Stowers News

Stowers researchers create new framework for protein aggregation under acute stress

KANSAS CITY, MO—Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have made a surprising finding about the aggregates of misfolded cellular proteins that have been linked to aging-related disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The researchers report their results in the October 16, 2014 online issue of the journal Cell.

Stowers scientists establish Drosophila and mammalian models to study mutations found in pediatric brain tumors

KANSAS CITY, MO—In a cell’s nucleus, chromosomal DNA is tightly bound to structural proteins known as histones, an amalgam biologists call chromatin. Until about two decades ago, histones were regarded as a nuclear “sidekick,” the mere packing material around which the glamorous DNA strands were wrapped. Recently, however, biologists have developed a greater appreciation for how DNA/histone interactions govern gene expression.

Stowers researchers identify functions of two classes of mouse pheromone receptors

KANSAS CITY, MO—Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have identified the functions of two classes of pheromone receptors, and found pheromones crucial to triggering the mating process in mice.

Stowers team develops novel assay to identify genes controlling pharynx regeneration in flatworms

KANSAS CITY, MO—As multicellular creatures go, planaria worms are hardly glamorous. To say they appear rudimentary is more like it. These tiny aquatic flatworms that troll ponds and standing water resemble brown tubes equipped with just the basics: a pair of beady light-sensing “eyespots” on their head and a feeding tube called the pharynx (which doubles as the excretory tract) that protrudes from a belly sac to suck up food. It’s hard to feel kinship with them.