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MicroRNAs Grease The Cell's Circadian Clockwork
Most of our cells possess an internal clock, a group of genes displaying a cyclic expression pattern that reaches a peak once a day. A large number of circadian genes are expressed by organs such as the liver, whose activity needs to be precisely regulated over the course of the day. A team of researchers of the National Centre of Competence in Research Frontiers in Genetics, based at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, reveals that an important regulator of this molecular oscillator is a specific microRNA. The latter belongs to a class of small RNA molecules that regulate the production of proteins in our cells. Thus far, little was known about their function within the circadian clockwork. The study by Ueli Schibler"s team, published in the 1st June edition of Genes & Development, fills in this important gap.

HeartWorks Simulation - A Breakthrough In Education For Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologists
The world"s first virtual heart has been developed to improve teaching of peri-operative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) skills in the care of patients with heart disease. HeartWorks, a uniquely realistic computer-generated model of the heart and echocardiography simulator, is the result of a 4 year project driven by a team of three London-based cardiac anaesthesiologists. Recognising the power of education through simulation and its increasingly widespread adoption throughout clinical practice, the team is spearheading a pathway change in education in one of the most interesting and challenging areas of cardiac care. Now in production by Inventive Medical, a subsidiary of UCLH Charity London, HeartWorks is set to dramatically transform TEE training by university teaching hospitals worldwide.
News of the day
BMA Scotland GP Leader Calls On Scottish Government To Listen, Support And Work With GPs To Help Improve Patient Care
As GPs across the UK gathered in London for the Annual Conference of Local Medical Committees, Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA"s Scottish General Practitioners Committee, slammed the government for trying to strip GPs of funding and called for the profession to make decisions about general practice, not civil servants.
Mental Health

Promising Biomarker And Candidate Tumor Suppressor Gene Identified For Colorectal Cancer

Researchers have identified a new candidate tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer and examined its use as a potential biomarker in stool samples, according to a new study published online June 17 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In the study, Manon van Engeland, Ph.D., of the Department of Pathology at Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues examined N-Myc downstream-regulated gene 4 (NDRG4) as a novel tumor suppressor and biomarker. The researchers analyzed NDRG4 promoter methylation and expression in human colorectal cancer cell lines, noncancerous colon mucosa, and colorectal cancer tissue. Quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction was used to examine NDRG4 promoter methylation as a biomarker in fecal DNA from 75 colorectal cancer patients and 75 control subjects. The researchers found that NDRG4 promoter methylation was more prevalent in colorectal cancers than in noncancerous colon mucosa. Its mRNA and protein expression were decreased in colorectal cancer tissue compared with noncancerous colon mucosa. A methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay for NDRG4 promoter methylation in stool identified the presence of colorectal cancer in 53% of colorectal cancer cases and correctly categorized a subject as cancer free 100% of the time. "In conclusion, to our knowledge, this is the first study to describe a tumor suppressor role for NDRG4 in cancer," the authors write. "Our data indicate that NDRG4 promoter methylation is potentially useful as a sensitive and specific noninvasive pre-selection modality for identifying individuals at risk for colorectal cancer for whom colonoscopy is recommended." In an accompanying editorial, Gad Rennert, M.D., Ph.D., of the Carmel Medical Center and Technion in Haifa, Israel, discusses the concept of molecular testing of stool for early detection of colorectal cancer and where such testing stands today. "Genetic diagnosis of colorectal cancers and meaningful adenomas has now reached a new phase that, when further fine-tuned, may carry the promise of becoming a suitable and affordable means of prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer in the general population," he writes. Citations: Article: Melotte et al. N-Myc downstream-regulated gene 4 (NDRG4): a candidate tumor suppressor gene and potential biomarker for colorectal cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009, 101: 916-927. Editorial: Rennet G. Are We Getting Closer to Molecular Population Screening for Colorectal Cancer? J Natl Cancer Inst 2009, 101: 902-903. Steve Graff Journal of the National Cancer Institute


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