Latest Solute carrier family Stories

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The debate regarding nurture versus nature is contentious. New research delves into discussion with a study on the impact of genes on school achievement. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), researchers have determined that genetic markets could impact whether a person graduates high school and continues onto higher education. The study, published in the July issue of the APA’s Development Psychology, is...

[ Watch the Video ] John Neumann for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Researchers have succeeded in tracking a single protein that regulates the neurotransmitter serotonin, making it possible to study the dynamics of the protein which regulates mood, appetite and sleep, at an unprecedented level of detail, reports David Salisbury of Vanderbilt University. Attempts to understand how these transporters work have been limited by the difficulty of studying their dynamic behavior. The...

Early disruptions in serotonin signaling in the brain may contribute to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other "enduring effects on behavior," Vanderbilt University researchers report. Serotonin is a brain chemical that carries signals across the synapse, or gap between nerve cells. The supply of serotonin is regulated by the serotonin transporter (SERT). In 2005, a team of Vanderbilt researchers led by Randy Blakely and James Sutcliffe identified rare genetic variations in children...

Study reveals that insulin-stimulated glucose uptake—a process that breaks down in type 2 diabetes—requires a previously unidentified protein called CDP138 All cells need glucose (sugar) to produce the energy they need to survive. High glucose levels in the bloodstream (such as occur after a meal), trigger the pancreas to produce insulin. In turn, muscle and fat cells respond to insulin by moving GLUT4, a glucose transporter, from intracellular storage out to the cell surface. There,...

University of Michigan research finds new evidence that our genes play a role in our response to adversityUniversity of Michigan Health System researchers have found new evidence that our genes help determine our susceptibility to depression.Their findings, published online today in the Archives of General Psychiatry, challenge a 2009 study that called the genetic link into question and add new support to earlier research hailed as a medical breakthrough.In the summer of 2003, scientists...

The work may lead to the development of new antibiotics as well as the improvement of crop agricultureA team at The Scripps Research Institute has detailed the structure of a member of the only remaining class of multidrug resistance transporters left to be described. The work has implications for combating dangerous antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, as well as for developing hardy strains of agricultural crops.The study was published in an advance, online issue of the journal Nature...

Findings could aid in understanding diabetes, related conditionsUsing high-resolution microscopy, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model. The findings were reported in the Sept. 8 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.By studying the surface of healthy, live fat cells in rats, researchers were able to understand the process by which cells take in glucose. Next, they plan to observe the fat cells of people with...

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) may soon help to spare some women with breast cancer from having to undergo invasive and toxic treatments for their disease.Investigators found that low levels of ferroportin, the only known protein to eliminate iron from cells, are associated with the most aggressive and recurring cancers. The finding suggests that testing for ferroportin levels in women with breast cancer may one day help doctors to more...

A genetic mutation in mice elevates their risk of stress-induced depressionDepression and schizophrenia can be triggered by environmental stimuli and often occur in response to stressful life events. However, some people have a higher predisposition to develop these diseases, which highlights a role for genetics in determining a person's disease risk. A high number of people with depression have a genetic change that alters a protein that cells use to talk to each other in the brain. Imaging...

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding light on what goes wrong in type 2 diabetes on a cellular level.Establishing the function of this protein, which significantly is not present in mice, has broad implications for both the future study and possible therapies for diabetes, according to an article published in...