Identifying MAP/microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 1 (MARK1) as a susceptibility gene for autism

kavin submitted, created time 7 months 1 week (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are common, heritable, but genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions. The researchers recently defined a susceptibility locus for ASDs on chromosome 1q41-q42. They found that MARK1 was overexpressed in the prefrontal cortex (BA46) but not in cerebellar granule cells, on postmortem brain tissues from patients. Thus, MARK1 overexpression in humans may be responsible for subtle changes in dendritic functioning.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: genes and autism MARK1 autism microtubules MAP

Allelic association studies of genome wide association data can reveal errors in marker position assignments

DanyC submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.biomedcentral.com)

“Background Genome wide association (GWA) studies provide the opportunity to develop new kinds of analysis. Analysing pairs of markers from separate regions might lead to the detection of allelic association which might indicate an interaction between nearby genes. Method 396,591 markers typed in 541 subjects were studied. 7.8*10^10 pairs of markers were screened and those showing initial evidence for allelic association were subjected to more thorough investigation along with 10 flanking markers on either side. Results No evidence was detected for interaction

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: protein association MDDC markers molecular markers MAP

p38 alpha MAP kinase is essential in lung stem and progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation

angelfish submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.nature.com)

"Stem cell function is central for the maintenance of normal tissue homeostasis. Here we show that deletion of p38 alpha mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in adult mice results in increased proliferation and defective differentiation of lung stem and progenitor cells both in vivo and in vitro. We found that p38alpha positively regulates factors such as CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein that are required for lung cell differentiation

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: lung cell p38 alpha mitogen-activated protein MAP enhancer-binding protein

F-actin mediates tau-induced neuronal degeneration in vivo

yoyotaxi submitted, created time 1 year 10 months (www.nature.com)

Hyperphosphorylated forms of the microtubule-associated protein (MAP) tau accumulate in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies and are thought to have an important role in neurodegeneration. the research clarifies the mechanisms through which phosphorylated tau induces neurodegeneration.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: microtubule-associated protein MAP Alzheimers disease