Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Scientists Follow Live Infection By Food-poisoning Bacteria Listeria
Scientists in Portugal and France managed to follow the patterns of gene expression in food-poisoning bacteria Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) live during infection for the first time. The work about to be published in PLoS Pathogens shows how the bacterial genome shifts to better adapt to infection by activating genes involved in virulence and subversion of the host defences, as well as adaptation to the host conditions. This is the first time that the molecular interactions between L. monocytogenes and its host, as they occur during the different steps of infection, are followed in real time paving the way, not only to the development of new therapies against this potentially lethal bacterium, but also for the study of other pathogen/host interactions.
generic viagra online
TB Testing Time And Motion Study
BVA and Animal Health have agreed to undertake a survey/time and motion study of the time taken for on-farm TB testing. This is being undertaken in order to provide an up-to-date assessment of how long each element of an on-farm test takes.
News of the day
A Single Atom Makes A Big Difference To Purer Water
By substituting a single atom in a molecule widely used to purify water, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have created a far more effective decontaminant with a shelf life superior to products currently on the market.
Oncology

Motor Neuron Differentiation Specified By 2 Signals -- From Within And Out Of Cell

Two signals - an external one from retinoic acid and an internal one from the transcription factor Neurogenin2 - cooperate to activate chromatin (the basic material of chromosomes) and help determine that certain nerve progenitor cells become motor neurons, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of the journal Neuron. "This finding is important for many reasons. For example, as we understand more about what happens, the more likely we will be able to generate motor neurons from different types of stem cells," said Dr. Soo-Kyung Lee, assistant professor of molecular and human genetics and molecular and cellular biology at BCM. (A motor neuron conducts impulses from the spinal cord to a muscle fiber, controlling movement and other activities.) "It will also be useful as a tool for drug screening, allowing us to determine whether a drug is killing or enhancing the activity of motor neurons." In a delicate series of experiments, she and her colleagues showed that a complex consisting of Neurogenin2 and the retinoic acid receptor, when bound to retinoic acid, recruit a particular enzyme (histone acetyltransferase CBP) to their complex. This causes a chemical reaction called acetylation of the histones (the spools around which DNA winds in the chromatin), stimulating the transcription of the gene into the protein for which it holds the genetic code. "These changes lead to strong expression of the motor neuron genes in nerve progenitor cells, converting them to motor neurons," said Lee. "What is striking is that the retinoic acid receptor uses the Neurogenin2 site to bind to the DNA." In mice that lack CBP, she said, there is marked reduction in motor neurons. The finding could play a role in unraveling the secrets of diseases such as the muscular dystrophies. Notes: This work was spearheaded by Dr. Seunghee Lee. Others who also took part in this study are Drs. Bora Lee and Jae W. Lee, all of BCM. Funding for this work came from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the PEW Trust, the March of Dimes Foundation and the Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Centers. Glenna Picton Baylor College of Medicine


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009