Regulation and Function of miR-218 in Gastric Cancer Metastasis
Tie, Pan et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers describe a negative feedback system between Robo1, a Slit receptor, and miR-218, wherein “decreased miR-218 levels eliminate Robo1 repression, which activates the Slit-Robo1 pathway through the interaction between Robo1 and Slit2, thus triggering tumor metastasis.” The authors suggest that the restoration of miR-218 supresses Robo1 espression and inhibits tumor cell invasion.
It's Nice to Think of Ourselves as Moving Colonies
May 23, 2008
An article in the New York Times talks about the fact that at any given moment, there are 1 million bacteria in the crook of your elbow. With the Human Microbiome Project underway, scientists are sequencing -- and learning -- about the hoards of beneficial bacteria that live in people.
In Science's early edition, Wash U's Ruth Ley looked at 60 species in the first-ever comparison of bacterial gut communities across mammals. "Her analysis found that these communities have co-evolved with their hosts and their members are strongly influenced by both diet and evolutionary history," says this post at Not Exactly Rocket Science.
