New Pathway for Malaria Infection Discovered

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.sciencedaily.com)

Cenix BioScience GmbH, a leading specialist in advanced RNA interference (RNAi)-based research services, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the Lisbon-based biomedical research centre Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), have announced the publication of their collaborative study in Cell Host & Microbe, describing the discovery and in vivo validation of scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI), a major regulator of cholesterol uptake by the liver, as a critical host factor for malaria infection.

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Breaking out new ideas on molting

kavin submitted, created time 5 months 4 days (www.jcb.org)

Alison Frand believes that understanding the molting process of the nematode worm, C. elegans, might provide new insights into diseases affecting humans. Some of the potential medical benefits lie in the similarities between the worms' exoskeleton and our own skin and connective tissues, while other benefits might lie in the unique aspects of worm molting. Alison Frand is using RNAi, GFP-PEST, and other state-of-the-art tools to study molting in worms.

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Coupling of Double-Stranded RNA Synthesis and siRNA Generation

jerry submitted, created time 5 months 2 weeks (www.sciencedirect.com)

A new study shows that heterochromatic dsRNA synthesis and siRNA generation are physically coupled processes. This coupling has implications for cis-restriction of siRNA-mediated heterochromatin assembly and for mechanisms that give rise to siRNA strand polarity.

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From sequence to function: using RNAi to elucidate mechanisms of human disease

davidd submitted, created time 7 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as one of the most powerful tools for functionally characterizing large sets of genomic data. The capabilities of RNAi place it at the forefront of high-throughput screens, which are able to span the human genome in search of novel targets. The article assess the prospective applications of high-throughput screens, the data they are capable of generating, and the potential for this technique to further our understanding of human disease.

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Triumphs and tribulations for RNA interference

A new system for collaboration in cell communication

BIOBOSS submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Investigators from the Institute of Research in Biomedicine have identified a new signalling mechanism among cells in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The researchers found that two independent groups of cells generate the same signal by different pathways and that these cells subsequently act together to send the signal to the target cell. In this manner, the receptor cell receives the signal from two distinct sources.

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Arrowhead Subsidiary, Calando Pharmaceuticals, Plans First to Humans Clinical Trial

seanangel submitted, created time 1 year 6 months (www.genengnews.com)

"Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ARWR) announced today that Calando, its majority owned subsidiary, together with City of Hope (COH) and the UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center (UCLA) are planning a broad-based Phase I clinical trial to begin later this year for Calando's lead drug candidate, CALAA-01. "

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Critical roles for Dicer in the female germline

athena submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (www.genesdev.org)

"Dicer is an essential component of RNA interference (RNAi) pathways, which have broad functions in gene regulation and genome organization. Probing the consequences of tissue-restricted Dicer loss in mice indicates a critical role for Dicer during meiosis in the female germline."

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p53-dependent gene expression signature in breast cancer

Rhett submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.biomedcentral.com)

Gene expression analysis of RNAi-treated cell lines reveals a set of 52 genes that are differentially expressed in breast cancer in response to loss of p53, this expression signature also predicts relapse and survival across breast cancer subtypes.
These results demonstrate that the relative importance of p53-regulated functions such as cell cycle control, DNA repair, and apoptosis are subject to significant inter-individual variation. Thus, as might be expected, many of the direct and indirect targets of p53 identified here are known p53 and cancer associated genes

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Guardian of the genome may be trigger cancer self-destruct

saury submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (health.allrefer.com)

The p53 protein is called the "guardian of the genome" as it triggers the suicide of cells with damaged DNA.
Its inactivation can set the stage for the development of different types of cancer.
the p53 gene in mice, causing blood, bone and liver tumours to self-destruct.
But the researchers did not find any evidence that restoring p53 affected normal cells.

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