News From The Journal Of Neuroscience
1. Major New Class of Vomeronasal StimuliFrancesco Nodari, Fong-Fu Hsu, Xiaoyan Fu, Terrence F. Holekamp, Lung-Fa Kao, John Turk, and Timothy E. HolyNodari et al. have discovered a major new class of molecules that activate the accessory olfactory (vomeronasal) system: sulfated steroids.
Does Divergence In Female Mate Choice Affect Male Size Distributions In Two Cave Fish Populations?
Female mate choice can maintain male traits that impose a cost in terms of natural selection. For example, in livebearing fish of the family Poeciliidae, females prefer to mate with large sized males, which take longer to mature and are more susceptible to predation than small males.
The Sweet Life: Diet Sugar Concentration Influences Paracellular Glucose Absorption
Small birds and bats face strong selection pressure to digest food rapidly in order to reduce mass carried during flight. One mechanism that may supplement active glucose uptake is absorption of glucose via the paracellular pathway (transfer between epithelial cells, not mediated by transporter proteins).
Professional Society Honors PNNL Scientist - Julia Laskin Receives Biemann Medal For Achievements In Mass Spectrometry
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory chemist Julia Laskin has received the Biemann Medal, the highest honor granted to a young scientist by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Laskin accepted the award at the ASMS annual conference June 3 in Denver, where she also delivered a lecture on her research to the nearly 7, 000 scientists attending the conference.
Fungal Exposure And Gardening
"Gardener dies after inhaling killer fungus" is the headline in the Daily Mirror today, describing a case of a 47-year-old man who "went to hospital with chest pains just a day after opening a bag of rotting leaves". The man died three days later from aspergillosis, which he contracted after inhaling spores from a fungus that grows on dead leaves (Aspergillus fumigatus).
Gentronix Use Abcellute Preserved Hepatocytes To Enhance In Vitro Genotoxicity Testing
Safety assessment in drug discovery requires the in vitro genotoxicity assessment of metabolites. This is currently achieved by incubating compounds with liver extracts ('S9'), because when genotoxicity tests were developed there was no reliable supply of fresh hepatocytes.
Technique Used In Human Ankle Injuries Modified To Treat Dogs' Knees
A common sports injury in human knees is even more common in dogs. Each year, more than one million dogs suffer from cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) deficiency, which is comparable to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in humans. The common method of treatment by many veterinary surgeons involves cutting the tibia bone to stabilize the CCL-deficient knee in these dogs.
New Role Of Inflammatory Protein In Polycystic Kidney Disease Identified, And A Possible Treatment
The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has discovered that a protein previously shown to have a role in inflammation may also have a role in the formation of cysts in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) - one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases - and has shown that a drug inhibiting the protein can slow the disease in mice.
Assembly Of Molecules Critical To Protein Function Witnessed By Researchers
A Virginia Tech research group lead by two biochemistry graduate students has isolated proteins responsible for the iron-sulfur cluster assembly process and witnessed the necessary protein interactions in vivo - within a cell. They have captured pathway intermediates and observed protein interactions between the two major players in iron-sulfur cluster assembly.
Age At Puberty Linked To Mother's Prenatal Diet
A high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing may lead to the child having an early onset of puberty and subsequent adulthood obesity, according to a new animal study. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.