Scientists discover long-sought genetic mechanism for cancer progression

Action of a key lncRNA different in colon cancer versus normal colon tissue Genetics researchers from Case Western Reserve School More »

MEG3 long noncoding RNA regulates the TGF-β pathway genes through formation of RNA-DNA triplex structures

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene expression by association with chromatin, but how they target chromatin remains poorly understood. Researchers More »

LncRNA Regulator Of Brown Fat Identified

from Asian Scientist AsianScientist (Apr. 29, 2015) - A study by researchers in Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke-NUS) has More »

An update on LNCipedia - a database for annotated human lncRNA sequences

LNCipedia collects long non-coding RNA sequences and annotation from different sources. In version 3.0, over 90,000 new transcripts were added More »

Unveiling a new factor that helps breast cancer cells to tolerate drugs

from biotechin.asia by Mohamad Moustafa Ali Breast cancer is one of the most divergent and heterogeneous genetic disorders that affects More »

 

Press Release

Scientists at Genome Institute of Singapore Discover Gene that Controls the Birth of Neurons

By ACN Newswire - August 27, 2024 10:36 PM EDT

Discovery of long non-coding RNA’s role in neurogenesis may lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease

Singapore, Aug 28, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Scientists at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have discovered an unusual gene that controls the generation of neurons[1]. This important finding, which is crucial in understanding serious diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer’s disease, was reported in the 8th August 2013 issue of the prestigious scientific journal, Molecular Cell.

The central nervous system is composed of numerous cell types that develop into a complex, higher-ordered structure. The birth of neurons (known as neurogenesis) is a process that requires exquisite temporal and spatial control of hundreds of genes. The expression of these genes is controlled by regulatory networks, usually involving proteins, which play critical roles in establishing and maintaining the nervous system. Problems with neurogenesis are the basis of many neurological disorders, and the understanding of the molecular details of neurogenesis is therefore crucial for developing treatments of serious diseases.

Targeting aggressive prostate cancer

Collaborative study shows how non-coding RNAs fuel cancer growth

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A team of researchers from UC Davis, UC San Diego and other institutions has identified a key mechanism behind aggressive prostate cancer. Published on August 14, 2024 in Nature, the study shows that two long non-coding RNAs (PRNCR1 and PCGEM1) activate androgen receptors, circumventing androgen-deprivation therapy. In their active state, these receptors turn on genes that spur growth and metastasis, making these cancers highly treatment-resistant. The study illustrates how prostate cancer can thrive, even when deprived of hormones, and provides tempting targets for new therapies.

Interview with Dr. Christopher Evans

“Androgen-deprivation therapy will often put cancer in remission, but tumors come back, even without testosterone,” said contributor Christopher Evans, professor and chair of the Department of Urology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “We found that these long non-coding RNAs were activating the androgen receptor. When we knocked them out, cancer growth decreased in both cell lines and tumors in animals.”

CMU Prof receives Kaufman Grant for research on “High-Throughput Probing of Human IncRNA Structure”

Press Release: Six Carnegie Mellon Professors Awarded Research Grants From Pittsburgh Foundation’s Charles E. Kaufman Fund

Contacts: Ken Walters / 412-268-1151 / walters1@andrew.cmu.edu
Chriss Swaney / 412-268-5776 / swaney@andrew.cmu.edu

PITTSBURGH—Six Carnegie Mellon University professors are among the first series of grant recipients of The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation, part of The Pittsburgh Foundation, which today announced nearly $1.6 million in research grants to support cutting-edge scientific research at institutions across Pennsylvania.

Carnegie Mellon recipients are:

McManus and Khair will receive two-year, $150,000 New Investigator grants. Hinman, Minden, Armitage and Ly will receive a two-year, $300,000 New Initiative grant.

Exiqon launches LNA™ gapmers for inhibition of mRNA and lncRNA in functional studies

from Global Newswire

ExiqonExiqon A/S (NASDAQ OMX: EXQ), a leading supplier of high-value gene expression analysis products, today announced the launch of its LNA™ longRNA GapmeR products for specific and efficient inhibition of mRNA and lncRNA.

The LNA™ longRNA GapmeRs are high affinity antisense oligonucleotides used for functional analysis, allowing researches to study the gene function and downstream biological consequences of silencing a specific mRNA or long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in cell-cultures or animal models. The broad range of LNA™ longRNA GapmeR products enables researcher to start from initial cost-effective in vitro screening in cell-lines of multiple gapmer designs and continue with high-purity animal-grade gapmers for in vivo testing.

Long non-coding RNAs act like enhancers of gene regulation

from The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Medicine

The regulation of gene activity belongs to the most challenging questions of modern biology. So far, scientists know only a few mechanisms to switch single genes on or off. Now, an international team of scientists from the US, Germany, and Spain has described a new mode to regulate gene activity. In the current issue of the scientific journal “Nature” Ulf Andersson Ørom, head of a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, in collaboration with researchers from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, the University of Colorado, and the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain, show that long non-coding RNAs bind to mediator, a multiprotein complex, thus enabling it to bind to the DNA and initiate the transcription of several genes.