News & HighlightsNews
Researchers discover molecular "switch" that tells body to store or burn fat
Findings add important new information about how leptin regulates body weight and metabolism An enzyme called SCD-1 plays a crucial role —through the hormone leptin —in signaling the body to either store fat or burn it, report a team of scientists in the July 12 issue of the journal Science. T...
Proteins that transport cholesterol identified
Structural data reveals key aspects of function Professor Jan Breslow and colleagues, including biomedical fellow Raymond Soccio, recently discovered a novel subfamily of the START domain lipid transfer proteins, which are thought to shuttle lipids such as cholesterol within cells. In addition, ...
Researchers Solve Killer Protein's "Crime"
A killer protein named Reaper. A protective protein in bits and pieces. And a dead cell. This is the scene of one of the body's most perfect crimes: programmed cell death. This vital process occurs throughout life as a means to, among other purposes, eliminate potentially cancerous cells. Now, by...
"Vanishing Breed" of Researchers Recognized by HHMI
One clinical scientist selected in New York region: Rockefeller's Robert Darnell Robert B. Darnell, M.D., Ph.D., whose bench-to-bedside studies at Rockefeller University have uncovered new insights about how the brain normally works and about tumor immunity, is one of the 12 physician-scientists ...
The making of a fat cell
Researchers identify a key ingredient in development of body fat The future of a young body cell is filled with uncertainties. Will it mature into a red blood cell and carry oxygen to remote tissues? Or might it become a liver cell and help rid the body of dangerous toxins? Ultimately, its destin...
Three-D images shed light on first steps of RNA synthesis
The first three-dimensional images of the initiating form of the molecular machinery in bacteria that "transcribes" genetic information from DNA into RNA — the crucial first step for making proteins — is reported in a pair of papers in the May 17 issue of the journal Science. These research fin...
More Than Just Packaging, Histones Help Turn Genes On
Rockefeller scientists redefine role of proteins responsible for bundling DNA into cells Histones, the proteins that help roll several feet of DNA into the microscopic span of a single nucleus, are turning out to be much more than just packaging material. Instead, recent studies indicate that the...
"Good Citizens" in the Immune System Carry Out State's Orders
Diversity in PKC signaling enzymes yields clues to tolerance The difference between good and evil matters as much in the immune system, it turns out, as it does to humankind. The problem is understanding how the immune system's cells perceive the difference. In the April 25 issue of the journal N...
Leprosy bug provides clues to early nerve degeneration
Possible insight to multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases that destroy nerve cell "insulation" In the May 3 issue of Science, scientists at Rockefeller University and New York University School of Medicine report that the nerve damage that leads to a loss of sensation and disab...
Nature's Own Antidote to Cocaine
Brain opiate may explain why some people are less susceptible to addiction Some people's brains may harbor their own built-in defense system against the addictive powers of cocaine. According to new research at The Rockefeller University, a naturally occurring brain opiate called dynorphin may, i...
View
View