Ana Rodríguez, Author at Baylor College of Medicine Blog Network

A mouse model of human brown fat

August 3, 2017 adipocytes, animal model, Brown fat, human brown fat, metabolism, mitochondria

When it gets cold around you, your body turns up the heat to maintain its normal temperature. The heat is produced by brown adipose tissue,

From The Labs

Image of the Month: Mechanisms of cancer survival

August 1, 2017 alternative splicing, cancer survival, CD44, EGFR signaling, Image of the month, PI3K/Akt signaling

Among other studies, the lab of Dr. Chonghiu Cheng is pioneering research projects to better undertsand the role alternative splicing plays in cancer. “We have been

From The Labs

What activates the PI3K pathway, the most commonly mutated pathway in cancer that can be targeted by drugs?

July 31, 2017 cancer mutations, Cancer pathways, IDH1 gene, personalized medicine, PI3K pathway, The Cancer Genome Atlas, VHL gene

The PI3K pathway has a number of diverse functions, including altering the cell’s metabolism and driving cell growth and proliferation. The PI3K pathway also is

From The Labs

A new HER2 mutation leads to a clinical trial and to a promising diagnostic tool for metastatic breast cancer

July 27, 2017 circulating tumor DNA, clinical trial, HER2 gene, Metastatic breast cancer, neratinib

There is a group of metastatic breast cancers that has the HER2 gene amplified – the cells have many copies of it – which leads

From The Labs

CD44s, not CD44v, contributes to cancer survival

July 25, 2017 Akt pathway, alternative splicing, cancer survival, CD44, EGFR signaling

Cells may stray away from their normal function in a number of ways. For example, it’s been known for some time that in a number

From The Labs

Bacteria and mitochondria have a common language

July 20, 2017 C. elegans, fat metabolism, Hedgehog, microbiome, mitochondria, NR5A, Patched

It’s not news that microbes can alter the physiology of the organisms in which they live, but the actual molecular mechanisms that mediate their interactions

From The Labs

‘Silent seizures’ discovered in patients with Alzheimer’s disease

July 10, 2017 Alzheimer's Disease, deep brain, eeg, epilepsy, epileptic seizures, hippocampus, nonconvulsive seizures, seizures

Deep in the brains of two patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the main memory structure, the hippocampus, displays episodic seizure-like electrical activity. These nonconvulsive hippocampal seizures

From The Labs

Image of the Month: Micro-model of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus

July 5, 2017 cryo-electron microscopy, molecular model, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus

From the Labs

From The Labs

It’s all connected: circadian clock, microbiome and response to diet

June 30, 2017 circadian clock, diet, metabolism, microbiome, mouse model, Npas2 gene

Disrupt the circadian clock, and metabolism will change. Alter the microbiome and, again, metabolism will change. Would altering the circadian clock affect the microbiome? Dr.