RNAi Gateway

A mobile genetic element in RNA viruses

An extensive screen of virus genomes for the stem-loop structure s2m found it in four virus families, Astroviridae, Caliciviridae, Picornaviridae and Coronaviridae, suggesting it is a mobile element with possible RNAi activity.

Promoting cardiac differentiation

Oxidative stress may promote cardiac differentiation of adult stem or progenitor cells by increasing Notch1 signalling, potentially improving cell-based therapy for cardiac repair and regeneration.

Metabolic models - Why the fly?

For many reasons metabolism is now a high-profile topic, and in an update to mark the tenth anniversary of BMC Biology, Norbert Perrimon and Akhila Rajan review the remarkable similarities that make Drosophila a model for mammalian metabolism, and some recent advances made possible by the advantages of this model organism.

RBM3, a new biomarker in bladder cancer

Reduced RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3) expression is associated with more aggressive tumours and reduced survival rates in patients with urothelial bladder cancer, and could be used as a prognostic biomarker for treatment stratification in patients with this disease.

How well does a model model?

An analysis of the effect of copy number variation on growth, apoptosis and the cell cycle for a selected subset of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes suggests that using this model yeast to predict the effects of similar copy number variants in human cancers is a worthwhile approach.