new life health 38

In the developing embryo and during the specialisation of stem cells , the activity of genes must be tightly controlled (by a process called epigenetics) so that the correct genes are switched on and off at the right time and in the right cells. One of the main ways that this process is regulated is by a protein complex called Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), which keeps genes switched off until they are needed. We know from previous studies that PRC2 is necessary for controlling gene activity during the development of the fruit fly and the mouse, but we know very little about its role in human development or in the specialisation of stem cells. As described in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers used the CRISPR gene editing technique to delete PRC2 from human embryonic stem cells . Loss of PRC2 caused the cells to switch on many genes that are not normally active in these cells. Interestingly, the set of genes that were switched on have important roles in the formatio...

Focusing on two such sibling RNA-binding proteins -- PTBP1 and PTBP2 -- that are important for the nervous system, a team of researchers has found that these proteins serve both redundant and unique functions in the developing brain when neural stem cells are changed into neurons -- cells that process and transmit information through electrical and chemical signals. "PTBP1 is expressed in neural stem cells , and PTBP2 in differentiating neurons," said Sika Zheng, an assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, who led the research project. "Their expressions are almost mutually exclusive. During brain development, cells switch expression of PTBP1 to PTBP2. This contributes to the neuronal differentiating process, and can offer us insights into understanding what makes a neuron a neuron." Study results appear Dec. 6 in  Cell Reports . The research, done using multiple mouse models, has imp...