Category Biology/Biotechnology

Highlights •PKCλ/ι is required for Paneth cell differentiation •PKCλ/ι reduces EZH2 stability and promotes Atoh1 and Gfi1 expression •PKCλ/ι induces intestinal epithelial cell survival through the repression of JNK •PKCλ/ι loss enhances intestinal inflammation and cancer

A promising new target for future drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been found. The study also indicates that another protein, protein kinase C (PKC) λ/ι, may serve as a biomarker of IBD severity. “The intestine is protected by specialized cells, called Paneth cells, that secrete antimicrobial peptides,” said Jorge Moscat, Ph.D., deputy director and professor in the NCI-designated Cancer Center...

Highlights •In vivo tracing of parent-specific DNA methylation dynamics at single-cell resolution •Cell-type-specific methylation signatures at the Dlk-Dio3 IG-DMR during development •Dynamic parent- and cell-type-specific DNA methylation changes in the adult brain

Parental imprinting – a form of gene control passed down from parents to offspring – is far more dynamic than previously thought and may contribute to changes in the brain and other tissues over time. This finding by Whitehead Institute scientists challenges current understandings of gene regulation via DNA methylation, from development through adulthood. Methylation – attachment of methyl groups to DNA – is an epigenetic phenomenon that affects gene expression...

Neuroglobin expression in the human brain, from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Credit: brain-map.org

A team at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC), Imperial College London, has found an important part of the machinery that switches on a gene known to protect against Alzheimer’s Disease. Working in collaboration with scientists at the Hong Kong University (HKU) and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, CSC associate professor Richard Festenstein explored the steps by which this Neuroglobin gene is gradually switched on, or up-regulated. Neuroglobin has previously been shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease in mice in which it makes the protective Neuroglobin...

Salk Institute researchers and collaborators develop novel cancer treatment that halts fat synthesis in cells. Placebo-treated cells (left) have far more lipid (red) production compared to ND-646 treated cells (right). Credit: Image courtesy of Salk Institute

Cells create their own fat molecules to build their plasma membranes and other critical structures. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute, along with academic and industry collaborators, have found a way to obstruct this instrumental process to stifle cancer’s growth. The approach stalls the molecular building blocks cancer needs to grow. “Cancer cells rewire their metabolism to support their rapid division,” says Salk Professor Reuben Shaw...