Chromosome 4 News and Research

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Humans normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell, divided into 23 pairs. Two copies of chromosome 4, one copy inherited from each parent, form one of the pairs. Chromosome 4 spans more than 191 million DNA building blocks (base pairs) and represents more than 6 percent of the total DNA in cells.

Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research. Because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. Chromosome 4 likely contains between 1,300 and 1,600 genes.

Genes on chromosome 4 are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.

Researchers use sensitive technique to reveal high levels of genetic heterogeneity in schizophrenia

International researchers centered at Nagoya University use a highly sensitive technique to identify significantly more DNA sequence repeats in patients with schizophrenia than in control individuals, and outline a possible link between genome instability and disease.

24 Jun 2016

Neurotherapeutic video game may help improve cognitive abilities in children with genetic disorders

A UC Davis researcher has created a video game for children who experience cognitive impairments from genetic disorders with the hope that that it will improve their ability to mentally process information about space and time.

23 Jun 2016

New study identifies 40 genes susceptible to migraine

Migraine is one of the most common neurological disorders and it affects 1 out of 7 people in the world. Painful and incapacitating, it has multi-factor origins, with the participation of environmental triggering factors and several altered genes in each individual.

23 Jun 2016

Researchers highlight gene loss as potential process of genetic change, evolutionary adaption

"Loss is nothing else but change and change is nature's delight" says the quote by the philosopher and emperor Marcus Aurelius, which opens the scientific article that analyses the gene loss phenomenon and its impact on the evolution of living beings.

16 Jun 2016

Maintenance TKI therapy 'feasible' for high-risk CML patients after allogeneic HSCT

Patients with high-risk chronic myeloid leukaemia who undergo allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation may benefit from continuing with tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, US clinicians believe.

15 Jun 2016

Researchers explore why women have ubiquitous survival advantage than men

Women live longer than men. This simple statement holds a tantalizing riddle that Steven Austad, Ph.D., and Kathleen Fischer, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham explore in a perspective piece published in Cell Metabolism on June 14.

15 Jun 2016

Scientists discover new ZBTB7A gene mutation that promotes growth of cancer cells

Biomarkers play an important role in modern cancer medicine. They are used as tools to diagnose cancers more precisely and to better predict the course of the disease.

10 Jun 2016

Researchers receive $2.4 million grant to study effects of parenting on behavior of adolescents with FXS

University of Kansas researchers have been awarded a five-year, $2.4 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the effects of parenting on the development and behavior of adolescents with Fragile X syndrome, a single-gene disorder that is the most common cause of inherited developmental disability and the leading genetic cause of autism.

9 Jun 2016

Northwestern Medicine scientists link TMEM230 gene mutations to Parkinson's disease development

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a new cause of Parkinson's disease -- mutations in a gene called TMEM230. This appears to be the third gene definitively linked to confirmed cases of the common movement disorder.

7 Jun 2016

Mayo study finds mechanism by which Pten safeguards against tumor formation

Pten (short for phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor that is defective in about 20-25 percent of all patients with cancers. Mayo Clinic researchers now have discovered that Pten safeguards against tumor formation by keeping chromosome numbers intact when a cell splits into two daughter cells.

3 Jun 2016

Maintaining cardiomyocyte telomere length may enhance heart regeneration in adults

Researchers at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered that the ends of heart muscle cell chromosomes rapidly erode after birth, limiting the cells' ability to proliferate and replace damaged heart tissue.

31 May 2016

Researchers identify new genetic drivers of adrenal cancer

Cancer researchers in Würzburg, in cooperation with the international Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, have identified new genetic drivers of adrenal cancer. Würzburg was the center of coordination of the European scientists.

30 May 2016

Researchers discover ANKRD55 gene linked to multiple sclerosis

The Ikerbasque researcher Koen Vandenbroeck, who heads the Neurogenomiks laboratory which reports to the Achucarro centre and the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, together with other national and international groups, has shown that a genetic variant in the 5q11 chromosome, which is associated with susceptibility to developing multiple sclerosis, greatly regulates a gene known as ANKRD55. ANKRD55 is a gene with an unknown function.

28 May 2016

Research sheds light on how subtle genetic differences in DMD patients produce variation in symptoms

Johns Hopkins researchers report they have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

27 May 2016

Researchers find genetic mutations linked to increased risk factor for PTSD

In the largest study of DNA samples from service members with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), researchers have identified genetic mutations that may be associated with an increased risk factor for PTSD.

24 May 2016

Researchers identify single RCAN1 gene responsible for onset of type 2 diabetes

RESEARCHERS have identified the gene they believe is responsible for the onset of type 2 diabetes, sparking hope for treatments to prevent and possibly reverse the progressive condition.

20 May 2016

Two statistically significant genetic variants may be linked to increased PTSD risk in veterans

In a massive analysis of DNA samples from more than 13,000 U.S. soldiers, scientists have identified two statistically significant genetic variants that may be associated with an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an often serious mental illness linked to earlier exposure to a traumatic event, such as combat and an act of violence.

12 May 2016

Comprehensive genomic characterizations of ACC provide potentially better treatment options

An international team of scientists, including those at the Translational Genomic Research Institute (TGen), have discovered new avenues of potential treatments for a rare and deadly cancer known as Adrenocortical Carcinoma, or ACC.

11 May 2016

New mouse model reveals underlying brain changes linked to autism's social, learning problems

A new mouse model of a genetically-linked type of autism reveals more about the role of genes in the disorder and the underlying brain changes associated with autism's social and learning problems.