News & HighlightsNews
Chromosomes are responsible for a critical enzyme's activation during cell division
In a dividing cell, chromosomes interact with cellular scaffolding — called spindle microtubules — in order to move themselves to opposite ends of the cell, ensuring that both daughter cells receive an exact copy of their parent cell’s genetic material. The microtubules that form this scaffold...
MicroRNA works with Ago2 protein to regulate blood cell development
MicroRNAs became the stars of the RNA universe when, in 2001, scientists found that these short RNAs can control whether or not genes are expressed. This month, provocative new findings cast new light on the genesis of these key biological regulators and how they carry out their function. While m...
Immune cells in the brains of aging mice prove more functional than expected
As people age past 50, their brains begin to decrease in mass. But even as neurons shrink, other brain cells appear to become more active. Microglia — the small immune cells that sense injury and the presence of pathogens in the nervous system — have shown increased activity, producing higher am...
Removing a sugar turns protective antibodies into attackers
In autoimmune diseases like arthritis and lupus, proteins whose job it is to recognize and fight foreign invaders somehow stop recognizing the body as “self” and begin to attack. But exactly what happens to these antibody proteins to transform them into pathological “autoantibodies” capable ...
Brain cells need microRNA to survive
There are lots of things that brain cells need to survive. Add to that list microRNAs. New research from Rockefeller University shows that neurons that cannot produce microRNAs, tiny single strands of RNA that regulate the expression of genes, slowly die in a manner similar to what is seen in suc...
Subset of dendritic cells could be used to fight infection
Although few people in the United States have reason to have heard of it, leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that occurs in 88 different tropical and subtropical countries. Yet despite its prevalence, there is currently no vaccine to prevent transmission. Now, research by Rockefeller University...
Critical protein prevents damaged DNA from persisting through generations
A protein long known to be involved in protecting a cell from genetic damage has been found to play an even more important role in protecting the cell’s offspring. New research shows that the protein, known as ATM, is not only vital for helping repair double-stranded breaks in the DNA of immune c...
Ion flow through membrane channels is dictated by particle size
Ion channels are small passageways that control the movement of electrically charged particles across a cell’s membrane. But they’re persnickety gatekeepers: Each channel allows only one kind of ion to flow through. Now, new research from Rockefeller University reveals the thermodynamics behind ...
Protein is linked to functional development of brain neurons
Rockefeller University investigators say that a molecule that helps transport cargo inside nerve cells may have another, critically important, role related to how developing neurons sprout the projections that relay electrical signals within the brain. In the June 6 issue of The EMBO Journal, re...
Dendritic cells are replenished from blood
Dendritic cells help direct the body’s immune response by presenting invading antigens to T cells so they know what to attack. But an ongoing debate exists about where dendritic cells originate and how they multiply, especially in the spleen and lymph system. Now, in a paper published in this mon...
View
View