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.

Cortical hyperexcitability has a driving role in ALS

Cortical hyperexcitability is an intrinsic feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptoms in patients carrying the chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 gene hexanucleotide repeat expansion, show study findings.

9 Sep 2015

Researchers use stem cell-derived 'mini-brains' to identify drug candidate for rare neurological disorder

Using "mini-brains" built with induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients with a rare, but devastating, neurological disorder, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say they have identified a drug candidate that appears to "rescue" dysfunctional cells by suppressing a critical genetic alteration.

9 Sep 2015

Huntington’s disease prevention breakthrough? An interview with Professor Lesley Jones

Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease which, whilst quite rare, is one of the more common inherited neurodegenerative diseases. About 1 in 6,000 people in the UK are at risk and what’s horrible about this disease is that if one of your parents has it, then you have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting it.

2 Sep 2015

Gene ZSCAN4 may help treat Down syndrome

For people with Down syndrome, news from Elixirgen, LLC may brighten their day. The biotechnology company, located in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, has outlined one of the best potential therapies yet for people with Down syndrome and other chromosome disorders in a paper entitled, "Correction of Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome aneuploidies in human cell cultures," published in the journal DNA Research.

31 Aug 2015

Researchers identify drugs that may enhance ability of TKI dasatinib to kill human cancer cells

Researchers have discovered how a common mutation in a high-risk leukemia subtype drives the cancer's aggressiveness and have identified drugs that may work with existing precision medicines to improve survival. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, which was published online today in the journal Cancer Cell.

28 Aug 2015

New review article reveals Y chromosome’s role in cardiovascular and immune function, cancer

The role of sex in human disease is a growing area of research. Although estrogen (in females) and androgens (in males) are often seen as possible causes for such differences, sex chromosomes, including the male-specific Y chromosome, may also play a role. However, it has been difficult to understand how the Y chromosome could contribute to disease in men, in part because it is much more difficult to sequence than all other chromosomes.

28 Aug 2015

Common gene mutation may cause brain damage associated with ALS and FTD

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered some of the first steps in how a very common gene mutation causes the brain damage associated with both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

27 Aug 2015

Study of genetic risk factors of IBD in African-Americans published in Gastroenterology journal

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Emory University and Cedars-Sinai, have published in the journal Gastroenterology the first major, in-depth analysis of genetic risk factors of inflammatory bowel disease in African-Americans.

26 Aug 2015

New assessment tool under development can help detect physical traits of Klinefelter syndrome

Klinefelter syndrome is the most common disorder of the male sex chromosomes, yet is rarely diagnosed in children. A new assessment tool is being developed by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) to help pediatricians detect the physical traits of the syndrome. The tool could pave the way for early interventions that prevent and treat a range of physical, psychological, social, and cognitive impairments.

26 Aug 2015

UC Davis researchers reveal how four proteins come together to help assemble tubulin

When they think about how cells put together the molecules that make life work, biologists have tended to think of assembly lines: Add A to B, tack on C, and so on. But the reality might be more like a molecular version of a 3-D printer, where a single mechanism assembles the molecule in one go.

21 Aug 2015

Complete removal of visible tumor improves outcomes in children with high-grade glioma

For children with aggressive brain cancers called high-grade gliomas (HGG), the chances of survival are improved when surgery is successful in eliminating all visible cancer, reports a study in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

19 Aug 2015

Low birth weight, preterm birth increase schizophrenia risk in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Low birth weight and preterm birth appear to increase the risk of schizophrenia among individuals with a genetic condition called the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.

14 Aug 2015

Researchers identify first gene that causes common form of mitral valve prolapse

An international research collaboration led by Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has identified the first gene in which mutations cause the common form of mitral valve prolapse (MVP), a heart valve disorder that affects almost 2.5 percent of the population.

11 Aug 2015

UNC researchers show how a genetic mutation disables molecular switch and causes autism

Last December, researchers identified more than 1,000 gene mutations in individuals with autism, but how these mutations increased risk for autism was unclear. Now, UNC School of Medicine researchers are the first to show how one of these mutations disables a molecular switch in one of these genes and causes autism.

7 Aug 2015

Researchers develop new technology to track DNA-protein binding in live cells

Researchers have developed a new technology that precisely marks where groups of regulatory proteins called transcription factors bind DNA in the nuclei of live cells.

7 Aug 2015

WPI awarded NIH grant to explore ways to turn genetic tables against cancer

Taking aim at the fundamental biology of cancer cells, the National Institutes of Health has awarded $747,000 to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a three-year research project to explore the molecular mechanisms associated with the genetic mutations and chromosome instability observed in all cancer cells.

7 Aug 2015

HHMI scientists identify stem cells that give rise to functional liver cells

Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have identified stem cells in the liver that give rise to functional liver cells. The work solves a long-standing mystery about the origin of new cells in the liver, which must constantly be replenished as cells die off, even in a healthy organ.

6 Aug 2015

FAU pre-medical student and surgeon work together on revolutionary procedure alternative to radical mastectomy

Elizabeth Hopkins, an aspiring physician and pre-medical student in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at Florida Atlantic University, has spent more than 640 hours shadowing Hilton Becker, M.D., a local plastic and reconstructive surgeon, and an affiliate professor in FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. Together, with Jeffrey Lind II, M.D., they authored a publication in the current issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal, which describes a revolutionary procedure developed by Becker that is an alternative to radical mastectomy.

4 Aug 2015

Balancing cellular aging and cancer risk through biotechnology

In a way, trying to repair age-related heart damage and trying to fight cancer are opposite problems. Your heart cells' ability to regenerate themselves and proliferate into new, young cells degrades as you get older.

30 Jul 2015

Understanding the workings of error correction mechanism in cell division

Cell biologists led by Thomas Maresca at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with collaborators elsewhere, report an advance in understanding the workings of an error correction mechanism that helps cells detect and correct mistakes in cell division early enough to prevent chromosome mis-segregation and aneuploidy, that is, having too many or too few chromosomes.

30 Jul 2015

Chromosome 4 News and Research

Further Reading

Cortical hyperexcitability has a driving role in ALS

Researchers use stem cell-derived 'mini-brains' to identify drug candidate for rare neurological disorder

Huntington’s disease prevention breakthrough? An interview with Professor Lesley Jones

Gene ZSCAN4 may help treat Down syndrome

Researchers identify drugs that may enhance ability of TKI dasatinib to kill human cancer cells

New review article reveals Y chromosome’s role in cardiovascular and immune function, cancer

Common gene mutation may cause brain damage associated with ALS and FTD

Study of genetic risk factors of IBD in African-Americans published in Gastroenterology journal

New assessment tool under development can help detect physical traits of Klinefelter syndrome

UC Davis researchers reveal how four proteins come together to help assemble tubulin

Complete removal of visible tumor improves outcomes in children with high-grade glioma

Low birth weight, preterm birth increase schizophrenia risk in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Researchers identify first gene that causes common form of mitral valve prolapse

UNC researchers show how a genetic mutation disables molecular switch and causes autism

Researchers develop new technology to track DNA-protein binding in live cells

WPI awarded NIH grant to explore ways to turn genetic tables against cancer

HHMI scientists identify stem cells that give rise to functional liver cells

FAU pre-medical student and surgeon work together on revolutionary procedure alternative to radical mastectomy

Balancing cellular aging and cancer risk through biotechnology

Understanding the workings of error correction mechanism in cell division

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