science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Τρίτη 1 Απριλίου 2014

Science News SciGuru.com

Controlling Brain Cells with Light
The human 'hairless' gene identified: One form of baldness explained
New discovery gives hope that nerves could be repaired after spinal cord injury
Vacquinol-1 explodes glioblastoma cells

Posted: 01 Apr 2014 07:33 AM PDT

Networked nerve cells are the control center of organisms. In a nematode, 300 nerve cells are sufficient to initiate complex behavior. To understand the properties of the networks, re-searchers switch cells on and off with light and observe the resulting behavior of the organism. In the Science journal, sci-entists now present a protein that facilitates the control of nerve cells by light. It might be used as a basis of studies of diseases of the nervous system.

The human 'hairless' gene identified: One form of baldness explained

Posted: 01 Apr 2014 07:16 AM PDT

New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that molecular function of the "hairless" gene may explain why mutations contribute to the pathogenesis of atrichia with papular lesions, a rare form of hair loss

New discovery gives hope that nerves could be repaired after spinal cord injury

Posted: 01 Apr 2014 07:03 AM PDT

A new discovery suggests it could one day be possible to chemically reprogram and repair damaged nerves after spinal cord injury or brain trauma.

Researchers from Imperial College London and the Hertie Institute, University of Tuebingen have identified a possible mechanism for re-growing damaged nerve fibres in the central nervous system (CNS). This damage is currently irreparable, often leaving those who suffer spinal cord injury, stroke or brain trauma with serious impairments like loss of sensation and permanent paralysis.

Vacquinol-1 explodes glioblastoma cells

Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:41 AM PDT

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that a substance called Vacquinol-1 makes cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumour, literally explode. When mice were given the substance, which can be given in tablet form, tumour growth was reversed and survival was prolonged. The findings are published in the journal Cell.