Category Health/Medical

Representative images of control (left) and Dvl mutants (right) embryonic brains at embryonic day 18.5 (E18.5, just before birth at E20) were stained with DAPI to highlight all of the nuclei (Blue), anti-Ctip2 (Green) for deep layer neurons and anti-Cux1 (Red) for more superficial layer neurons. Analysis of the results shows specific reduction of the deep layer (Ctip2+) neurons at E18.5. This reduction in deep layer neurons is preceded by a transient brain over growth at E14.5, associated with increased proliferation of neural progenitors and premature differentiation. Credit: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Autism has been postulated to be caused by neuron overgrowth in the prenatal period, although the precise timing and cause of this overgrowth has been unknown...

Inhibition of transcriptional interference with siRNA. The top panel depicts how GNG12-AS1 modulates the expression of the active DIRAS3 allele through transcriptional interference. GNG12-AS1 may act as a rheostat for DIRAS3 transcription rate. The lower panel depicts how exogenous siRNA molecules in a complex with AGO2 can bind to both the TSS and GNG12-AS1 to inhibit Pol II, and block further transcription initiation and elongation of GNG12-AS1. As a result of transcriptional silencing of GNG12-AS1, transcriptional interference is reduced leading to increased transcription of DIRAS3.

Supposed non-coding DNA, found in between genes, plays a role in suppressing cancer, according to new research by Universities of Bath and Cambridge...

Far right, a zebrafish embryo breaks free from a group of unhatched sibling eggs. Credit: Zebrafish Lab

New UCLA research demonstrates that BPS (Bisphenol S), a common replacement for BPA, speeds up embryonic development and disrupts the reproductive system. The animal study is the first to examine the effects of BPA and BPS on key brain cells and genes that control the growth and function of organs involved in reproduction.

“Our study shows that making plastic products with BPA alternatives does not necessarily leave them safer,” explained senior author Nancy Wayne, a reproductive endocrinologist and a professor of physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Using a zebrafish model, Wayne and her colleagues found that exposure to low levels of BPA and BPS — equivalent to th...

IGF-1R Regulates Short-Term Synaptic Facilitation under Physiological and AD-Related Conditions

Researchers find IGF-1 receptor, “master” lifespan regulator, plays critically important role regulating the transfer of information within neural circuits. They hope their findings can be used to indicate a new direction for therapy used to treat patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The research reveals IGF-1R as a differential regulator of 2 different modes of transmission – spontaneous and evoked – in hippocampal circuits of the brain. “We know that IGF-1R signaling controls growth, development and lifespan, but its role in AD has remained controversial,” said Dr. Slutsky...