Skip to main content

Home/ RIS IB Biology/ Group items matching "proteins" in title, tags, annotations or url

Group items matching
in title, tags, annotations or url

Sort By: Relevance | Date Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan

Biotechdaily - Low MicroRNA Activity Characterizes Inflamed Lung Tissues - 0 views

www.biotechdaily.com/...zes_inflamed_lung_tissues.html

shared by Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan on 13 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • A recent study examined the interaction between a specific microRNA (miRNA) and the activity of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin 13 (IL-13).
  • In the current study, investigators at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Ohio, USA) examined the effect that stimulation of IL-13 activity has on microRNAs, particularly miR-375
  • They reported in the March 28, 2012, online edition of the journal Mucosal Immunology that IL-13 induced changes in epithelial gene and protein expression including the consistent downregulation of miR-375 in IL-13 stimulated human esophageal squamous and bronchial epithelial cells.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • 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,
Pop karnchanapimonkul

Dieting During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Obesity And Diabetes For Offspring - 0 views

www.medicalnewstoday.com/...243627.php

dieting obesity diabetes epigenics offspring

shared by Pop karnchanapimonkul on 14 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • babies of mothers who diet around the time of conception and in early pregnancy, may have an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes throughout their lives. This study provides exciting insights into how behavior can lead to epigenetic changes in offspring related to obesity and disease.
  • dieting around the time a baby is conceived may increase the chance of the child becoming obese later in life
  • changes in the genes that control food intake and glucose levels that may lead to obesity and diabetes.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • epigenetic changes with alterations in the structure of the DNA and its associated proteins, histones, which affects the way that genes can behave in later life.
  • Pop karnchanapimonkul on 14 Apr 12
     
    Article about how dieting during pregnancy cause offsprings to have a change in genes.
nidthamsirisup

Engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living mice - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120412182253.htm

disease HIV

shared by nidthamsirisup on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells
  • surrogate model
  • CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes -- the "killer" T cells that help fight infection -- from an HIV-infected individual and identified the molecule known as the T cell receptor, which guides the T cell in recognizing and killing HIV-infected cells.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • 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
  • engineering stem cells to form immune cells that target HIV is effective in suppressing the virus in living tissues in an animal model
  • increased
  • HIV in the blood decreased.
    • wasin kusakabe
      wasin kusakabe on 15 Apr 12
       
      Using mice as lab rats, researchers are able to produce a large amount of T cells that can fight off HIV more effectively.
  • 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.
  • Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principle that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells
  • 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.
  • wasin kusakabe on 15 Apr 12
     
    Stem cells that are engineered to produce T cells that can help fight off HIV.
Rafael Chen

Scientists develop tools to make more complex biological machines from yeast - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120319194313.htm

shared by Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • creating a new type of biological "wire," using proteins that interact with DNA and behave like wires in electronic circuitry
  • it can be re-engineered over and over again
  • fundamental DNA components, called "promoters," which are needed for re-programming yeast
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Future applications of this work could include tiny yeast-based machines that can be dropped into water supplies to detect contaminants, and yeast that records environmental conditions during the manufacture of biofuels to determine if improvements can be made to the production process.
  • help to improve things such as pollution monitoring and cleaner fuels
  • Rafael Chen on 15 Apr 12
     
    Scientist uses yeast as the foundations in making more complex biological machines through genetic engineering.
nidthamsirisup

Mysterious Noncoding DNA: 'Junk' or Genetic Power Player? | PBS NewsHour - 0 views

www.pbs.org/...junk-dna.html

noncoding DNA gene

shared by nidthamsirisup on 15 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • Genes represent only a tiny fraction -- 1 percent -- of our overall genetic material. Then there's the other 99 percent of our DNA -- the stuff that doesn't make protein
  • Researchers have found that some of this noncoding DNA is in fact essential to how our genes function and plays a role in how we look, how we act and the diseases that afflict us.
  • Embedded in this 99 percent is DNA responsible for the mechanics of gene behavior: regulatory DNA. Greg Wray of Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy describes the regulatory DNA as the software for our genes, a set of instructions that tells the genome how to use the traditional coding genes.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • "It's like a recipe book," Wray said. "It tells you how to make the meal. You need to know the amounts. You need to know the order. The noncoding DNA tells you how much to make, when to make it and under what circumstances."
  • common diseases are probably more influenced by regulatory differences, Harismendy said. These include Type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's Disease and a variety of cancers, including breast, colon, ovarian, prostate and lung.
  • According to Wray, research has shown that diseases like bipolar syndrome and clinical depression may be associated with noncoding mutations that determine whether the brain is producing too much or not enough of a particular neurotransmitter. One noncoding mutation gives a person almost complete protection against the nasty malaria parasite, plasmodium vivax.
  • Another piece of noncoding DNA regulates the enzyme responsible for lactose tolerance, the ability to digest milk. Research by Wray and other scientists has shown that in four populations where dairy consumption is a vital part of the diet, new mutations have appeared that essentially keep the gene that produces the lactase enzyme from switching off.
  • And recent research done by evolutionary biologists suggests that differences in regulatory DNA may represent a major part of what separates us from chimpanzees.
nidthamsirisup

Epigenetics: DNA Isn't Everything - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...090412081315.htm

epigenetics genetics gene

shared by nidthamsirisup on 15 Apr 12 - Cached
  • Research into epigenetics has shown that environmental factors affect characteristics of organisms. These changes are sometimes passed on to the offspring.
  • A certain laboratory strain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has white eyes. If the surrounding temperature of the embryos, which are normally nurtured at 25 degrees Celsius, is briefly raised to 37 degrees Celsius, the flies later hatch with red eyes.
  • crossed the flies for six generations. In this experiment, they were able to prove that the temperature treatment changes the eye colour of this specific strain of fly, and that the treated individual flies pass on the change to their offspring over several generations. However, the DNA sequence for the gene responsible for eye colour was proven to remain the same for white-eyed parents and red-eyed offspring.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Epigenetics examines the inheritance of characteristics that are not set out in the DNA sequence.
  • important factors are the histones, a kind of packaging material for the DNA, in order to store DNA in an ordered and space-saving way. It is now clear that these proteins have additional roles to play. Depending on the chemical group they carry, if they are acetylated or methylated, they permanently activate or deactivate genes.
  • New methods now allow researchers to sometimes directly show which genes have been activated or deactivated by the histones
  • The genetic information of the DNA is passed on along with the relevant epigenetic information for the respective cell type.
  • A similar question remains for the inheritance of the epigenetic characteristics from parents to offspring. They now know that when the gametes are formed, certain epigenetic markers remain and are passed on to the offspring. The questions, which are currently being researched, are how much and which part of the epigenetic information is preserved and subsequently inherited.
  • Diet and epigenetics appear to be closely linked. The most well known example is that of the Agouti mice: they are yellow, fat and are prone to diabetes and cancer. If Agouti females are fed with a cocktail of vitamin B12, folic acid and cholin, directly prior to and during pregnancy, they give birth to mainly brown, slim and healthy offspring. They in turn mainly have offspring similar to themselves.
  • Environmental factors, which change the characteristics of an individual and are then passed on to its offspring, do not really fit into Darwin’s theory of evolution. According to his theory, evolution is the result of the population and not the single individual. “Passing on the gained characteristics fits more to Lamarck’s theory of evolution”, says Paro.
orasa sukmark

Junk DNA Can Revive and Cause Disease, Study Finds - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...20gene.html

shared by orasa sukmark on 30 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • can rise from the dead like zombies
  • dead gene come back to life and cause a disease
  • a dead gene come back to life and cause a disease.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • Some of those genes, surprised geneticists reported Thursday, can rise from the dead like zombies, waking up to cause one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy.
    • adisa narula
      adisa narula on 30 Mar 12
       
      Do these genes revive automatically?
  • It is a dominant genetic disease.
  • people who have the disease cannot smile.
  • FSHD affects about 1 in 20,000 people
  • function, if any, is largely unknown.
  • function, if any, is largely unknown
  • FSHD, is one of the most common forms of muscular dystrophy.
  • in a way FSHD was the easy case — it is a disease that affects every single person who inherits the genetic defect. Other diseases are more subtle, affecting some people more than others, causing a range of symptoms.
  • The dead gene was also repeated on chromosome 10, but that area of repeats seemed innocuous, unrelated to the disease. Only chromosome 4 was a problem.
  • chromosome 4 was a problem.
  • No one whose dead gene was repeated more than 10 times ever got FSHD
  • it was not completely inactive. It is always transcribed
  • copied by the cell as a first step to making a protein.
  • But the transcriptions were faulty, disintegrating right away. They were missing a crucial section, called a poly (A) sequence, needed to stabilize them.
  • But the transcriptions were faulty, disintegrating right away. They were missing a crucial section, called a poly (A) sequence, needed to stabilize them.
  • extra copies change the chromosome’s structure, shutting off the whole region so it cannot be used.
Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan

Plant research reveals new role for gene silencing protein - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120329141923.htm

shared by Nitchakan Chaiprukmalakan on 02 Apr 12 - No Cached
    • wasin kusakabe
      wasin kusakabe on 02 Apr 12
       
      Termination is equally as important as other sections of Transcription
  • Termination is the final stage of transcription.
  • Without termination, transcription continues down the chromosome unchecked.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The expression of a gene, when an organism's DNA is transcribed into a useable product, requires activation via a promoter or an external trigger.
  • DCL4 is a back-up to termination processes, helping a gene to be successfully expressed
  • If a gene ends badly, aberrant RNA will trigger silencing pathways
  • Sea Maskulrath on 02 Apr 12
     
    this new way to making the mature mRNA is very interesting. gotta love it. 
Sasicha Manupipatpong

Identical DNA codes discovered in different plant species - 2 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...120409164426.htm

plant species identical DNA sequences medicine

shared by Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • found identical sequences of DNA located at completely different places on multiple plant genomes
  • Although the scientists found identical sequences between plant species, just as they did between animals, they suggested the sequences evolved differently.
  • find identical sequences in plant DNAs
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • identical sections weren't found at the same points
  • genomes of six animals (dog, chicken, human, mouse, macaque and rat)
  • six plant species (Arabidopsis, soybean, rice, cottonwood, sorghum and grape)
  • found long strings of identical code in different species of animals' DNA
  • expect to see convergent evolution, but we don't
  • Plants and animals are both complex multi-cellular organisms that have to deal with many of the same environmental conditions, like taking in air and water and dealing with weather variations, but their genomes code for solutions to these challenges in different ways
  • could help in the development of new medicines
  • used to find identical sequential patterns in an organism's entire set of proteins
  • lead to finding new targets for existing drugs or studying these drugs' side effects
  • Sasicha Manupipatpong on 16 Apr 12
     
    A computer algorithm found identical sequences of DNA in different places of various plant species' genomes. The same has been found in animals. This could prove to be beneficial in the development of new medicines (for testing drug side effects).
‹ Previous 21 - 29 of 29
Showing 20▼ items per page