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Popular Articles

How Mitochondria Get Their Membranes Bent
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells. Underneath their smooth surface they harbor an elaborately folded inner membrane. It holds a multitude of bottleneck like invaginations, which expand into elongated cavities (cristae). The narrow shape of the entrance or pore to the cristae ("crista junction") allows separation of the intracristal space and storage of molecules. Cytochrome c, for example, an important signaling protein in programmed cell death (apoptosis), is stored in this compartment. When apoptosis is triggered, the pores enlarge and cytochrome c is released into the cytosol. Thus, understanding of how the pore diameter and the shape of the inner membrane are regulated on a molecular basis is of great relevance to a better understanding of mitochondrial function in general. Recently, in cooperation with other research teams, the group of Prof. Andreas Reichert, who has been appointed as professor for Mitochondrial Biology to the Goethe University within the Cluster of Excellence Macromolecular Complexes in 2007, has identified two proteins linked in an antagonistic manner that are relevant for governing inner membrane structure.

IOM Report Calls For Big Boost In Global Health
To fulfill America"s humanitarian obligations as a member of the international community and to invest in the nation"s long-term health, economic interests, and national security, the United States should reaffirm and increase its commitment to improving the health of developing nations, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.
News of the day
FDA Issues Safety Communication About An Ongoing Review Of Stimulant Medications Used In Children With ADHD
There may be an association between the use of stimulant medications for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, and sudden cardiac death in healthy children, according to a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that, because of the study"s limitations, parents should not stop a child"s stimulant medication based on the study. The FDA recommends that parents should discuss concerns about the use of these medications with the prescribing health care professional.
Oncology

New Method For Breast Cancer Biomarker Discovery Developed By VBI Researchers

Three researchers from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed and evaluated a new one-step bioanalytical approach that allows them to profile in detail complex cellular extracts of proteins. The method has allowed the scientists to look at how the levels of proteins change in breast cancer cells when they are treated with hormones or cancer drugs like tamoxifen. VBI Assistant Professor Iuliana Lazar, along with VBI Professor Ina Hoeschele and VBI Postdoctoral Associate Jenny Armenta, developed the method*, which uses proteomic technologies for fast biomarker fingerprinting in complex cellular extracts. The goal of biomarker discovery and screening is to identify changes in the levels of key proteins in the cell in response to the onset or development of a disease. The scientific community has invested extensive efforts into the development of methods that would allow for the sensitive screening of large panels of biomarkers, instead of just one at a time. This type of research promises to advance the capabilities of such techniques for early cancer detection, which could significantly reduce the mortality rate from diseases like cancer. At the heart of the new method are three innovative developments - A data acquisition strategy that permits analysis of different cell states and replicates; an advanced way to filter or process the data; and a novel statistical method that allows the experimental data to be checked and their relevance confirmed. The team used the method for proteomic profiling of MCF-7 breast cancer cells cultured in estradiol, a steroid hormone, and tamoxifen, a non-steroidal drug commonly prescribed in hormonal breast cancer therapy. The work resulted in the identification of 16 differentially expressed proteins, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the method for biomarker discovery and also allowed for the establishment of a link between the proteins and certain cancer-related biological processes, such as cell proliferation, cell death, tumor development, and metastasis. According to Lazar, "Assessing the changes in protein expression levels of these cells will help us better understand the complex biochemical signaling pathways involved in the development of cancer. We hope this will also shed some light on the ways that drugs like tamoxifen work to inhibit cell proliferation and to induce response to stress at the molecular level. This knowledge will help to advance our understanding of how breast cancer cells develop resistance to tamoxifen. In the long term, this should provide opportunities for the development of more effective diagnosis and treatments for cancer patients." While the current research focuses more on the effectiveness of the method developed, the team plans to pursue more work using complementary techniques on biological replicates to confirm the differential expression of the proteins. Notes: * Jenny M. Armenta, Ina Hoeschele, and Iulia M. Lazar (2009) Differential Protein Expression Analysis Using Stable Isotope Labeling and PQD Linear Ion Trap MS Technology. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, March 4, 2009, Epub ahead of print, doi:10.1016/j.jasms.2009.02.029 This work was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant (BES-0448840) and financial support from VBI. Susan Bland Virginia Tech


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