La Jolla, CA – Suppressing a cellular cleanup-mechanism known as autophagy can accelerate the accumulation of protein aggregates that leads to neural degeneration. In an upcoming issue of Autophagy, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report for the first time that the opposite is true as well: Boosting autophagy in the nervous system of fruit flies prevented the age-dependent accumulation of cellular damage in neurons and promoted longevity.
La Jolla, CA – The Salk Institute for Biological Studies today announced the appointment of Rebecca Newman to the position of Vice President of Development. She will oversee the Institute’s entire fundraising program and will lead all related strategic planning and donor relation activities. Newman officially starts in February.
La Jolla, CA – Like a circuit breaker that prevents electrical wiring from overheating and bringing down the house, a tiny family of three molecules stops the immune system from mounting an out-of-control, destructive inflammatory response against invading pathogens, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found.
La Jolla, CA – Salk scientists Leanne Jones and Lei Wang today were awarded New Faculty Awards totaling 5.3 million by the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The funds will be split between both researchers over the next five years.
La Jolla, CA – Cells cultured in the lab are like a fish out of water. Often, their behavior does not reflect their biological function within an entire organ or organism, which, for example, turns studying human liver cells into a big challenge.
La Jolla, CA – Dr. Andrew Dillin, an assistant professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has been selected for the 2007 McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award. He will receive $300,000 over a three-year period to study “age-associated neuroprotection by insulin/IGF-1 signaling.”
La Jolla, CA – Newly launched nerve cells in a growing embryo must chart their course to distant destinations, and many of the means they use to navigate have yet to surface. In a study published in the current issue of the journal Neuron, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have recovered a key signal that guides motor neurons – the nascent cells that extend from the spinal cord and must find their way down the length of limbs such as arms, wings and legs.
LA JOLLA, CA—Professors Ursula Bellugi, Walter Eckhart and Greg E. Lemke have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow, an honor that is bestowed upon members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science by their peers.
La Jolla, CA – Salk scientist Leslie Orgel, Ph.D., who dedicated much of his career to the study of how life began on Earth roughly 4 billion years ago, died on October 27 from pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old.
La Jolla, CA – When the genetic material inside a cell’s nucleus starts to fall apart, a protein called ATM takes charge and orchestrates the rescue mission. Surprisingly, for ATM to kick into full gear, the stretches of DNA flanking a chromosomal break are just as important as the damaged site itself, report scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
La Jolla, CA – The Cajal Club has selected Dennis O’Leary, professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, to receive the 2007 Krieg Cortical Discoverer Prize for his outstanding research on the mechanisms guiding the functional organization of the cerebral cortex, the brain’s powerful central processing unit responsible for higher brain functions.
La Jolla, CA – A stem cells’ immediate neighborhood, a specialized environment also known as the stem cell niche, provides crucial support needed for stem cell maintenance. But nothing lasts forever, found scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. During the aging process, the level of support drops off, diminishing the stem cells’ ability to replenish themselves (self-renew) indefinitely.
La Jolla, CA – A collaboration between scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and The Scripps Research Institute led to the development of a new and highly effective agent that provides protection against anthrax by combining a fast-acting anthrax toxin inhibitor with a vaccine in a single compound.
La Jolla, CA – The blend of aromatic essential oils that gives fresh basil leaves their characteristic warm and sweet aroma is well characterized but not much is known about the enzymatic machinery manufacturing the odiferous mix. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of Michigan followed their noses and solved part of the molecular puzzle.
La Jolla, CA – It is all about being at the right place at the right time. We have all learned the lesson that location matters and the same holds true for neurons, maybe even more so.
La Jolla, CA – Just how a dividing cell rebuilds the nuclear envelope, the protective, functional wrapping that encases both the original and newly copied genetic material, has been a source of controversy for the last 20 years. The answer matters because the architecture established during formation of the envelope is regarded as key to future regulation of gene expression.
La Jolla, CA – In the cerebral cortex, the brain’s powerful central processing unit responsible for higher functions, specialized subdivisions known as areas are laid out like a map, but little is known about the genetic forces that shape the geography of our brains.
La Jolla, CA – With the help of genetically engineered mice whose livers turned into glowing light bulbs, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have illuminated the underpinnings of an insidious and growing health concern – type II diabetes.
La Jolla, CA – Our brains are buzzing with electrical activity created by sodium and potassium ions moving in and out of neurons through specialized pores. To prevent the constant chatter from descending into chaos the activity of these ion channels has to be tightly regulated.
La Jolla, CA – Dr. Samuel L. Pfaff, a professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has been awarded the prestigious Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences for his pioneering work on the molecular pathways that shape the embryonic central nervous system. The award guarantees funding for up to seven years.
