RIKEN
Keeping an eye on the Japanese genome
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common disease that can result in blindness. It is caused by cell death in the eye’s retina, which is partly responsible for transforming visual stimuli into ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Jan 13, 2012 |
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Diet supplemented with specific probiotic bacterial strain increases mice lifespan
The mammalian gut is home to hundreds of bacterial species that contribute to food digestion and, in some cases, inflammatory gut diseases. Probiotics, beneficial bacterial species, can enhance gut health ...
Medical research
Jan 06, 2012 |
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Unearthing a path leading to diabetes
A molecular mechanism that links diet, obesity and diabetes involves depletion of specialized ‘transporter proteins’, a Japanese–American team has found. Transporter proteins deliver glucose ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Jan 06, 2012 |
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Pinpointing asthma susceptibility in Japanese adults
A team of geneticists has identified five specific gene regions associated with asthma susceptibility among Japanese adults. Mayumi Tamari of the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine, Yokohama, led the research.
Genetics
Dec 22, 2011 |
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Exploring the mechanism behind the differentiation of immune cells
Ichiro Taniuchi at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology, Japan, is carrying out research to understand the mysteries of organism evolution by investigating the mechanism responsible for the ...
Medical research
Dec 19, 2011 |
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Neuroscientists visualize neural circuitry at once-unattainable depths
A recent breakthrough in biological sample preparation by scientists at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako may give Astro Boy’s ‘x-ray vision’ a run for its money. By treating tissue ...
Neuroscience
Dec 12, 2011 |
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Turning the spotlight on drug-resistant tumors
Molecular probes that can illuminate cancer cells are often invaluable tools in the fight against the disease. The latest addition to this group is a family of fluorescent probes that can highlight a particularly ...
Cancer
Dec 09, 2011 |
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Characterizing a toxic offender
The brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease contain protein aggregates called plaques and tangles, which interfere with normal communication between nerve cells and cause progressive learning and memory ...
Neuroscience
Dec 09, 2011 |
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How our brains keep us focused
In a new study to appear in Neuron, scientists at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) have uncovered mechanisms that help our brain to focus by efficiently routing only relevant information to perceptual brain ...
Neuroscience
Dec 07, 2011 |
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It takes a sugar to catch a sugar
After every meal, the hormone insulin is released into the bloodstream, issuing instructions to target cells to begin taking up excess sugar. In some situations, however, cells stop responding to these signals; ...
Medical research
Dec 02, 2011 |
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Conducting how neurons fire
Contrary to expectations that the neurotransmitter GABA only inhibited neuronal firing in the adult brain, RIKEN-led research has shown that it can also excite interneurons in the hippocampus of the rat brain ...
Neuroscience
Nov 25, 2011 |
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New study uncovers how brain cells degrade dangerous protein aggregates
Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) have discovered a key mechanism responsible for selectively degrading aggregates of ubiquitinated proteins from the cell. Their findings indicate that ...
Medical research
Nov 07, 2011 |
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Gastrointestinal inflammation prevented by protein sorting factor found in cells lining the gut
The gastrointestinal tract is lined with intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) that maintain gut health by keeping bacteria and pro-inflammatory immune cells from infiltrating gut tissues. Now, a team of researchers ...
Medical research
Oct 14, 2011 |
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Pausing to make memories
Before the effects of training become hard-wired, the neural imprint of a newly learned motor skill is initially encoded in a temporary ‘holding area’ for memory, after which the memory ‘trace’ ...
Neuroscience
Oct 10, 2011 |
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Specialized motor proteins help control immune activation
Specialized immune cells called T cells can recognize threats and induce immune responses through T cell receptors (TCRs), but these receptors do not act alone. Multiple receptors gather together at the cell ...
Medical research
Oct 07, 2011 |
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