Telomerase News and Research

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Researchers use gene therapy that lengthens telomeres to cure pulmonary fibrosis in mice

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a potentially lethal disease associated with the presence of critically short telomeres, currently lacking effective treatment.

30 Jan 2018

Simple molecular test may help predict presence of high-grade pancreatic cancers

A report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, describes a new simple molecular test to detect chromosomal abnormalities -- biomarkers known as telomere fusions--in pancreatic tumor specimens and pancreatic cyst fluids.

8 Dec 2017

Study paves way for new therapeutic strategies to impede growth of virus-induced cancers

Researchers at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore have identified a novel molecular pathway by which a tumor suppressor, TIP60, inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

7 Dec 2017

Russian scientists uncover previously unknown effect of leukemia drug

Researchers from RUDN University and Institute of Biomedical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences have identified an alternative mechanism for the effective antitumor drug -- an enzyme called L-asparaginase.

10 Nov 2017

New research suggests cell immortalization as more complicated process than originally thought

A mutation that helps make cells immortal is critical to the development of a tumor, but new research at the University of California, Berkeley suggests that becoming immortal is a more complicated process than originally thought.

18 Aug 2017

CHLA researchers succeed in better defining rare pediatric malignant liver disease

Investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have succeeded in better defining a rare pediatric malignant liver disease -- a necessary step in achieving an optimum treatment.

9 Aug 2017

NYITCOM research could potentially lead to more effective, less toxic cancer treatment

Patients undergoing conventional chemotherapy for certain cancers could potentially receive more effective and less toxic drug treatment.

9 Aug 2017

Gene editing technology shines light on rare dyskeratosis congenita

Using the gene editing technology CRISPR, scientists have shed light on a rare, sometimes fatal syndrome that causes children to gradually lose the ability to manufacture vital blood cells.

27 Jul 2017

Study explains how genetic mutations linked to telomere capping complex contribute to cancers

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have unveiled part of the protein complex that protects telomeres-;the ends of our chromosomes. The study, published online in Nature Communications, explains how a group of genetic mutations associated with this protein complex contributes to various cancers.

10 Apr 2017

Researchers identify molecular switch that converts skin cells into blood vessel cells

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a molecular switch that converts skin cells into cells that make up blood vessels, which could ultimately be used to repair damaged vessels in patients with heart disease or to engineer new vasculature in the lab.

7 Apr 2017

New gene-based blood tests can reliably detect previously unidentifiable forms of skin cancer

Genetic testing of tumor and blood fluid samples from people with and without one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer has shown that two new blood tests can reliably detect previously unidentifiable forms of the disease.

3 Apr 2017

New compounds with potent anticancer activity could lessen side effects of oncological treatments

The Universitat Jaume I, the Spanish Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and the University of Pavia have patented new compounds with potent anticancer activity in breast and colon tumour cell lines that have low toxicity in healthy cells, which can dramatically decrease side effects during chemotherapy treatment.

23 Feb 2017

JAX researchers unravel mechanism that enables cancer cells to survive and divide

Some cancer cells have a trick up their sleeve to avoid cell death: boosting maintenance of telomeres, the protective "end caps" on chromosomes, and a research team led by Jackson Laboratory Professor Roel Verhaak reports in Nature Genetics on a newly discovered telomere maintenance mechanism.

31 Jan 2017

Stem cell research offers alternative view of cancer metastasis

Stem cells are among the most energetically activated, migratory and proliferative sub-populations of tumour cells, according to observations by scholars at the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Salford.

18 Jan 2017

Genetic differences between brain cancer cells and normal tissues could offer clues to tumor behavior

Two recently discovered genetic differences between brain cancer cells and normal tissue cells -- an altered gene and a snippet of noncoding genetic material -- could offer clues to tumor behavior and potential new targets for therapy, Johns Hopkins scientists report.

2 Dec 2016

Preconsumption of red wine can prevent short-term vascular injury caused by smoking

Drinking red wine is widely regarded as protective against cardiovascular disease. A new report in The American Journal of Medicine found that a glass or two of red wine before lighting up a cigarette can counteract some of the short-term negative effects of smoking on blood vessels.

15 Nov 2016

Length of telomeres may reveal if vitamin D and omega-3 supplements improve heart health, longevity

The length of your telomeres appears to be a window into your heart health and longevity, and scientists are measuring them to see if vitamin D and omega-3 supplements really improve both.

14 Nov 2016

UPCI scientists reveal how cancer cells hijack DNA repair pathways to stay alive

Research by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has revealed how cancer cells hijack DNA repair pathways to prevent telomeres, the endcaps of chromosomes, from shortening, thus allowing the tumor to spread. The findings are published today in the journal Cell Reports.

8 Nov 2016

New project clarifies molecular processes involved in hidden HIV reservoir

In spite of ever more effective therapies, HIV keeps managing to survive in the body. A comprehensive project conducted by the Austrian Science Fund FWF has clarified the molecular processes which contribute to this effect.

27 Sep 2016

Nobel laureate-led study uses new technology to watch interaction between telomerase and telomeres

As the rope of a chromosomes replicates, it frays at the ends. No problem: A chromosome's ends have extra twine so that fraying doesn't reach into the body of the rope where the important information resides.

19 Aug 2016