The Long Route of MeCP2 in TranscriptionMarch 24, 2015A number of teams have already spent time in trying to uncover the path that leads from MeCP2 disruption to Rett syndrome, a severe neurodevelopmental disorder in the autism spectrum. Adding detail to MeCP2’s repressive function, a team led by Michael Greenberg gathered data from MeCP2 mouse mutants and patient samples, finding an unexpected clue in long-gene […]
Hearts on ChipsMarch 24, 2015Chips, in most incarnations, are bad for the heart. Whether you’re frying them, baking them into cookies, or carrying one on your shoulder, chips are not cardiologist-approved. A new paper from Kevin Healy’s lab aims to mend this relationship with a microfluidic chip that is able to coax human induced stem cells into beating 3D […]
iPSCs and CRISPR the Dynamic Duo of Regenerative MedicineMarch 23, 2015Laurel and Hardy, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Batman and Robin – can we now add iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) and CRISPR to the list of famous duos? Linzhao Cheng (John Hopkins) certainly thinks so, and in a recently study his group have demonstrated how this combination of technologies may lead to an effective cell treatment […]
5hmC: a Helping Hand in Drug AddictionMarch 23, 2015While there’s no doubting that one month of continuous cocaine exposure is going to have an effect on the brain, it seems that some of the molecular culprits behind the response and long-term effects are 5hmC and the TET protein family. An international research team studying addiction via cocaine show that repeat exposure downregulates the TET machinery in the brain’s reward centre, the nucleus […]
Novel Primate- and Tissue Specific miRNAs with Dr Isidore RigoutsosMarch 17, 2015In this interview Dr Isidore Rigoutsos discusses his recent paper ‘Analysis of 13 cell types reveals evidence for the expression of numerous novel primate- and tissue-specific microRNAs‘ published in PNAS, February 2015. This paper shows the presence of many more miRNAs than previously thought and uncovers that the majority of these are in fact, cell-type […]