EZH2: Cancer Villain or MDS Hero?July 7, 2010EZH2 takes a lot of abuse, and is often labeled as a dreaded oncogene , but like a movie villain who redeems themselves in the end, the histone methyltransferase isn’t all evil. According to two new papers published simultaneously in Nature Genetics, EZH2 may in fact function as a tumor suppressor in some blood cancers. […]
HIV miRNA Evolution at Lighting SpeedJuly 1, 2010The HIV reverse transcriptase is known to have a notoriously high error rate. In fact, if your office photocopier was that sloppy, you’d probably end up doing your own version of the classic copier-smashing scene from the movie Office Space. But the shoddy workmanship of HIV’s genome-copying enzyme actually benefits the virus by allowing it […]
Butyrate Boosts iPS Derivation via Epigenetic RemodelingJune 24, 2010Sometimes we all need a little boost to improve productivity, whether it’s a mid-afternoon Snickers bar or a venti quadruple-shot latte to jump start a weary mind. It turns out that human fibroblasts also like a little something extra to help them reprogram into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Researchers at Johns Hopkins University led […]
miRNAs Duped by Pseudogene DecoysJune 23, 2010Wouldn’t we all like to have a decoy, a look-alike who could stand in for us during life’s unpleasant moments? You know, like being forced to watch the “Dancing with the Stars” finale, or standing in line for 6+ hours at the DMV? A research effort spear-headed by Laura Poliseno at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical […]
miRNAs Enlist in Fight Against H1N1 InfectionJune 22, 2010During last year’s pandemic, the H1N1 Influenza A Virus made itself a bigger nuisance than a stadium full of vuvuzelas at a World Cup match, and so the rush began to figure out how to stop it in its tracks. In a new Journal of Virology paper, investigators have discovered that a handful of cellular […]