The zinc-finger transcription factor Sfp1 imprints specific classes of mRNAs and links their synthesis to cytoplasmic decay.

To function effectively as an integrated system, the transcriptional and post-transcriptional machineries must communicate through mechanisms that are still poorly understood. Here, we focus on the zinc-finger Sfp1, known to regulate transcription of proliferation-related genes. We show that Sfp1 can regulate transcription either by binding to promoters, like most known transcription activators, or by binding to the transcribed regions (gene bodies), probably via RNA polymerase II (Pol II).

An intraoperative MRI system for margin assessment in breast conserving surgery: Initial results from a novel technique.

Background And Objectives: One of the major unmet needs in Breast Conserving Surgery (BCS) is a rapid and accurate margin assessment of the lumpectomy specimen. This study evaluates the ability of a novel MRI system (prototype of the ClearSight™ system; Clear-Cut Medical Ltd., Rehovot, Israel) to distinguish malignant and non-malignant tissues in freshly excised breast specimen by comparing MR measurements to histopathology results.

Conceptual modeling of mRNA decay provokes new hypotheses.

Biologists are required to integrate large amounts of data to construct a working model of the system under investigation. This model is often informal and stored mentally or textually, making it prone to contain undetected inconsistencies, inaccuracies, or even contradictions, not much less than a representation in free natural language. Using Object-Process Methodology (OPM), a formal yet visual and humanly accessible conceptual modeling language, we have created an executable working model of the mRNA decay process in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as well as the import of its components to the nucleus following mRNA decay.

Promoter elements regulate cytoplasmic mRNA decay.

Promoters are DNA elements that enable transcription and its regulation by trans-acting factors. Here, we demonstrate that yeast promoters can also regulate mRNA decay after the mRNA leaves the nucleus. A conventional yeast promoter consists of a core element and an upstream activating sequence (UAS).

"Juvenile stress" alters maturation-related changes in expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule L1 in the limbic system: relevance for stress-related psychopathologies.

L1 is critically involved in neural development and maturation, activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, and learning processes. Among adult rats, chronic stress protocols that affect L1 functioning also induce impaired cognitive and neural functioning and heightened anxiety reminiscent of stress-induced mood and anxiety disorders. Epidemiological studies indicate that childhood trauma is related predominantly to higher rates of both mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood and is associated with altered limbic system functioning.