Study shows how invasive species stop new life and triggers mass extinction

Collapse of Earth’s marine life 378 to 375 million years ago holds key

An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to research results published today in the journal PLoS ONE.

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Protein involved in cystic fibrosis also plays role in emphysema, chronic lung disease

Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva


Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

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UNC scientists pinpoint link between light signal and circadian rhythms

Chapel Hill, NC – In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues have taken an important step in understanding the underlying molecular signals that influence a broad array of biological processes ranging from the sleep-wake cycle to cancer growth and development.

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Scripps Research scientists identify key interaction in hepatitis C virus

Findings point toward a novel therapeutic target for antiviral drugs

JUPITER, FL, December 28, 2010 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a molecular interaction between a structural hepatitis C virus protein (HCV) and a protein critical to viral replication. This new finding strongly suggests a novel method of inhibiting the production of the virus and a potential new therapeutic target for hepatitis C drug development.

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Human protein improves muscle function of muscular dystrophy mice

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A novel potential therapy based on a natural human protein significantly slows muscle damage and improves function in mice who have the same genetic mutation as boys with the most common form of muscular dystrophy, according to a paper published online Dec. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Longevinex exerts greater influence over genes than resveratrol

Turns mortal heart attacks into non-mortal heart attacks — NIH study

Las Vegas, NV (Dec. 24, 2010) – Three weeks of oral resveratrol or Longevinex® ingestion prior to an induced heart attack returned microRNA activity close to their pre-event levels in excised animal hearts. Among thousands of microRNA’s studied, just six were attributed to exerting the majority of the gene-switching effects measured in the animal heart study — four microRNA optimally regulated by Longevinex® and two optimally by plain resveratrol.

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‘Food of the gods’ genome sequence could make finest chocolate better

The production of high quality chocolate, and the farmers who grow it, will benefit from the recent sequencing and assembly of the chocolate tree genome, according to an international team led by Claire Lanaud of CIRAD, France, with Mark Guiltinan of Penn State, and including scientists from 18 other institutions.

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Study on effects of resveratrol and quercetin on inflammation and insulin resistance

A study was carried out to examine the extent to which quercetin and trans-resveratrol (RSV) prevented inflammation or insulin resistance in primary cultures of human adipocytes treated with tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a)—an inflammatory cytokine elevated in the plasma and adipose tissue of obese, diabetic individuals. Cultures of human adipocytes were pretreated with quercetin and trans-RSV followed by treatment with TNF-a. Subsequently, gene and protein markers of inflammation and insulin resistance were measured. The authors report that quercetin, and to a lesser extent trans-RSV, attenuated the TNF-a–induced expression of inflammatory genes such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1b, IL-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and the secretion of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1.

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Kidney disease patients: Eat your veggies, reward your kidneys

Vegetarian diet lowers blood and urine phosphorous levels

Phosphorous levels plummet in kidney disease patients who stick to a vegetarian diet, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results suggest that eating vegetables rather than meat can help kidney disease patients avoid accumulating toxic levels of this mineral in their bodies.

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Mount Sinai researchers make major breakthrough in melanoma research

In a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for patients with malignant melanoma, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that a particular protein suppresses the progression of melanoma through regulation of an oncogene, or gene responsible for cancer growth. The study is published in the December 23 issue of Nature.

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