microRNAs

dignan · Family Elder Joined: Aug 12, 2004 Posts: 1212

This is interesting, and they do mention neurodegenerative disorders.

IBM & Genome Institute of Singapore Collaboration May Lead to Better Understanding of Cell Process Regulation

22 Sept 2006 -- IBM, in collaboration with the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), today revealed results from a joint research study that could potentially alter our views of how cell processes are regulated.

The two teams have discovered that microRNAs, small molecules that are an important regulatory component in the machinery of living cells, likely exert their influence much more widely than previously thought.

Extensive experiments conducted by the GIS validate findings generated by a mathematical model developed by the IBM team. The work is expected to provide insight on microRNA-based regulation in diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes and others, and to suggest possible avenues for novel diagnostics and the development of therapeutics.

"Our collaboration with the GIS team illustrates the increasing impact that joint work between computational scientists and biologists can have in facilitating advances in basic biology," said Isidore Rigoutsos, Manager of the Bioinformatics Group in IBM Research's Computational Biology Center.

"The scientific community continues to reveal the increasing importance of microRNAs in determining a cell's type and function. This joint effort is generating new insights regarding the function of these molecules," said Bing Lim, Leader of the Stem Cell Biology Group at GIS.

The results, which are reported in today's issue of the journal Cell, suggest that some microRNAs may exert their influence by targeting as many as a few thousand messenger RNAs (the intermediate forms from which proteins are made), and that nearly all genes in higher organisms such as humans or mice may be under microRNA control. The analysis also suggests that likely tens of thousands of microRNAs remain to be identified. These results propose a significantly expanded view of microRNAs' influence within a cell and their potential roles in health and disease.

The report on this work, "A pattern-based method for the identification of microRNA binding sites and their corresponding heteroduplexes," by Miranda K., Huynh T., and Rigoutsos I. of IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY; Tay Y., Ang Y.S., Tam W.L., Thomson A., and Lim B. of Genome Institute of Singapore, is published in the September 22nd issue of the journal Cell.

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/20309.wss

Lyon · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:41 pm Post subject:

I've never even heard of microRNA before.

I'll have to read more about it because on one hand it seems exciting that it could be the opening of a previously unknown world which might hold answers we've been incapable of otherwise finding, but on the other hand the "micro" seems to denote that it's on an infinitely small and time consuming scale and this might be the opening moment of what could be a very lengthy search process.

It wasn't lost on me that the "joint search" process which led to the finding was hyped in the article. I don't care if you refer to them as immune disorders or autoimmune disorders, they are more of a family or "syndrome" and share a lot of commonalities.

Common sense dictates that these so called autoimmune diseases wouldn't "pool" and "cluster" unless they shared something very important in common. Although we don't know what causes them, therefor it's impossible to say what the commonality is, it seems logical that a common cause almost has to be responsible for the commonality.

Due to that way of thinking, it's always seemed ironic to me that there are over 80 different so called autoimmune disease factions, each considering themselves a completely separate and specific disease. That thought process is only based on outward symptoms and that thought process remains responsible for each "separate" disease continuing to struggle separately for research funding.

It seems especially ironic that victims of MS and theses other diseases are very aware and complain that control of the outward symptoms isn't the answer, doesn't control debilitation and that the "real" answers lie in the discovery, defining and control of the underlying processes. Yet I've never seen a call to pool resources in order to better and more expediently discover those processes.

Bob

gwa · Family Elder Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 847

If you read more about "The Myelin Repair Foundation", you will see that they are top notch MS researchers sharing their trials and experiments to bring more insight and hopefully decent meds within the next five years.

When this foundation was started, the main thrust was to get scientists to share and work together to hasten the discovery processes. According to their web site, many new discoveries have been made in the past year and half and they appear on target to help MS'ers in the near future.

gwa

gwa · Family Elder Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 847

Lyon · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:05 pm Post subject:

Hi gwa,

That explains the exact type of gain from cooperation I was trying to point out except I meant that the organisations representing the various autoimmune disease sufferers should pool their funding money in the search for the underlying cause of "so called" autoimmune diseases.

I know it ruffles feathers to even insinuate that there are commonalities between these diseases but even though they affect different parts of the anatomy it seems that the relationships between them become even more tightly intertwined the closer you get to their root causes, whatever they may be.

Bob

lyndacarol · Family Elder Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 526

When affiliated with the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Dr. Noel Rose wrote an article on this idea of a common thread. He and the organization were instrumental in promoting a goverment committee which coordinates research into the "autoimmune" diseases. (I supplied a link to the plan in my first post to General Discussion, "Insulin--Could This Be the Key?")

I see NO chance that the American Diabetes Association or the Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation or the National MS Society (or the others) will band together to find the common thread. (It might lead to an answer that would put them out of a job!)

Lyon · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:26 pm Post subject:

I can't tell you how much I agree!!!!......sadly Crying or Very sad

Bob

PS....I'm proud of you for knowing all that!

Shayk · Family Elder Joined: Feb 07, 2004 Posts: 589

Hi Bob and Lynda Carol

Do either of you know if the greatest risk for an "auto-immune" disease, including MS, is being born a woman?

Maybe all the "auto-immune" gurus should pool their money with the Society for Women's Health Research. Wink

Take a look at this graph .

There's also this fact sheet that has some info on MS.

Anyway I just couldn't resist asking the question and throwing this out there even though I personally don't think MS is an auto-immune disease. And guys, nothing against you either. IMO good gender based MS research just might mean more progress in understanding the disease and would be equally beneficial for everyone.

Sharon

Lyon

sh8un · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject:

Hi
I do get some of my old symptoms back just before my period. It makes sense. I used to get scared until I found out that they were related. can't wait to get pregnant now. Razz

NN

Lyon · Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject:

Hi sh8un,
Actually the hormone thing is the most common sense answer regarding women getting these diseases more than men. Though like everything else with MS, someone has probably researched it at some point and the results probably weren't conclusive.
Bob

scoobyjude · Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:35 pm Post subject:

Speaking of hormones, has anyone read any results of the trials of Progestin and Estradiol? I know it's in phase III but I haven't read anything.

Lyon · Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

I wasn't even familiar with the trial until you mentioned it but it sounds interesting.
Bob

scoobyjude · Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:26 pm Post subject:

It seems that for a trial that is in phase III we would have heard something about it. I'm curious because as I was reading my birth control pills I realized that they contain both ethinyl estradiol and progestin (norgestimate). Doesn't seem to have done me that much good but who knows. Maybe I would be a lot worse without them. I'm sure the trial doses are probably different anyways.

Shayk · Family Elder Joined: Feb 07, 2004 Posts: 589

Hi Scooby (and Bob)

I haven't seen any results from that trial either. It's a post partum study in France to see if there's an impact on reducing relapses post delivery in women with RRMS. The last time I checked (several months ago) the enrollment had been completed. Smile