This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Colorectal cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and among the top 3 causes of cancer-related death in men and women. Despite advances in diagnosing and treating colorectal cancer prognosis remains poor because of persistent mechanisms of tumor proliferation. A new study has zeroed in on one protein that could be behind some of these mechanisms of colorectal cancer spread. JARID1B is a demethylase enzyme encoded by the gene KDM5B and has been implicated in the development of several cancers, including breast, prostate, and liver cancer. Researchers found that JARID1B was significantly upregulated in colorectal cancer tissue versus adjacent normal tissue. In patients with colorectal cancer, high JARID1B expression was associated with poor overall survival. Experiments revealed that JARID1B promoted the spread of colorectal tumor cells through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Specifically, by inhibiting the protein CDX2..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Designed for students without previous experience in techniques of cellular and molecular biology, this class teaches basic experimental techniques in cellular and molecular neurobiology. Experimental approaches covered include tissue culture of neuronal cell lines, dissection and culture of brain cells, DNA manipulation, synaptic protein analysis, immunocytochemistry, and fluorescent microscopy.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Esophageal cancers are common globally but are difficult to treat and have a poor prognosis. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is especially dangerous and has poorly understood molecular mechanisms. A recent study took a comprehensive look at the kappa opioid receptor (KOR), a protein that has been shown to influence the progression of other cancers. First, researchers examined existing patient datasets and found that ESCC tumors had reduced KOR expression and that lower expression of KOR was correlated with reduced patient survival. In the lab, they found that reducing KOR expression in cultured ESCC cells led to increased proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. When looking for potential mechanisms, they found that down-regulation of KOR activated the PDK1-AKT signaling pathway. It also led to invasion-related changes in cells, including invadopodia formation and cytoskeletal rearrangement. Reducing expression of KOR in mice led to increased metastasis and phosphorylation of the AKT enzyme..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Western blots are widely used in molecular cell biology to identify proteins-of-interest in complex protein samples. In western blots, antibodies and detection reagents are used to stain membranes containing replicas of polyacrylamide gels. This module introduces students to the theory and practice of western blots. In this module, students:learn about the biological origins and structural properties of antibodies that underly their specificity.learn how epitope tags allow the detection of proteins-of-interest on western blots.prepare membrane replicas containing protein extracts that have been resolved by SDS-PAGE.analyze protein expression in yeast that have been transformed with expression plasmids.This module is part of an introductory laboratory course, Investigations in Molecular Cell Biology, at Boston College.