Investigators are learning about structures and rethinking old theories

© 2003 Nature Publishing Group  CROSS TALKING PATHWAYS: Schematic depicting the TNF-R1-induced pathways modulating apoptosis. Blocking the NF-kB-dependent pathway leads to sustained JNK activation and apoptosis. Conversely, blocking the TNF-a induced JNK pathway promotes cell survival. JNK may induce death by triggering mitochondrial events, either directly or indirectly, but its targets remain unknown. (From G. Franzoso et al., Cell Death Differ, 10:13-15. doi: 10.1038/sj.cdd4401154)

A TENTATIVE INTERPRETATION:Genomic actions of steroid hormones...Click for larger version (42K) Molecular biologists are rewriting the textbook explanation of steroid action. For 40 years, evidence has accumulated that some of the hormonally induced effects seemed too rapid for the classic model, in which steroids activate cytosolic receptors to modulate transcription. This evidence casts doubt on the so-called genomic pathway as the sole mode of steroid action. Increasing research now highl

Adapted from T.D. Warner et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci, 99:13371-3, 2002. SLIDING SCALE: Two distinct genes for COX-1 and -2 may give rise to a number of constitutive and inducible COX proteins with overlapping functions. The discovery of cyclooxygenase (COX) isoforms, COX-1 and COX-2, in the early 1990s helped explain how non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) work and led to specific agents with fewer gastrointestinal side effects. Last year, Brigham Young University researchers c

Courtesy of Kurt Jellinger  IF IT ONLY WERE ELEMENTARY: Element distribution found by energy dispersive x-ray analysis in neuromelanin from nigral neuron in a PD patient. Adv Neurol, 60:267-71, 1993. Patients with Parkinson disease endure a progressive loss of neurons, especially dopaminergic, in the substantia nigra and other subcortical nuclei. Hallmarks of PD also include intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies and abnormal neurites, especially in the subcortical nuclei and hippocampus of affect