No REST for healthy beta cells

No REST for fibroids.

G ood news: A long-awaited model for uterine fibroid tumor research is upon us (1). Historically, there has been a paucity of in vivo models for the study of fibroid tumors (i.e., leiomyomas), benign female pelvic organ tumors characterized by clonal proliferation of smooth muscle cells and expression of genes involved in fibrosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) production. This is staggering, c...

No Rest for REST: REST/NRSF Regulation of Neurogenesis

Epigenetic strategies control the orderly acquisition and maintenance of neuronal traits. A complex network of transcriptional repressors and co-repressors mediates gene specificity for these strategies. In this issue of Cell, a study by Ballas and coworkers (Ballas et al., 2005) provides insight into the early lineage commitment events during neurogenesis. This study demonstrates that regulati...

No rest for fatigue researchers.

F atigue is the most important side effect of cancer and cancer treatment, according to a recent study of patients and professionals in major cancer centers across the United States. Led by David Cella, Ph.D., at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and Northwestern University's cancer center in Chicago, the study confirms not only that cancer-related fatigue is common but also that it affects pati...

No time to rest.

The Importance of REST for Development and Function of Beta Cells

Beta cells are defined by the genes they express, many of which are specific to this cell type, and ensure a specific set of functions. Beta cells are also defined by a set of genes they should not express (in order to function properly), and these genes have been called forbidden genes. Among these, the transcriptional repressor RE-1 Silencing Transcription factor (REST) is expressed in most c...