(Press-News.org) The biological mechanism of sunburn – the reddish, painful, protective immune response from ultraviolet (UV) radiation – is a consequence of RNA damage to skin cells, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere in the July 8, 2012 Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine.
The findings open the way to perhaps eventually blocking the inflammatory process, the scientists said, and have implications for a range of medical conditions and treatments.
"For example, diseases like psoriasis are treated by UV light, but a big side effect is that this treatment increases the risk of skin cancer," said principal investigator Richard L. Gallo, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. "Our discovery suggests a way to get the beneficial effects of UV therapy without actually exposing our patients to the harmful UV light. Also, some people have excess sensitivity to UV light, patients with lupus, for example. We are exploring if we can help them by blocking the pathway we discovered."
Using both human skin cells and a mouse model, Gallo, first author Jamie J. Bernard, a post-doctoral researcher, and colleagues found that UVB radiation fractures and tangles elements of non-coding micro-RNA – a special type of RNA inside the cell that does not directly make proteins. Irradiated cells release this altered RNA, provoking healthy, neighboring cells to start a process that results in an inflammatory response intended to remove sun-damaged cells.
We see and feel the process as sunburn.
"The inflammatory response is important to start the process of healing after cell death," said Gallo. "We also believe the inflammatory process may clean up cells with genetic damage before they can become cancer. Of course, this process is imperfect and with more UV exposure, there is more chance of cells becoming cancerous."
Gallo said it's still not known how gender, skin pigmentation and individual genetics may affect the mechanism of sunburn. "Genetics is closely linked to the ability to defend against UV damage and develop skin cancers," he said. "We know in our mouse genetic models that specific genes will change how the mice get sunburn. Humans have similar genes, but it is not known if people have mutations in these genes that affect their sun response."
INFORMATION:
Jamie J. Bernard is currently at the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University. Other co-authors are Christopher Cowing-Zitron, Teruakai Nakatsuji, Beda Muehleisen, Jun Muto, Andrew W. Borkowski and Benjamin D. Yu, Division of Dermatology, UC San Diego; Laisel Martinez, Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center; and Eric L. Greidinger, Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Division of Rheumatology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Funding for this research came, in part, from National Institutes of Health grants R01-AR052728, R01-A1052453 and R01-A10833358, a Veteran Affairs Merit Award, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Training Grant ES007148 and NIEHS Center Grant ES005022, Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH AR48805 and the Lupus Research Institute.
What happens when we sunburn
Researchers describe inflammatory mechanism for first time
2012-07-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Urinary tract infections steal from hosts' defense arsenals
2012-07-09
Humans have known for centuries that copper is a potent weapon against infection. New research shows that the bacteria that cause serious urinary tract infections "know" this, too, and steal copper to prevent the metal from being used against them.
Blocking this thievery with a drug may significantly improve patients' chances of fighting off infections, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings appear online July 8 in Nature Chemical Biology.
In the United States alone, annual treatment costs for urinary tract ...
Researchers discover molecule in immune system that could help treat dangerous skin cancer
2012-07-09
BOSTON, MA—Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have made a groundbreaking discovery that will shape the future of melanoma therapy. The team, led by Thomas S. Kupper, MD, chair of the BWH Department of Dermatology, and Rahul Purwar, PhD, found that high expression of a cell-signaling molecule, known as interleukin-9, in immune cells inhibits melanoma growth.
Their findings will be published online in the July 8, 2012 issue of Nature Medicine.
After observing mice without genes responsible for development of an immune cell called T helper cell 17 (TH17), ...
Overweight? There's a vaccine for that
2012-07-09
New vaccines promote weight loss. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal, Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, assesses the effectiveness of two somatostatin vaccinations, JH17 and JH18, in reducing weight gain and increasing weight loss in mice.
Obesity and obesity-related disease is a growing health issue worldwide. Somatostatin, a peptide hormone, inhibits the action of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), both of which increase metabolism and result in weight loss. Vaccination with modified somatostatin causes ...
Girls' mathematics performance more likely to suffer than boys' as a result of mathematics anxiety
2012-07-09
If a train is travelling a distance of 55 miles at 150mph, how long will it take to reach its destination? If the thought of having to answer this question makes you apprehensive, then you may have mathematics anxiety. A new study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions reports that a number of school-age children suffer from mathematics anxiety and, although both genders' performance is likely to be affected as a result, girls' maths performance is more likely to suffer than boys'.
Mathematics anxiety is a state of discomfort ...
Exome sequencing of health condition extremes can reveal susceptibility genes
2012-07-09
Comparing the DNA from patients at the best and worst extremes of a health condition can reveal genes for resistance and susceptibly. This approach discovered rare variations in the DCTN4 gene among cystic fibrosis patients most prone to early, chronic airway infections.
The DCTN4 gene codes for dynactin 4. This protein is a component of a molecular motor that moves trouble-making microbes along a cellular conveyer belt into miniscule chemical vats, called lysosomes, for annihilation.
This study, led by the University of Washington, is part of the National Heart ...
Unprecedented subatomic details of exotic ferroelectric nanomaterials
2012-07-09
UPTON, NY - As scientists learn to manipulate little-understood nanoscale materials, they are laying the foundation for a future of more compact, efficient, and innovative devices. In research to be published online July 8 in the journal Nature Materials, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and other collaborating institutions describe one such advance - a technique revealing unprecedented details about the atomic structure and behavior of exotic ferroelectric materials, which are uniquely ...
Transcription factor Lyl-1 critical in producing early T-cell progenitors
2012-07-09
HOUSTON - (July 8, 2012) – A transcription factor called Lyl-1 is necessary for production of the earliest cells that can become T-cells, critical cells born in the thymus that coordinate the immune response to cancer or infections, said a consortium of researchers led by those from Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report in the journal Nature Immunology.
These earliest progenitors (called early T lineage progenitor cells) are the first cells that can be identified as being on the road to becoming T-cells, said Dr. Margaret Goodell (http://www.bcm.edu/star/index.cfm?pmid=2947), ...
Study finds 'mad cow disease' in cattle can spread widely in ANS before detectable in CNS
2012-07-09
Philadelphia, PA, July 9, 2012 – Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") is a fatal disease in cattle that causes portions of the brain to turn sponge-like. This transmissible disease is caused by the propagation of a misfolded form of protein known as a prion, rather than by a bacterium or virus. The average time from infection to signs of illness is about 60 months. Little is known about the pathogenesis of BSE in the early incubation period. Previous research has reported that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) becomes affected by the disease ...
HPV vaccine reduces infection, even in unvaccinated
2012-07-09
The HPV vaccine not only has resulted in a decrease in human papillomavirus infection in immunized teens but also in teens who were not immunized.
The study is believed to be the first to show a substantial decrease in HPV infection in a community setting as well as herd protection – a decrease in infection rates among unimmunized individuals that occurs when a critical mass of people in a community is immunized against a contagious disease.
The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study will be published online July 9 in the eFirst pages of Pediatrics.
"Infection ...
Researchers create 'MRI' of the sun's interior motions
2012-07-09
A team of scientists has created an "MRI" of the Sun's interior plasma motions, shedding light on how it transfers heat from its deep interior to its surface. The result, which appears in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, upends our understanding of how heat is transported outwards by the Sun and challenges existing explanations of the formation of sunspots and magnetic field generation.
The work was conducted by researchers from NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and its Department of Physics, Princeton University, the Max ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
National emergency wakeup call as SEND support system crisis worsens – latest analysis shows
New drug-eluting balloon may be as safe and effective as conventional metal stents for repeat percutaneous coronary interventions
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of automated external defibrillators in private homes
University of Phoenix College of Social and Behavioral Sciences leadership publishes white paper on trauma-informed education
Microbial iron mining: turning polluted soils into self-cleaning reactors
Molecular snapshots reveal how the body knows it’s too hot
Analysis finds alarming rise in severe diverticulitis among younger Americans
Mitochondria and lysosomes reprogram immune cells that dampen inflammation
Cockroach infestation linked to home allergen, endotoxin levels
New biochar-powered microbial systems offer sustainable solution for toxic pollutants
Identifying the best high-biomass sorghum hybrids based on biomass yield potential and feedstock quality affected by nitrogen fertility management under various environments
How HIV’s shape-shifting protein reveals clues for smarter drug design
Study identifies viral combinations that heighten risk of severe respiratory illnesses in infants
Aboveground rather than belowground productivity drives variability in miscanthus × giganteus net primary productivity
Making yeast more efficient 'cell factories' for producing valuable plant compounds
Aging in plain sight: What new research says the eyes reveal about aging and cardiovascular risk
Child welfare system involvement may improve diagnosis of developmental delays
Heavier electric trucks could strain New York City’s roads and bridges, study warns
From womb to world: scientists reveal how maternal stress programs infant development
Bezos Earth Fund grants $2M to UC Davis and American Heart Association to advance AI-designed foods
Data Protection is transforming humanitarian action in the digital age, new book shows
AI unlocks the microscopic world to transform future manufacturing
Virtual reality helps people understand and care about distant communities
Optica Publishing Group announces subscribe to open pilot for the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B)
UNF partners with Korey Stringer Institute and Perry Weather to open heat exercise laboratory on campus
DNA from Napoleon’s 1812 army identifies the pathogens likely responsible for the army’s demise during their retreat from Russia
Study suggests two unsuspected pathogens struck Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia in 1812
The 25-year incidence and progression of hearing loss in the Framingham offspring study
AI-driven nanomedicine breakthrough paves way for personalized breast cancer therapy
Fight or flight—and grow a new limb
[Press-News.org] What happens when we sunburnResearchers describe inflammatory mechanism for first time