CHOP researchers Find NTRK fusions more common than expected in pediatric tumors
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Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that NTRK fusions are more common in pediatric tumors and also involve a wider range of tumors than adult cancers, information that could help prioritize screening for NTRK fusions in pediatric cancer patients who might benefit from treatment with TRK inhibitors.
Certain snakes have evolved a unique genetic trick to avoid being eaten by venomous snakes, according to University of Queensland research. Associate Professor Bryan Fry from UQ's Toxin Evolution Lab said the technique worked in a manner similar to the way two sides of a magnet repel each other.
Molybdenum cofactor (Moco) is a compound that is little known but is essential for life. Children born without the ability to synthesize Moco die young. It has not been possible to create Moco supplements because the compound is so unstable. Studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans suggest that by combining, Moco with certain proteins, it becomes stable and can repair deficiency.
A team of biophysicists set out to tackle the long-standing question about the nature of force generation by myosin, the molecular motor responsible for muscle contraction. The key question they addressed - one of the most controversial topics in the field - was: how does myosin convert chemical energy, in the form of ATP, into mechanical work? The answer revealed new details into how myosin, the engine of muscle and related motor proteins, transduces energy.
Researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg have discovered remarkable molecular properties of an antimicrobial peptide from the skin of the Australian toadlet. The discovery could inspire the development of novel synthetic drugs to combat bacterial infections
The innovation project watermelon and melon cultivation and physiology team of Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute has made new progress in the metabolism regulation of sugar and organic acid in watermelon fruit.
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba identified a novel mechanism by which bacteria form membrane vesicles, which bacteria employ to communicate with each other or to defend themselves against antibiotics. By studying mycolic acid-containing bacteria (MCB), which also includes tuberculosis-causing bacteria, the researchers demonstrated that environmental stimuli dictate the route by which the MCB form membrane vesicles. Further, their observations were consistent among various MCB. This study has implications for vaccine development as well as novel therapies.
WRAIR scientists have shown that traumatic brain injury causes coordinated microRNA dysregulation followed by increased amounts of the beta-site amyloid cleaving enzyme, or BACE1, and loss of amyloid precursor protein. BACE-1 cleaves APP to generate amyloid beta peptides, a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease pathology and brain cells loss, which are the focus of several clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease. Future research will characterize the direct role of miRNAs and their relationship to BACE1 within TBI.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena and the University of Muenster, Germany, describe the biosynthesis and exact mode of action of diterpene glycosides in wild tobacco. These antiherbivory compounds attack the cell membrane. To protect themselves from their own toxins, tobacco plants store them in a non-toxic form. Autotoxicity and the protection against it seem to play a greater role in the evolution of plant defenses than previously thought.
Acute Pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common diseases around the world. Associated with a considerable risk of morbidity and even death in patients who suffer a severe form of the disease, to date there is no specific treatment for it. Now international AP experts have published a roadmap in the journal Gut (BMJ) pinpointing the two most significant thresholds in the disease that could serve as a starting point for targeting treatment strategies for this extremely painful condition.