PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

A hormone ensures its future

Scientists reveal the structure of a brain area where hormones that regulate vial body processes pass into the blood

2011-11-03
(Press-News.org) Much of the body's chemistry is controlled by the brain – from blood pressure to appetite to food metabolism. In a study published recently in Developmental Cell, a team of scientists led by Dr. Gil Levkowitz of the Weizmann Institute has revealed the exact structure of one crucial brain area in which biochemical commands are passed from the brain cells to the bloodstream and from there to the body. In the process, they discovered a surprising new role for the 'hormone of love,' showing that it helps to direct the development of this brain structure.

The area in question, the neuro-hypophysis, is an interface between nerve fibers and blood vessels located at the base of the brain. Here, some of the major brain-body interactions take place: Hormones released from nerves into the blood vessels regulate a series of vital body processes, including the balance of fluids and uterine contractions in childbirth.

Although the neurohypophysis has been studied for more than a century, the scientists in the Weizmann Institute-led study developed new genetic tools that enabled them to examine the exact three-dimensional arrangement of this brain structure and clarify the cellular and molecular processes leading to its formation. Since the human neurohypophysis is exceedingly complex, the scientists performed the research on live embryos of zebrafish. These fully transparent embryos offer a unique model for studying the vertebrate brain, lending themselves to genetic manipulation with relative ease and enabling researchers to observe the actual formation of a neurohypophysis under a microscope.

The study revealed a surprising new function for the hormonal messenger oxytocin, dubbed the 'hormone of love' because, in addition to controlling appetite and such female reproductive behaviors as breastfeeding, it is also involved in mother-child and mate bonding. The scientists showed that oxytocin, one of the two major hormones secreted in the adult neurohypophysis, is involved in the development of this brain area already in the embryo. At this stage, the oxytocin governs the formation of new blood vessels. 'The messenger helps to build the road for transmitting its own future messages,' says Levkowitz. Developmental Cell highlighted the study's findings in a preview headlined, 'The Hormone of Love Attracts a Partner for Life.'

These findings provide an important advance in basic research because they shed light on fundamental brain processes, but in the future they might also be relevant to the treatment of disease. Since the neurohypophysis is one of only a few portions of the brain able to regenerate after injury, an understanding of how it is formed may one day help achieve such regeneration in other parts of the central nervous system.

INFORMATION:

The research was conducted in Levkowitz's lab in the Molecular Cell Biology Department by Ph.D. student Amos Gutnick together with Dr. Janna Blechman. The Weizmann scientists worked in collaboration with Dr. Jan Kaslin of Monash University, Australia; Drs. Lukas Herwig, Heinz-Georg Belting and Markus Affolter of the University of Basel, Switzerland; and Dr. Joshua L. Bonkowsky of the University of Utah, United States.

Dr. Gil Levkowitz's research is supported by the Dekker Foundation; the Kirk Center for Childhood Cancer and Immunological Disorders; and the Irwin Green Alzheimer's Research Fund. Dr. Levkowitz is the incumbent of the Tauro Career Development Chair in Biomedical Research.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il, and are also available at http://www.eurekalert.org.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Unraveling Batten disease

2011-11-03
Waste management is a big issue anywhere, but at the cellular level it can be a matter of life and death. A Weizmann Institute study, published in the Journal of Cell Biology, has revealed what causes a molecular waste container in the cell to overflow in Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder that begins in childhood. The findings may form the basis for a therapy for this disorder. In Batten disease, an insoluble yellow pigment accumulates in the brain's neurons, causing these cells to degenerate and ultimately die. Patients gradually become disabled, ...

Humanities researchers and digital technologies: Building infrastructures for a new age

2011-11-03
Europe's leading scientists have pledged to embrace and expand the role of technology in the Humanities. In a Science Policy Briefing released today by the European Science Foundation (ESF), they argue that without Research Infrastructures (RIs) such as archives, libraries, academies, museums and galleries, significant strands of Humanities research would not be possible. By drawing on a number of case studies, the report demonstrates that digital RIs offer Humanities scholars new and productive ways to explore old questions and develop new ones. According to Professor ...

Mediterranean diet and exercise can reduce sleep apnea symptoms

2011-11-03
Eating a Mediterranean diet combined with physical activity can help to improve some of the symptoms of sleep apnoea, according to new research. The study, which is published online in the European Respiratory Journal, looked at the impact a Mediterranean diet can have on obese people with sleep apnoea, compared to those on a prudent diet. Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) causes frequent pauses of breathing to occur during sleep, which disrupts a person's normal sleeping pattern. It is one of the most prevalent sleep-related breathing disorders with approximately ...

Understanding emotions without language

Understanding emotions without language
2011-11-03
According to a new study by researchers from the MPI for Psycholinguistics and the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, you don't need to have words for emotions to understand them. The results of the study were published online on October 17 in Emotion, a journal of the American Psychological Association. The study provides new evidence that the perception of emotional signals is not driven by language, supporting the view that emotions constitute a set of biologically evolved mechanisms. The study compared German speakers to speakers of Yucatec Maya, a Mayan language ...

Midwest Communities Find GateKeeper Social Media Strategy to be Simple, Cost-Effective, and Successful

2011-11-03
GateKeeper is proving to be the "difference-maker" for communities who are serious about moving their social media strategy forward. Social media is gaining traction as a PR tool for communities who wish to attract new businesses. As a content medium, social media is efficient, instantaneous, and popular. Social media is also time-consuming and daunting for communities strapped for time and resources. GateKeeper, from Golden Shovel Agency, will make social media implementation manageable. According to company president Ron Kresha: "The key to our ...

Software to prevent abuse at the click of a mouse

Software to prevent abuse at the click of a mouse
2011-11-03
Investigators estimate that there are currently more than 15 million photographs of child abuse victims circulating on the Internet. By the time this material has been tracked down and deleted, pedophiles have long since downloaded it to their computers. Many are avid data collectors: when suspects' data media are confiscated, detectives must often click their way through hundreds of thousands of files to find the illegal images they seek. An extremely time-consuming process – until now. Because researchers working with Dr. Bertram Nickolay of the Fraunhofer Institute for ...

A living factory

A living factory
2011-11-03
As soon as DNA is mentioned, we automatically think of biology and living beings. It is the DNA molecule found inside each and every cell that holds the encoded blueprints for humans, animals or plants. But factories too have a master plan of this kind. All modern manufacturing facilities resemble living organisms in their complex structure. And, just as in biology, all their constituent parts are linked to one another and have to be painstakingly coordinated. Now, the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB in Karlsruhe has taken ...

Lucky Club Casino Offers Million Dollar Jackpot -- Players Can Try Any of the Casino's Brand New Games for Free

2011-11-03
Lucky Club Casino has just given online casino players a million dollar jackpot to shoot for. The Monster Millions progressive jackpot is one of very few seven-figure online slots jackpots and LuckyClub.eu is pleased to bring it to players around the world alongside 30 other completely new online casino games. Monster Millions is the biggest, but certainly not the only jackpot to be won at Lucky Club. Several of the slick new casino's new games feature the Jackpot Pyramid bonus game which keeps the monster fun happening longer and can multiply wins. Many of the casino's ...

New material for air cleaner filters that captures flu viruses

2011-11-03
With flu season just around the corner, scientists are reporting development of a new material for the fiber in face masks, air conditioning filters and air cleaning filters that captures influenza viruses before they can get into people's eyes, noses and mouths and cause infection. The report on the fiber appears in ACS' journal Biomacromolecules. Xuebing Li, Peixing Wu and colleagues explain that in an average year, influenza kills almost 300,000 people and sickens millions more worldwide. The constant emergence of new strains of virus that shrug off vaccines and anti-influenza ...

Benefits of nut consumption for people with abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure

2011-11-03
For the first time, scientists report a link between eating nuts and higher levels of serotonin in the bodies of patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS), who are at high risk for heart disease. Serotonin is a substance that helps transmit nerve signals and decreases feelings of hunger, makes people feel happier and improves heart health. It took only one ounce of mixed nuts (raw unpeeled walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts) a day to produce the good effects. The report appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. Cristina Andrés-Lacueva and colleagues from the Biomarkers ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Plant doctor: An AI system that watches over urban trees without touching a leaf

Study tracks chromium chemistry in irradiated molten salts

Scientists: the beautiful game is a silver bullet for global health

Being physically active, even just a couple of days a week, may be key to better health

High-fat diet promote breast cancer metastasis in animal models

A router for photons

Nurses and AI collaborate to save lives, reduce hospital stays

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

[Press-News.org] A hormone ensures its future
Scientists reveal the structure of a brain area where hormones that regulate vial body processes pass into the blood