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Attempts to manage body weight are often unsuccessful or only temporary. This is, in part, due to antiquated dieting methods that attempt to address calorie consumption while ignoring metabolic and physical changes. Personalized and more comprehensive methods to track and manage body weight may be more effective.

Lactose, found in dairy products and other foods, is comprised of two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. In galactosemia, where galactose is not properly metabolized, build-up of toxic compounds, such as galactose-1-phosphate, can lead to liver disease, renal failure, cataracts, brain damage, and even death if this disorder is left untreated. Currently, the only treatment for galactosemia is elimination of lactose and galactose from the diet, but in some cases this is not sufficient to avoid long-term complications from the disorder.

The National Institutes of Health announces polyclonal antibodies against mouse cytochrome P450s CYP2J and CYP2C. Cytochrome P450s catalyze the metabolism of a wide range of exogenous compounds, including drugs, industrial chemicals, environmental pollutants, and carcinogens. The 2C family of cytochrome P450 metabolizes an extensive number of drugs which include tolbutamide, S-Warfarin, mephenytoin, diazepam and taxol. Many of the P450 enzymes are also active in the NADPH-dependent oxidation of arachidonic acid to various eicosanoids found in several species.

Available for licensing are monoclonal antibodies targeting human DNA polymerase beta (Pol B). Pol B is a constitutively expressed "housekeeping" enzyme that plays a role in base excision repair (BER), a cellular defense mechanism that repairs DNA base damage and loss. Aberrant Pol B expression is associated with genomic instability indicating that Pol B is required for DNA maintenance, replication and recombination.

HSPA2 is a member of the HSP70 family of heat-shock proteins that serve as molecular chaperones. Researchers discovered that HSPA2 protein is expressed in spermatogenesis during the meiotic phase. Spermatogenic cells lacking the HSPA2 protein arrest in mid-meiosis and undergo apoptosis. HSPA2 is present in the synaptonemal complex of wild-type mice and the chromosomes fail to separate in HSPA2-deficient mice (previously known as Hsp70-2-/- mice), suggesting that HSPA2 is required for the chromosomal events of meiosis such as synapsis, crossing over, or recombination.

One of the primary means for treating HIV infection is the use of antiviral nucleotide or nucleoside analogs. These analogs work by inhibiting the activity of reverse transcriptase, the enzyme responsible for preparing the HIV genome for integration into the DNA of the host cell. Although these analogs do not have an effect on the polymerases responsible for replicating the human genome, the polymerase responsible for replicating the mitochondrial genome is sensitive to these analogs.

HSPA2 is a member of the HSP70 family of heat-shock proteins that serve as molecular chaperones. Hspa2-cre expression mimics the spermatogenic cell-specific expression of endogenous HSPA2 within the testis, being first observed in leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes. Expression of the transgene is also detected at restricted sites in the brain, as occurs for endogenous HSPA2.

GLI-similar (Glis) 1-3 proteins constitute a subfamily of the Krüppel-like zinc finger transcription factors that are closely related to the Gli family. Mutations in human GLIS3 have been implicated in a syndrome characterized by neonatal diabetes and congenital hypothyroidism (NDH) and in some patients accompanied by polycystic kidney disease, glaucoma, and liver fibrosis. To further identify and study the physiological functions of GLIS3, NIEHS investigators generated mice in which GLIS3 is ubiquitously knocked out (GLIS3-KO) or conditionally knocked out in a cell type-specific manner.

Atherosclerosis underlies most cases of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is now the major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. An inflammatory reaction is an essential component in the appearance and development of an atherosclerotic lesion. The inflammatory process is associated with the expression of adhesion molecules such as vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) at the surface of endothelial cells. Antiatherogenic lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein (HDL), is known to down regulate the expression of VCAM.

Chronic inflammation is clearly associated with an increase in the risk of cancer. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are well documented as agents that inhibit tumor growth and with long-term use can prevent tumor development. NSAID-activated gene (NAG-1), a unique member of the TGF-beta superfamily, is highly induced by NSAIDs and numerous drugs and chemicals with anti-tumorigenic activities.