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febrer juliol-agost de 2011 de | 2011 www.prbb.org | www.prbb.org
NOTÍCIES CIENTÍFIQUES / SCIENTIFIC NEWS
catRAPID, una guia per comprendre el paper de l’ARN no codificant Laia Cendrós
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omés l’1% del nostre ARN conté informació per a la síntesi de proteïnes. Un equip liderat per Gian Gaetano Targaglia, del CRG, presenta ara una aplicació gratuïta que pot ajudar a entendre quin paper té el 99% restant. El mètode catRAPID fa prediccions a gran escala de les interaccions entre les molècules d’ARN no codificants i les proteïnes, i també permet identificar les àrees d’unió. Així doncs, aquest software pot facilitar el disseny d’experiments per conèixer millor el rol de les molècules d’ARN que no codifiquen per a la síntesi de proteïnes i que estan implicades en les xarxes de regulació dels gens.
Els investigadors han validat les seves prediccions pel que fa a alguns ARN implicats en processos, com ara l’embriogènesi, la diferenciació cel·lular a la pell o el desenvolupament de càncer de mama. Els resultats han estat publicats a Nature Methods. El software és accessible des del web del centre, www.crg.cat. catRAPID, a guide to understanding the role of non-coding RNA
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nly 1% of our RNA contains information for protein synthesis. A team led by Gian Gaetano Targaglia, from the CRG, has developed a free application to help us understand the role of the remaining 99%.
The method, called catRAPID, predicts large-scale interactions between non-coding RNA molecules and proteins, and identifies the binding regions. The software can thus facilitate the design of experiments to better understand the role of RNA molecules that do not code for protein synthesis and that are involved in gene regulatory networks. The researchers tested their predictions on some RNAs involved in processes such as embryogenesis, cell differentiation in the skin and the development of breast cancer. The results were published in Nature Methods. The software is accessible from the CRG website (www. crg.cat)
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catRAPID identifica la unió entre l’ARN (a l’esquerra i MRP P3 a la dreta) i les proteïnes (POP6 i POP7) / xxxxx
La identificació d’un gen en certs tumors pot canviar el seu tractament Maribel Pérez / Rosa Manaut
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xperts de l’Hospital del Mar i de l’IMIM han identificat, per primera vegada, l’alteració del gen ALK en tumors genitourinaris i neuroendocrins. Aquesta troballa pot suposar una nova opció terapèutica per al tractament d’aquests tumors dins d’un horitzó proper. Ja es coneixien alteracions en aquest gen en alguns tumors sòlids, com el càncer de pulmó. La importància de trobar
aquestes mutacions en altres tumors rau en el fet que ja existeixen fàrmacs inhibidors d’ALK en fases molt avançades i que donen molt bons resultats en càncer de pulmó. Per tant, s’espera que aviat es puguin començar a aplicar aquests inhibidors en altres tumors, sense necessitat de passar per tot el procés de desenvolupament d’un fàrmac. Aquesta troballa ha estat presentada per Joaquim Bellmunt, cap de Secció de Tumors Sòlids del Servei d’Oncologia de l’Hospital del Mar, a l’ASCO Annual Meeting 2011, que ha tingut lloc al juny a Chicago.
The identification of a gene in certain tumours can alter their treatment
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xperts from the Hospital del Mar and IMIM have identified, for the first time, alterations of the ALK gene in genitourinary and neuroendocrine tumours. This finding may provide a new therapeutic option for the treatment of these tumours in the near future. Alterations in this gene are already known in some solid tumours such as lung cancer. The importance of finding these mutations in other tumours
stems from the fact that there already exist ALK-inhibiting drugs in very advanced stages, which give very good results in lung cancer. It is therefore expected that it will soon be possible to begin applying these inhibitors to other tumours, without going through the whole process of drug development. This finding was presented by Joaquim Bellmunt, head of the solid tumour oncology service of the Hospital del Mar, at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting which took place in June, in Chicago
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Els receptors CB1, necessaris per aprendre Núria Pérez
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n grup d’investigadors ha demostrat que ratolins amb els receptors cannabinoides tipus CB1 alterats aprenen menys. A més, les seves sinapsis (connexions neuronals) a l’hipocamp no presenten canvis en el decurs de l’aprenentatge. Això contrasta
amb el que ocorre en ratolins normals, en els quals l’aprenentatge millora l’eficiència de les connexions de l’hipocamp. El treball, publicat al juny a Cerebral Cortex, ha estat realitzat per investigadors de la Universitat Pablo de Olavide (Sevilla), amb la col·laboració d’Olga Valverde, del CEXS-UPF, la qual ha cedit els ratolins amb el receptor CB1 modificat genèticament.
JENS LYKKE-ANDERSEN, Friday July 22. LykkeAndersen, from the Division of Biology of the University of California in San Diego, La Jolla, USA, is working on mRNA degradation in mammalian cells. With the aim of dissecting the human cellular mRNA decay machineries, he focuses on several aspects of mRNA decay in human cells, such as the regulation of the mRNA decay mediated by the AU-rich element (ARE) found in the 3'UTR of many unstable mRNAs; the mechanism of nonsense-mediated decay (NMD), a mechanism that prevents the synthesis of potentially deleterious truncated proteins and is responsible for rendering a large fraction of human disease mutations recessive; or the deadenylation and decapping in human mRNA decay. He has been invited by Juana Díez (UPF).
CB1 receptors are essential for learning
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group of researchers has demonstrated that mice with altered CB1 endocannabinoid receptors have problems learning. Moreover, their hippocampus synapses (neuronal connections) do not show any changes during the learning process. In contrast, in
XAVIER GRAÑA, Monday July 25. Graña, from the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, focuses on the molecular mechanisms that govern the cell cycle of normal and malignant eukaryotic cells, with a particular interest in the molecular signaling that controls cell cycle specific gene expression. He is analyzing the role of cyclins, cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs), Ser/Thr protein phosphatases and tumor suppressor genes, and he is interested in how these regulatory molecules and pathways are disrupted in cancer cells as well as in cells transformed by small DNA viruses or infected by HIV. He has been invited by Xavier Mayol (IMIM).
normal mice the efficiency of the hippocampus connexions improves during learning. The work, published in June in Cerebral Cortex, was undertaken by researchers at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville), with the collaboration of Olga Valverde, from the CEXS-UPF, who provided the genetically modified mice with the altered CB1 receptor
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FABIO ROSSI, Thursday July 28. Rossi, from The Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, is working in stem cell biology and technology. In particular, he is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the transplantation of mobilized hematopoietic stem cells, stem cell plasticity, including lineage choice in the context of skeletal muscle regeneration, the role of microglial cells in neurodegenerative disease, and chromatin organization. He has been invited by Pura MuñozCánoves (UPF).