Can a common heart condition cause sudden death?

A new model system offers clues

21-Sep-2018 - About one person out of 500 has a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This condition causes thickening of the heart muscle and results in defects in the heart's electrical system. Under conditions of environmental stress such as exercise, HCM can result in sudden death. In ...

Discovery of how HIV hedges its bets opens the door to new therapies

14-May-2018 - A stem cell is one with infinite possibilities. So, for decades, scientists have puzzled over how the cell chooses to keep being a stem cell and continue dividing, or specialize into a specific cell type, like a heart or brain cell. The same type of decision is made by HIV. When the virus infects ...

How your brain helps you learn new skills

13-Feb-2018 - Even if you haven't ridden your bike in years, you probably remember how to do so without giving it much thought. If you're a skilled piano player, odds are you can easily sit down and play a song you've rehearsed before. And, when you drive to work, you're likely not actively thinking about your ...

First stem cells using CRISPR genome activation created

22-Jan-2018 - In a scientific first, researchers at the Gladstone Institutes turned skin cells from mice into stem cells by activating a specific gene in the cells using CRISPR technology. The innovative approach offers a potentially simpler technique to produce the valuable cell type and provides important ...

Helping to solve a great mystery in the organization of our DNA

22-May-2017 - After decades of research aiming to understand how DNA is organized in human cells, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have shed new light on this mysterious field by discovering how a key protein helps control gene organization. Humans have nearly 30,000 genes that determine traits from eye ...

Ancient anti-inflammatory drug salicylic acid has cancer-fighting properties

02-Jun-2016 - Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have identified a new pathway by which salicylic acid--a key compound in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs aspirin and diflunisal--stops inflammation and cancer. In a study, the researchers found that both salicylic acid and diflunisal suppress two ...

Blood clotting protein triggers immune attack on the brain

13-Oct-2015 - A new study that a single drop of blood in the brain is sufficient to activate an autoimmune response akin to multiple sclerosis (MS). This is the first demonstration that introduction of blood in the healthy brain is sufficient to cause peripheral immune cells to enter the brain, which then go ...

Gladstone scientists reprogram skin cells into brain cells

Innovative technique lays groundwork for novel stem cell therapies

12-Jun-2012 - Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells — with a single genetic factor — into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells. The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions ...

Deciphering how CD4 T cells die during HIV infection

29-Nov-2010 - Scientists at Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology have solved a long-standing mystery about HIV infection–namely how HIV promotes the death of CD4 T cells. It is the loss of this critical subset of immune cells that leads to the development of AIDS. Most immune cells that die during ...