receptors for it would most likely struggle in social situations.

In one large study of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins are analyzing blood and other data to see whether the degree of epigenetic variation is related to the inherited risk of developing the disorder. In another, researchers at Tufts are studying the genes of animals dependent on opiates to see how epigenetic alterations caused by drug exposure affect the opiate sensitivity of the animals’ offspring.

The Bdnf gene generates one short transcript and one long transcript. He discovered that when the long-form Bdnf transcript is absent, the growth factor BDNF is only synthesized in the cell body of a neuron but not in its dendrites. The neuron then produces too many immature synapses, resulting in deficits in learning and memory in mice. Xu also found that the mice with the same Bdnf mutation grew to be severely obese

large-scale genome-wide association studies showed Bdnf gene variants are, in fact, linked to obesity.

both leptin and insulin stimulate synthesis of BDNF in neuronal dendrites in order to move their chemical message from one neuron to another through synapses. The intent is to keep the leptin and insulin chemical signals moving along the neuronal highway to the correct brain locations, where the hormones will turn on a program that suppresses appetite.

"If there is a problem with the Bdnf gene, neurons can't talk to each other, and the leptin and insulin signals are ineffective, and appetite is not modified

One possible strategy would be to produce additional long-form Bdnf transcript using adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy, Xu says. But although this kind of gene therapy has proven to be safe, it is difficult to deliver across the brain blood barrier,

Genetic diversity is created in a colony when a queen mates with many male bees

less likelihood of potentially pathogenic bacteria showing up in genetically diverse honey bee colonies

individual bees and their symbionts can enhance the overall health of a colony when it is genetically diverse

increased resistance to colonization by pathogens or through the production of nutrients by these microbes

‘Just one damaged cell can divide and multiply uncontrollably and quite quickly develop into a large tumour. This is what causes lung cancer,

around from person to person, this raises the risk of transmitting diseases such as tuberculosi

As the mouthpiece is passe

nd hepatitis.