“Zebrafish Journal Publishes Cancer Biology Special Issue - Medical News Today” plus 4 more |
- Zebrafish Journal Publishes Cancer Biology Special Issue - Medical News Today
- Scientific societies to hold Experimental Biology 2010 meeting - News-Medical.Net
- Penn State Mammoth Research to Appear on '60 Minutes' - Gant Daily
- Structural Biology of Human H3K9 Methyltransferases - Elites TV
- Geolocation Tracks Puffins - Redorbit.com
| Zebrafish Journal Publishes Cancer Biology Special Issue - Medical News Today Posted: 08 Jan 2010 11:54 PM PST  Main Category: Cancer / Oncology Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 09 Jan 2010 - 0:00 PST
The zebrafish, a translucent fish often used as a model of human development and disease, offers unique advantages for studying the cause, growth, and spread of tumors using strategies and methods presented in the current "Cancer Biology" special issue of Zebrafish, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Guest Editors Steven D. Leach, MD, the Paul K. Neumann Professor in Pancreatic Cancer and Professor of Surgery, Oncology and Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) and A. Thomas Look, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, and Vice-Chair for Research Pediatric Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA), have compiled a comprehensive collection of papers that describe current approaches for modeling human cancer in zebrafish, studying tissue remodeling in zebrafish embryos, and understanding the genes, genetic control elements, and repair pathways involved in the development and metastasis of tumors. A particular advantage of using zebrafish to study cancer biology is the ability to transplant human tumors into the fish using well-established methods. Authors Leonard Zon, PhD, and Alison Taylor, PhD, from Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston present the concepts and techniques relevant to zebrafish transplantation assays. They describe how tumor transplantation has been used to study leukemia, rhabdomyosarcoma, and melanoma in the paper "Zebrafish Tumor Assays: The State of Transplantation." The molecular basis for cancers affecting human germ cells is poorly understood, impeding efforts to identify more effective and targeted treatments. In the paper entitled "Identification of a Heritable Model of Testicular Germ Cell Tumor in the Zebrafish," authors Joanie Neumann, Jennifer Dhepard Dovey, Garvin Chandler, Liliana Carbajal, and James Amatruda, describe the development of a zebrafish model that carries a genetic mutation making the fish highly susceptible to the development of testicular tumors. This model system can be used to test new approaches to therapy for testicular cancer. Jun Chen and Jinrong Peng, from Zhejian University (China), describe the use of transgenic zebrafish to understand the roles that different naturally occurring forms of the tumor suppressor gene p53 play in regulating cell cycle, metabolism, organ development, and cell aging and death. Their paper "p53 Isoform - 113p53 in Zebrafish" discusses the potential use of this particular p53 isoform for characterizing factors in the p53 pathway and screening for novel cancer therapies. Noting the "relative ease and low costs of transgenesis" - putting human genes into zebrafish - and the unique benefits of working with zebrafish, especially related to imaging, genetics, and transplantation, Dr. Leach predicts that, "Future zebrafish cancer research exploiting these fundamental advantages will be especially likely to generate novel insights not achievable using other model systems," in his Introduction to the issue entitled, "Pisces and Cancer: The Stars Align." Zebrafish is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online. This is the only peer-reviewed journal to focus on the zebrafish and other aquarium fish species as models for the study of vertebrate development, evolution, toxicology, and human disease. The entire issue is available free online here. Source:
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| Scientific societies to hold Experimental Biology 2010 meeting - News-Medical.Net Posted: 08 Jan 2010 11:54 PM PST Six scientific societies announced they will hold their annual meeting, Experimental Biology (EB 2010; www.experimentalbiology.org), April 24-28, 2010 in Anaheim, CA. The societies are the American Association of Anatomists (AAA), American Physiological Society (APS), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). The Importance of EB: Depth and Diversity of Critical Science The EB 2010 meeting will highlight topics of scientific and public interest that relate to science, health and medicine. Individual topics relating to the sciences are as diverse as alcoholic fatty liver disease, protein folding, stem cell based therapy, nutrition and health, circulating tumor cells, genetic disease susceptibility and regenerative medicine in the 21st century. Thousands of Scientists, Symposia and Lectures Over the last five years, the EB meeting has averaged more than 13,700 attendees, of which more than 10,000 were scientists. This year's meeting expects to exceed the average. The majority of scientists represent university and academic institutions as well as government agencies, non-profit organizations and private corporations. Please Join Us There are numerous benefits of covering the EB 2010 meeting. Members of the media who attend EB will have access to:
Meeting Venue Sits Within a Large Research Hub EB 2010 is being held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The city of Anaheim is located within driving distance of several major research universities and institutions, including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the University of California, Irvine (UC-Irvine), the University of Southern California (USC), Caltech, the Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute, and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. California is an important research hub. In 2008 alone, the state received some $3.0 billion in research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Media Registration The meeting is being held at the Anaheim Convention Center from Saturday, April 24 through Wednesday, April 28, 2010. The media are invited to attend. Free registration is available to representatives of the press, including those from print, broadcast, radio and online venues. Passes will be issued to members of the working press and freelance writers bearing a letter of assignment from their editor on publication letterhead. Two recent articles related to EB topics must be submitted with all press applications. Representatives of allied fields (public information, public affairs and public relations) may register as nonmembers at the nonmember conference rate. An onsite newsroom will be available for the press. Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Penn State Mammoth Research to Appear on '60 Minutes' - Gant Daily Posted: 09 Jan 2010 06:21 AM PST UNIVERSITY PARK - An episode on "60 Minutes" will feature Penn State's achievement in recreating the first genome sequences of the woolly mammoth, a mammal as large as an elephant that became extinct about 10,000 years ago. The Penn State scientists who sequenced the mammoth genes are Webb Miller, professor of biology and of computer science and engineering, and Stephan C. Schuster, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. The episode tentatively is scheduled to air as the second 15-minute feature story during the "60 Minutes" show this Sunday, Jan. 10. Check local listings for air times. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Structural Biology of Human H3K9 Methyltransferases - Elites TV Posted: 08 Jan 2010 09:45 PM PST
SET domain methyltransferases deposit methyl marks on specific histone tail lysine residues and play a major role in epigenetic regulation of gene transcription. We solved the structures of the catalytic domains of GLP, G9a, Suv39H2 and PRDM2, four of the eight known human H3K9 methyltransferases in their apo conformation or in complex with the methyl donating cofactor, and peptide substrates. We analyzed the structural determinants for methylation state specificity, and designed a G9a mutant able to tri-methylate H3K9. We show that the I-SET domain acts as a rigid docking platform, while induced-fit of the Post-SET domain is necessary to achieve a catalytically competent conformation. We also propose a model where long-range electrostatics bring enzyme and histone substrate together, while the presence of an arginine upstream of the target lysine is critical for binding and specificity. Enhanced version This article can also be viewed as an enhanced version in which the text of the article is integrated with interactive 3D representations and animated transitions. Please note that a web plugin is required to access this enhanced functionality. Instructions for the installation and use of the web plugin are available in Text S1. For the full article visit: Article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Geolocation Tracks Puffins - Redorbit.com Posted: 09 Jan 2010 06:49 AM PST Posted on: Saturday, 9 January 2010, 08:50 CST Geolocation technology reveals worsening North Sea conditions could be increasing Atlantic puffin mortality A recent increase in winter mortality in Atlantic puffins could be due to worsening conditions within the North Sea, according to new findings published in the scientific journal Marine Biology. The study used geolocation technology to track puffins from the Isle of May National Nature Reserve, home to the largest colony of puffins in the North Sea. The puffin population on the Isle of May has declined by 30% in recent years. The research team included scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the British Antarctic Survey and was led by Professor Mike Harris, Emeritus Research Fellow at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who has studied puffins for 37 years. Professor Harris said, "Modern technology has come to the aid of the puffin just when it was needed. The quarter of a million puffins that breed in northeast Britain head out to sea during the winter and we previously thought that they stayed in the North Sea. We now know that some make long trips into the Atlantic during winter. This is vital new knowledge which should help us explain recent declines in puffin numbers." Recently-developed miniature logging devices weighing 1.5g were deployed during the 2007/2008 winter on 50 puffins from the Isle of May National Nature Reserve. Data was downloaded from thirteen of these geolocators with the records showing that over three-quarters of the birds made excursions lasting between one and four months into the Atlantic between successive breeding seasons, before returning to their home waters in the North Sea. Previous studies have shown that puffin numbers at the two largest colonies on the east coast of Britain declined by 30% between 2003 and 2008 following rapid population increase over the previous 40 years. Further counts in 2009 confirmed this decrease and also recorded a decrease at two other colonies. Most seabird mortality occurs during the winter when food abundance is depressed, weather conditions are poor and shorter days restrict foraging opportunities. Since there was an unprecedented mortality of adult puffins over the 2007/2008 winter, the logger results suggest that conditions in the North Sea may have become less favorable for puffins in recent years, particularly during autumn and early winter, forcing many birds to move into the Atlantic. Here they have to travel greater distances and adapt to different habitats. Co-author Dr Francis Daunt from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said, "Although the factors causing the recent changes in puffin distribution and mortality require further study we are confident that this new approach, combining data from logging devices such as geolocators together with other information on changing conditions in the North Sea, will help improve our understanding of this complex ecological issue." The research is published online in the journal Marine Biology. The paper reference is: Michael P. Harris, Francis Daunt, Mark Newell, Richard A. Phillips and Sarah Wanless (2009) Wintering areas of adult Atlantic puffins Fratercula arctica from a North Sea colony as revealed by geolocation technology. Marine Biology DOI 10.1007/s00227-009-1365-0 --- On the Net:
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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