Mice shed light on OCD

FRETting mice shed light on cardiac adrenergic signaling.

-adrenergic receptor ( -AR) signaling in cardiac myocytes influences contractile and relaxation states in the heart. Classically, following hormone activation, -AR preferentially couples with Gs, which in turn activates adenylyl cyclase and cAMP production. The predominant effector of cAMP, cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), then phosphorylates many proteins important for cardiac function suc...

Quantum dots shed light on diagnoses.

Featured article: Kim S, Lim YT, Soltesz EG, De Grand AM, Lee J, Nakayama A, Parker JA, Mihaljevic T, Laurence RG, Dor DM, Cohn LH, Bawendi MG, Frangioni JV. Near-infrared fluorescent type II quantum dots for sentinel lymph node mapping. Nat Biotechnol 2004;22:93–7. Near-infrared (NIR) (700 –2500 nm) in vivo imaging with semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) can offer nonradioactive extraction of me...

Genotype networks shed light on evolutionary constraints.

An evolutionary constraint is a bias or limitation in phenotypic variation that a biological system produces. One can distinguish physicochemical, selective, genetic and developmental causes of such constraints. Here, I discuss these causes in three classes of system that bring forth many phenotypic traits and evolutionary innovations: regulatory circuits, macromolecules and metabolic networks....

Studies shed light on sunscreen efficacy.

Small RNAs Shed Some Light

Small regulatory RNAs can act by pairing with their target messages, targeting themselves and the mRNA for degradation; Lenz et al. (this issue of Cell) now report that multiple small RNAs are essential regulators of the quorum-sensing systems of Vibrio species, including the regulation of virulence in V. cholerae.