lncRNA tagged posts

UCLA researchers Tamer Sallam, left, and Peter Tontonoz expect that further exploration will lead to new insights into normal physiology as well as disease.

So-called ‘selfish’ gene acts to remove cholesterol from blood vessels. Scientists have identified a gene that may play a protective role in preventing heart disease. Their research revealed that the gene, called MeXis, acts within key cells inside clogged arteries to help remove excess cholesterol from blood vessels. Published in the journal Nature Medicine, the UCLA-led study in mice found that MeXis controls the expression of a protein that pumps cholesterol out of cells in the artery wall.

MeXis is an example of a “selfish” gene, one that is presumed to have no function because it does not make a protein product...

Intestinal cells in a healthy individual in which the non-coding RNA of the Inc13 gene appears in red (the red dots would not be seen in a celiac patient). Credit: Image courtesy of University of the Basque Country

40% of the population carry the main risk factor for celiac disease but only 1% go down with it. A new gene that influences its development has been found in what until recently has been known as ‘junk’ DNA.

It has been known for some time that celiac disease develops in people who have a genetic susceptibility, but despite the fact that 40% of the population carry the most decisive risk factor (the HLA-DQ2 and DQ8 polymorphisms), only 1% go on to develop the disease...