Deer Antlers Couldn't Grow So Fast Without These Genes

          The antlers of deer are fascinating in the world of science due to their ability to grow and even re-grow quickly and effectively. Scientists and researchers know that this appendage is an important part to the animal's life, but the question that remains is, "How do the antlers grow so quickly, and how can we use this information in order to help people?".

          The researchers in this study have discovered in fallow deer that there are two genes involved in the regrowth of the antler, and have also discovered that humans, in fact, have the same combination of genes. Bone growth in humans and antler growth in deer are similar processes, however, antler growth is at a much faster rate than human bone growth which leads researchers to believe that there is something else effecting bone growth that humans may or may not possess. By discovering what ignites the genes in deer antlers to grow so quickly, we may be able to initiate this process in humans which could cure many diseases and even make our bones a little stronger.
          Dr. Yang, the scientist involved in this project, traveled to California in order to collect stem cell samples from male red deer. Taking the stem cells back to the lab, scientists compared the deer RNA to human RNA in order to search for overlaps. Afterwards, they took their findings and inserted them into lab mice to see what would occur phenotypically and to see if it affected any of their tissue growth.
          Eventually they narrowed down the genes into the two genes mentioned previously, uhrfl and s100a10. Both of these genes are related to bone development in the human genome. Their findings were that when the uhrfl gene was shut down, bone growth slowed. When the s100a10 gene was put to work the rate of calcium deposits increased and cells mineralized more rapidly. All in all, both genes are responsible in deer for the rapid growth of antlers.
          Although these are amazing findings, there is still a lot of research to be done. As of right now, this stands as a very promising discovery for the health community, as well as the world. I thought this article was interesting because it mentions that it may be able to help people with common diseases like osteoporosis. As I was reading, I thought that this could help a lot of people with diseases that are so rare that they are only found in a few people around the world. I think this study is really promising for the health industry and I hope that we will be able to control these two genes in order to ease some symptoms or even cure the people that are really suffering with diseases related to these two genes.

Related Article 
Original Article

Ebola Stopped From Spreading in New Study

The Ebola virus is a deadly infection that replicates so fast, the immune system has a hard time working fast enough to suppress it. This makes the virus have such a high mortality rate. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania discovered a method to stop the virus from being able to exit the host cell, trapping it inside. The virus commandeers the host cell, reproduces, and then destroys the cell releasing many other replications of the virus into the body to begin the same process over again. The researchers used virus-like particles to mimic the protein coat of the virus without needing to use dangerous live viruses and found when these particles were budding out of the host cells, there was a spike in calcium levels. When host cells were modified with a mutated gene called ORAI1, which encodes a calcium channel, it was shown  that the Ebola reproduction rate dropped drastically. They also found that if they suppress a gene called STIM1, the same reduction in the virus occurred. They then tried this test with live Ebola viruses and a few other viruses that showed similar reductions in production from the ORAI1 and STIM1 mutated cells and similar results followed. The viruses were shown to spread much less with mutant cells as opposed to normal cells.
         This is a significant discovery in the medical field, especially since it was shown how serious infection can spread last year in Africa. With continued testing of this discovery and similar results, there may finally be a way to reduce the impact of Ebola on victims and may lead to a cure for it. It's also good to see that they were not one-sided with their research and also incorporated some other viruses to test at the same time. That would be amazing if tests show that many viruses need this calcium pathway to keep spreading and they were able to create one treatment that worked for hundreds of illnesses.
Original article here.

Temple-Penn researchers identify calcium 'accelerator' to keep cell power supply going

Scientists of Temple University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania have identified a protein that may help in the understanding of how the flow of calcium into the mitochondria is controlled. Through the process of shutting down the activity of 50 genes, one at a time, the protein MCUR1 has been identified as an accelerator that helps regulate calcium coming into the mitochondria form the cell’s larger reservoir. The protein is found inside the mitochondrial membrane and is part of an elaborate mitochondrial channel pore system. The results were published in an advanced online issue of Nature Cell Biology. It is hoped that through the understanding of how to manipulate MCUR1 that there will be advancement in treatments for disease that involve excessive calcium in the cell such as cardiovascular diseases and strokes.



Co-senior author Doctor Muniswamy Madesh of Temple University tells that, “Calcium is the key to regulate many fundamental processes in cells.” He has detailed the importance of this discovery by stating, "excessive calcium in the cell's mitochondria could lead to heart and neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. This pathway could be contributing to disease conditions during ischemia/reperfusion injury and stroke, and this discovery opens up possible therapeutic interventions."

The question of how calcium entry into the mitochondria is controlled has yet to be answered; however this is an important step into finding it.  By identifying this protein, the flow of calcium into the mitochondria is now being understood better and only more information can be attained from this discovery. I am excited to see where this discovery leads us and if medication will be available in the future that will cure disease and may allow us to use energy more efficiently.