Molecular pathology: unlocking the cell's secrets.

Molecular pathology: unlocking the cell's secrets.

It has long been known that the risk of breast cancer shows an inverse relationship with parity (Lane Claypon, 1926). The credit for obtaining a proper understanding of the nature of this relationship, however, must go to MacMahon and his colleagues who, in the late 1960's, conducted a collaborative case-control study in seven parts of the world with markedly different breast cancer rates (MacM...

Unlocking the secrets of longevity genes.

Micropuncture: unlocking the secrets of renal function.

This essay looks at the historical significance of five APS classic papers that are freely available online: Wearn JT and Richards AN. Observations on the composition of glomerular urine, with particular reference to the problem of reabsorption in the renal tubules. Am J Physiol 71: 209-227, 1924 (http://ajplegacy.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/71/1/209). Richards AN and Walker AM. Methods of colle...

Unlocking the secrets of cell signaling.

My scientific life has been spent trying to understand how cells communicate with each other. This interest in cell signaling began with studies on the control of fluid secretion by an insect salivary gland, and the subsequent quest led to the discovery of inositol trisphosphate (IP3) and its role in calcium signaling, which effectively divided my scientific career into two distinct parts. The ...

Unlocking the secrets of cytotoxic granule proteins.

Cytotoxic lymphocytes largely comprise CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells and form the major defense of higher organisms against virus-infected and transformed cells. A key function of cytotoxic lymphocytes is to detect and eliminate potentially harmful cells by inducing them to undergo apoptosis. This is achieved through two principal pathways, both of which require direct but t...