Novel mutational process targeting gene regulatory elements discovered

Researchers found previously uncharacterized mutational patterns in gastrointestinal tract cancers

2015-06-08

(Press-News.org) Researchers at University of Helsinki, Finland, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, discovered previously uncharacterized mutational patterns in the human regulatory genome, especially in gastrointestinal tract cancers. The study was published in Nature Genetics. The research led by Academy Professor Lauri Aaltonen and Professor Jussi Taipale, was based on study of more than two hundred whole genomes of colorectal cancer samples. The scientists detected a distinct accumulation of mutations specifically at sites where the proteins CTCF and cohesin bind the DNA. Both CTCF and cohesin are transcription factors carrying out essential functions in the genome, including regulation of gene expression and chromatin structure. In hypermutated tumors, the CTCF/cohesin sites appear to be protected from mutations while in a distinct set of tumors, CTCF/cohesin sites are mutated with frequency higher than previously known protein coding cancer genes. Tumors with high CTCF site mutation load tend to have greater frequency of certain type of mutations distributed throughout their genome. The process producing these mutations is not fully understood and needs further investigation. Until now the mutational patterns of the regulatory genome are poorly characterized. Unraveling the underlying mechanisms of regulatory mutations in cancer remains a great challenge. The novel findings from this study are significant and an important step towards understanding the cause and consequences of cancer-associated mutations. "The findings of this study were totally unexpected; they uncover the second face of the cancer genome. However, we have a lot of work to do for understanding about the reasons and consequences of these changes", Professor Aaltonen states.

INFORMATION:

The research was funded by Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence for Cancer Genetics, Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and EU FP7 project SYSCOL. For more information, please contact: Academy Professor Lauri Aaltonen
Tel. +358-40-4435041
E-mail: lauri.aaltonen@helsinki.fi END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Injectable electronics

2015-06-08

It's a notion that might be pulled from the pages of science-fiction novel - electronic devices that can be injected directly into the brain, or other body parts, and treat everything from neurodegenerative disorders to paralysis. It sounds unlikely, until you visit Charles Lieber's lab. A team of international researchers, led by Lieber, the Mark Hyman, Jr. Professor of Chemistry, an international team of researchers developed a method for fabricating nano-scale electronic scaffolds that can be injected via syringe. Once connected to electronic devices, the scaffolds ...

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may share genetic roots with creativity

2015-06-08

Genes linked to creativity could increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to new research carried out by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London. Previous studies have identified a link between creativity and psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, but it has remained unclear whether this association is due to common genes. Published today in Nature Neuroscience, this new study lends support to the direct influence on creativity of genes found in people with schizophrenia ...

Accentuate the positive when it comes to nutrition education

2015-06-08

ITHACA, N.Y. - If you want people to choose healthier foods, emphasize the positive, says a new Cornell University study. Published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, the Cornell Food and Brand Lab study showed that when it comes to nutrition education, dos work a lot better than don'ts. This is especially important when determining policies that encourage healthy eating. Media note: A short video explaining the research, as well as an informational graphic and additional details about this research can be found at, http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/OP/Hidden_Costs ...

How your brain is telling you to vote

2015-06-08

This news release is available in French. A new joint study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship, both at McGill University, has cast some light on the brain mechanisms that support people's voting decisions. Evidence in the study shows that a part of the brain called the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (LOFC) must function properly if voters are to make choices that combine different sources of information about the candidates. The study found that damage to the LOFC leads people to base their vote ...

Study examines psychotropic medication use in children, teens with Down syndrome

2015-06-08

A new study gives insight into the mental health of children and teens with Down syndrome and the behavioral medications that medical caregivers sometimes prescribe for them. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that teens and young adults between the ages of 12 and 21 were significantly more likely to be on psychotropic medications than children 5 to 11 years old. Among children less than 12, the odds of being on a psychotropic medication increased with age for all classes of medications studied. For 12 to 18 year olds, the odds of being on ...

Data scientists find connections between birth month and health

2015-06-08

NEW YORK, NY (June 8, 2015) - Columbia University scientists have developed a computational method to investigate the relationship between birth month and disease risk. The researchers used this algorithm to examine New York City medical databases and found 55 diseases that correlated with the season of birth. Overall, the study indicated people born in May had the lowest disease risk, and those born in October the highest. The study was published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. "This data could help scientists uncover new disease risk factors," ...

Using Minecraft to unboggle the robot mind

2015-06-08

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Researchers from Brown University are developing a new algorithm to help robots better plan their actions in complex environments. It's designed to help robots be more useful in the real world, but it's being developed with the help of a virtual world -- that of the video game Minecraft. Basic action planning, while easy for humans, is a frontier of robotics. Part of the problem is that robots don't intuitively ignore objects and actions that are irrelevant to the task at hand. For example, if someone asked you to empty the trashcan ...

Ultrafast heat conduction can manipulate nanoscale magnets

2015-06-08

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have uncovered physical mechanisms allowing the manipulation of magnetic information with heat. These new phenomena rely on the transport of thermal energy, in contrast to the conventional application of magnetic fields, providing a new, and highly desirable way to manipulate magnetization at the nanoscale. "In our study, we make use of the fact that a heat current passing through a magnetic material creates a separation of electron spins. This process creates a current of magnetic dipoles that we use to manipulate ...

Study links severe restless legs syndrome to increased risk of stroke

2015-06-08

DARIEN, IL - A new study suggests that increased restless legs syndrome (RLS) severity is associated with subsequent increased risk of stroke. Results show that increased RLS severity is associated with subsequent increased risk of stroke, after considering other known risk factors such as age, smoking, hypertension, and unhealthy diet. There were 161 incident stroke cases during the six-year follow-up. "We were surprised at the importance of taking into account RLS severity -- it was only severe RLS, not milder RLS, that was associated with increased risk of stroke," ...

Study links lower life satisfaction to sleep problems during midlife

2015-06-08

DARIEN, IL - A new study suggests that lower life satisfaction is linked to sleep problems during midlife. Respondents with higher life satisfaction reported shorter sleep onset latency (SOL). Sleep onset delay among those with low life satisfaction could be the result of worry and anxiety, as reported elsewhere. These findings support the idea that life satisfaction is interlinked with many measures of sleep and sleep quality, suggesting that improving one of these variables might result in improving the other. "These findings support the idea that life satisfaction ...

Novel mutational process targeting gene regulatory elements discovered

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: