Removal of "superfluous" retina creates (time) blind mice...

Darkfrog submitted, created time 6 months 3 weeks (www.nature.com)

Removing a certain type of retinal cell from lab mice doesn't make them go blind, but it does shake up their body clocks; they quickly slip into a 23.5 hour cycle--the same as unaltered mice in total darkness. They also lost their ability to regulate pupil size, but not their other visual abilities, such as judging how far to jump to make it across a gap. This suggests that these melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs) concern the detection of light, not the processing of visual information.

What I'm curious about now is whether blind humans do or do not have this problem

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Study reveals a key to blood vessel growth and possible drug target

davis submitted, created time 1 year 2 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Researchers have identified a molecular pathway that plays a critical role in the growth of blood vessels. The finding not only offers an important insight into the development of the vascular system during embryonic development but suggests a potential target for inhibiting the blood vessels that fuel cancers, diabetic eye complications and atherosclerosis, the researchers say.

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Comparative Proteomics of Colorectal Cancer: Abnormal Expression of Proteins within the Tumor Nest and Implication of HnRNP A1 as an Oncoprotein in Tumorigenesis

MedUnion submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.mupnet.com)

AIM: To decipher the key biochemical modulators of tumorigenesis and evaluate the potential of candidate proteins as biomarkers or targets for novel therapeutic intervention of colorectal cancer (CRC).
METHODS: Differentially expressed proteins in colorectal tumors were identified by gel-based proteomics, tandem mass spectrometry and NCBInr database interrogation, and further validated by Western blotting and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining

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