Category Health/Medical

Highlights •B2 repeat RNA controls stress genes by suppressing transcriptional elongation •Upon heat shock, EZH2 is recruited to stress genes to activate expression •A specific interaction between EZH2 and B2 RNA results in RNA cleavage •B2 cleavage relieves transcriptional suppression and triggers the stress response

A study from MGH investigators has found a surprising role for what had been considered a nonfunctional “junk” RNA molecule: controlling the cellular response to stress. A highly specific interaction between 2 elements previously known to repress gene transcription – B2 RNA and EZH2, an enzyme previously known only to silence genes – actually induces the expression of stress-response genes in mouse cells.

“EZH2 is part of a structure called the Polycomb Repressive Com...

A Japanese research team has become the first in the world to discover that 2-aminobutyric acid (2-AB) is closely involved in the metabolic regulation of the antioxidant glutathione, and that it can effectively raise levels of glutathione in the body when ingested. Glutathione plays an important role in keeping us healthy. This finding could contribute to the development of new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat various oxidative stress-related conditions including Alzheimer’s, aging, cancer, lifestyle-related diseases, hardened arteries, and rgan damage caused by medicines and toxins.

Glutathione is a major antioxidant component within cells, contributing to the detoxification of foreign substances...

Osteolectin (Clec11a), reverses osteoporosis in mice and has implications for regenerative medicine.

A team of scientists at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) discovered a new bone-forming growth factor, Osteolectin (Clec11a), which reverses osteoporosis in mice and has implications for regenerative medicine. Although Osteolectin is known to be made by certain bone marrow and bone cells, CRI researchers are the first to show Osteolectin promotes the formation of new bone from skeletal stem cells in the bone marrow. The study, published in eLife, also found that deletion of Osteolectin in mice causes accelerated bone loss during adulthood and symptoms of osteoporosis, such as reduced bone strength and delayed fracture healing.

“These results demonstra...

Research subjects at the University of Minnesota fitted with a specialized noninvasive brain cap were able to move the robotic arm just by imagining moving their own arms. Credit: University of Minnesota

Researchers have made a major breakthrough that allows people to control a robotic arm using only their minds. The research has the potential to help millions of people who are paralyzed or have neurodegenerative diseases. “This is the first time in the world that people can operate a robotic arm to reach and grasp objects in a complex 3D environment using only their thoughts without a brain implant,” said Bin He, University of Minnesota biomedical engineering professor. “Just by imagining moving their arms, they were able to move the robotic arm.”

The noninvasive technique, EEG based brai...