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Articles from Karen Kreeger
Mouse Nose Nerve Cells Mature After Birth, Allowing Bonding, Recognition With Mother, Penn Study Finds

Mouse Nose Nerve Cells Mature After Birth, Allowing Bonding, Recognition With Mother, Penn Study Finds

For rodent pups, bonding with mom isn’t hard-wired in the womb. It develops over the first few weeks of life, which is achieved by their maturing sense of smell, possibly allowing these mammals a survival advantage by learning to identify mother, siblings, and home.

Karen Kreeger

Molecules Work the Day Shift to Protect the Liver from Accumulating Fat, Says Penn Study

Molecules Work the Day Shift to Protect the Liver from Accumulating Fat, Says Penn Study

The liver normally makes and stores fat, which is required in moderation for normal body function. However, if the process goes awry, excess fat in the liver can cause major liver damage.  In fact, fatty liver is a leading cause of liver failure in the United States, and is often brought on by obesity and diabetes.

Karen Kreeger

Penn Study: 'GPS System' for Protein Synthesis in Nerve Cells Gives Clues for Understanding Brain Disorders

Penn Study: 'GPS System' for Protein Synthesis in Nerve Cells Gives Clues for Understanding Brain Disorders

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania explain how a class of RNA molecules is able to target the genetic building blocks that guide the functioning of a specific part of the nerve cell. Abnormalities at this site are in involved in epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease, and cognitive disorders.

Karen Kreeger

Penn Researchers Find New Role for Cancer Protein p53

Penn Researchers Find New Role for Cancer Protein p53

PHILADELPHIA - The gene for the protein p53 is the most frequently mutated in human cancer. It encodes a tumor suppressor, and traditionally researchers have assumed that it acts primarily as a regulator of how genes are made into proteins.

Karen Kreeger

First International Collaboration on the Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Is Launched

First International Collaboration on the Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease Is Launched

The launch of the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (IGAP) – a collaboration formed to discover and map the genes that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease – was announced Feb. 1 by a multi-national group of researchers.

Karen Kreeger

Immune Cells Protect Body from Invaders, According to Penn Researchers

Immune Cells Protect Body from Invaders, According to Penn Researchers

PHILADELPHIA - So-called barrier sites -- the skin, gut, lung – limit the inner body’s exposure to allergens, pollutants, viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Understanding how the immune system works in these external surfaces has implications for understanding such inflammatory diseases as asthma, psoriasis, IBD, and food allergies, all of which occur at the body’s barriers.

Karen Kreeger

Malfunctioning Gene Associated With Lou Gehrig’s Disease Leads to Nerve-Cell Death in Mice

Malfunctioning Gene Associated With Lou Gehrig’s Disease Leads to Nerve-Cell Death in Mice

PHILADELPHIA – Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are characterized by protein clumps in brain and spinal-cord cells that include an RNA-binding protein called TDP-43. This protein is the major building block of the lesions formed by these clumps.

Karen Kreeger

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