Anchoring Proteins Effect Glucose Metabolism and Insulin Proclamation

(Sep. 4, 2012) — Scientists from the United States and Sweden have discovered a new control point that could be important as a drug target for the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. A-kinase anchoring proteins or AKAPs are known to influence the spatial distribution of kinases within the cell, crucial enzymes that control important molecular events related to the regulation of glucose levels in the blood.

In a new study published in The EMBO Journal, the team of researchers led by Simon Hinke and John Scott reveal for the first time that AKAPs influence the levels of glucose in the body by coordinating the spatial positioning of phosphatases, naturally occurring enzymes that counteract the effects of kinase enzymes.

New DNA-method

Tracks fish and whales in seawater

Sept. 4, 2012 — Danish researchers at the University of Copenhagen are using a new method for monitoring marine biodiversity and resources by using DNA traces in seawater to keep track of fish and whales. A half liter of seawater can contain evidence of local fish and whale faunas and eliminate the need for marine conservationists to employ traditional fishing methods in their work. The results of the new study have been published in PLOS ONE.

"The new DNA-method means that we can keep better track of life beneath the surface of the oceans around the world, and better monitor and protect ocean biodiversity and resources," says Ph.D. student Philip Francis Thomsen from the Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen.

Pluripotent Stem Cells

Moving toward regeneration

Sept. 1, 2012—the skin, the blood, and the lining of the gut—adult stem cells replenish them daily. But stem cells really show off their healing powers in planarians, humble flatworms fabled for their ability to rebuild any missing body part. Just how adult stem cells build the right tissues at the right times and places has remained largely unanswered.

Now, in a study published in an upcoming issue of Development, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research describe a novel system that allowed them to track stem cells in the flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea. The team found that the worms' stem cells, known as neoblasts, march out, multiply, and start rebuilding tissues lost to amputation.

Definition of Human pluripotent stem cell

Human pluripotent stem cell: One of the "cells that are self-replicating, are derived from human embryos or human fetal tissue, and are known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers. Although human pluripotent stem cells may be derived from embryos or fetal tissue, such stem cells are not themselves embryos." (From the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.)

Pluripotent Stem Cells

The concept of stem cells can seem a complicated one and you may have seen foreign words such as 'pluripotent' written in magazines or discussed on television. Stem cells describe all of the cells that can give rise to the different cells found in tissues. There are however, different types of stem cells. One such type is a pluripotent stem cell.

What Are Pluripotent Stem Cells?

Pluripotent stem cells are often termed 'true' stem cells because they have the potential to differentiate into almost any cell in the body. This means that under the right circumstances, a stem cell that is isolated from an embryo can produce almost all of the cells in the body. Yet after this embryonic development stage is over, the stem cells no longer have this unlimited potential to develop into all cell types. Their pluripotency is thus lost and they can only become certain types of cells.

Stem cells blamed for tumor re-growth

Stem cells are viewed on a computer screen. Researchers presented evidence Wednesday for the existence of cancer stem cells, with three different studies seeking to end a decades-old scientific dispute about how tumours grow. (AFP Photo/)

Researchers presented evidence Wednesday for the existence of cancer stem cells, with three different studies seeking to end a decades-old scientific dispute about how tumours grow.

The discovery should lead to new drugs targeting stem cells that cause tumours to reappear after cancer therapy, the teams argued in three scientific papers published simultaneously in the journals Nature and Science.

ICMR JRF 2012 Marks Publicized

INDIAN COUNCIL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

V.RAMALINGASWAMI BHAWAN

ANSARI NAGAR, NEW DELHI 110029

NOTIFICATION

RESULT OF ICMR/JRF ENTRANCE EXAMINATION- 22nd July, 2012

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