News & HighlightsNews
Initial trigger is not enough to determine a cell's fate
Disturbing a stem cell from its initial quiescent state was once thought to taint its gold-standard properties. However, research uncovering how a signaling pathway regulates stem cell behavior reveals that stem cells, once activated, enter a window of time during which they respond to their envi...
New method better identifies functionally related genes on the bacterial chromosome
The moment a bacterial pathogen makes contact with its host, its goal is simple: to infect. To do the job, it has to turn a specific array of genes on and off and show a little know-how in adapting to its new environment. A new tool developed at Rockefeller University allows scientists to identif...
Chromosomes are responsible for a critical enzyme's activation during cell division
In a dividing cell, chromosomes interact with cellular scaffolding — called spindle microtubules — in order to move themselves to opposite ends of the cell, ensuring that both daughter cells receive an exact copy of their parent cell’s genetic material. The microtubules that form this scaffold...
MicroRNA works with Ago2 protein to regulate blood cell development
MicroRNAs became the stars of the RNA universe when, in 2001, scientists found that these short RNAs can control whether or not genes are expressed. This month, provocative new findings cast new light on the genesis of these key biological regulators and how they carry out their function. While m...
Immune cells in the brains of aging mice prove more functional than expected
As people age past 50, their brains begin to decrease in mass. But even as neurons shrink, other brain cells appear to become more active. Microglia — the small immune cells that sense injury and the presence of pathogens in the nervous system — have shown increased activity, producing higher am...
Removing a sugar turns protective antibodies into attackers
In autoimmune diseases like arthritis and lupus, proteins whose job it is to recognize and fight foreign invaders somehow stop recognizing the body as “self” and begin to attack. But exactly what happens to these antibody proteins to transform them into pathological “autoantibodies” capable ...
Brain cells need microRNA to survive
There are lots of things that brain cells need to survive. Add to that list microRNAs. New research from Rockefeller University shows that neurons that cannot produce microRNAs, tiny single strands of RNA that regulate the expression of genes, slowly die in a manner similar to what is seen in suc...
Subset of dendritic cells could be used to fight infection
Although few people in the United States have reason to have heard of it, leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that occurs in 88 different tropical and subtropical countries. Yet despite its prevalence, there is currently no vaccine to prevent transmission. Now, research by Rockefeller University...
Critical protein prevents damaged DNA from persisting through generations
A protein long known to be involved in protecting a cell from genetic damage has been found to play an even more important role in protecting the cell’s offspring. New research shows that the protein, known as ATM, is not only vital for helping repair double-stranded breaks in the DNA of immune c...
Ion flow through membrane channels is dictated by particle size
Ion channels are small passageways that control the movement of electrically charged particles across a cell’s membrane. But they’re persnickety gatekeepers: Each channel allows only one kind of ion to flow through. Now, new research from Rockefeller University reveals the thermodynamics behind ...
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