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It might be complicated, but the concept is as simple as a light switch. A team of researchers led by two Harvard alumni have uncovered a switch-like mechanism in the brains of larval zebrafish that flips their brains between two distinct motivational states—one a highly focused hunting state and the other an easily distracted, exploratory state. The findings, which they […]
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The enzyme Nocturnin, which governs daily tasks such as fat metabolism and energy usage, works in an entirely different way than previously thought, reported a team of researchers at Princeton University. The newly discovered mechanism reveals the molecular link between the enzyme’s daily fluctuations and its energy-regulating role in the body, according to a study published this week in Nature […]
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Embedded at the ends of chromosomes are structures called telomeres, which in normal cells become shorter as cells divide. Progressive shortening triggers cell proliferation arrest or death. Cancer cells adopt different strategies to overcome this control mechanism that keeps track of the number of times that a cell has divided. One of these strategies is the alternative lengthening of telomeres […]
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Oxytocin is essential in activities of the social brain such as trust and love and in maternal bonding behaviors. It is produced in the brain and secreted into the circulation. Here, by analyzing maternal behaviors of RAGE gene-manipulated mice, oxytocin was found to be transported back to the brain, crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), an extremely effective barrier, by binding […]
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Scientists have identified two distinct control mechanisms in the developmental transition of undifferentiated stem cells into healthy brain cells. This fundamental research using mice may inform regenerative medicine treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injuries, in the future. When an embryo develops, stem cells differentiate into all the types of cells that the adult will need. Neural stem cells […]
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Scientists trying to identify the roots of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death in U.S. infants between 1 month and 1 year old, have increasingly turned their attention to the neurotransmitter serotonin and the brain cells that produce it. Studies have linked serotonin-producing neurons to the regulation of breathing, which may go awry in SIDS. In […]
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Duke-NUS researchers have discovered that a growth factor protein, called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and its receptor, tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) affects social dominance in mice. The research has implications for understanding the neurobiology of aggression and bullying. “Humans and rodents are social animals. Our every interaction follows rules according to a social hierarchy. Failure to navigate this hierarchy […]
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Ardelyx, Inc. today announced that the novel mechanism of action for tenapanor for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia, or elevated serum phosphorus, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine. Tenapanor is a sodium/hydrogen exchanger 3 (NHE3) inhibitor currently being evaluated in a second Phase 3 registration trial, the PHREEDOM trial, for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with […]
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Computational biophysicists are not used to making discoveries, says Jianhan Chen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, so when he and colleagues cracked the secret of how cells regulate Big Potassium (BK) channels, they thought it must be a computational artifact. But after many simulations and tests, they convinced themselves that they have identified the BK gating mechanism that had […]
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A new study links molecular changes in the brain to behaviours that are central in addiction, such as choosing a drug over alternative rewards. The researchers have developed a method in which rats learn to get an alcohol solution by pressing a lever. In order to better capture how addiction makes the individual choose alcohol over other rewards, the researchers […]
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