Autophagy News and Research

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Autophagy is a normal process in which a cell destroys proteins and other substances in its cytoplasm (the fluid inside the cell membrane but outside the nucleus), which may lead to cell death. Autophagy may prevent normal cells from developing into cancer cells, but it may also protect cancer cells by destroying anticancer drugs or substances taken up by them.

Analyzing copies of genes may offer new therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer

A team of 18 University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center researchers has developed a new tool to analyze an often overlooked aspect of cancer genetics -- an alteration that results in the loss or gain in a copy of a gene.

15 Feb 2017

SBP scientists identify autophagy linked to beneficial effects of enduring temporary stress

Biologists have known for decades that enduring a short period of mild stress makes simple organisms and human cells better able to survive additional stress later in life.

15 Feb 2017

Exosome isolation using ultracentrifugation

In the outpatient clinic and lab, our research studies aim to understand biological functions of exosomes and membrane particles.

From Beckman Coulter Life Sciences - Centrifugation 9 Feb 2017

Researchers reveal how soy consumption impacts common breast cancer treatment

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have used animal models to reveal new information about the impact - positive and negative - that soy consumption could have on a common breast cancer treatment.

1 Feb 2017

Cancer cells proliferate by stealing energy from neighbouring cells, study finds

Researchers at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital have discovered that cancer cells grow by stealing energy from neighbouring cells.

26 Jan 2017

Faults in natural waste disposal system may play key role in neurodegenerative diseases

A fault with the natural waste disposal system that helps to keep our brain cell 'batteries' healthy may contribute to neurodegenerative disease, a new study has found.

25 Jan 2017

Scientists uncover new way to starve tumor cells to death

For decades, scientists have tried to halt cancer by blocking nutrients from reaching tumor cells, in essence starving tumor cells of the fuel needed to grow and proliferate. Such attempts often have disappointed because cancer cells are nimble, relying on numerous backup routes to continue growing.

24 Jan 2017

New drugs that target neighbour proteins may help halt cancer progression

Cancer is caused by an accumulation of genetic changes in a cell, that overcome the normal checks and balances leading to uncontrolled growth. A complex, interacting network of proteins controls all of a cell's processes, from metabolism to growth and division.

24 Jan 2017

Scientists identify Smurf1 protein that plays role in autophagy of TB bacteria

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that is central to the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy the bacterium responsible for the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic.

12 Jan 2017

Researchers discover autophagy-dependent secretory system

Autophagy has long been considered as a physiological process solely for degradation, but its secretory role has recently emerged

10 Jan 2017

Experimental treatment approach reverses cognitive decline and neuropathology in AD mouse model

Treatment with an inhibitor of 12/15-lipoxygenase, an enzyme elevated in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), reverses cognitive decline and neuropathology in an AD mouse model, reports a new study in Biological Psychiatry.

5 Jan 2017

How does the brain control appetite?

Energy balance between energy intake and expenditure in our bodies is important for maintaining energy homeostasis to keep our bodies functioning properly. The appetite determines how much we eat, the energy intake, by communication between the brain and body.

4 Jan 2017

Combined genetic disruptions can counteract premature aging, TSRI study suggests

In a new study, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown how two genes "balance" each other to maintain normal cell function.

22 Dec 2016

Mayo Clinic scientists show how hungry liver cells find energy

In a recent Science Advances article, Mayo Clinic researchers show how hungry human liver cells find energy.

20 Dec 2016

TMDU researchers identify novel type of cell death in Huntington's disease

In Huntington's disease (HD), the huntingtin gene is mutated, causing progressive neuronal death.

22 Nov 2016

New study describes role of protein that is crucial for melanoma cell survival

The main goals of the Melanoma Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre are to identify biomarkers of tumour progression and to validate novel therapeutic targets in melanoma.

21 Nov 2016

BAG3 protein plays protective role by limiting reperfusion injury to the heart

The inability of cells to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles following the blockage of a coronary artery and its subsequent re-opening with angioplasty or medications - a sequence known as ischemia/reperfusion - often results in irreparable damage to the heart muscle.

17 Nov 2016

New study raises serious safety concerns in clinical use of caspase inhibitors for liver injury

Many acute and chronic liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis, result from apoptotic (programmed) cell death mediated by the enzyme caspase.

20 Oct 2016

Researchers discover how appetite is controlled and influenced by the brain

Researchers from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in Korea have uncovered the mechanisms behind the enzyme that controls our appetite in response to low glucose availability in the brain.

5 Oct 2016

GUMC receives FDA clearance to begin clinical study of cancer drug in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Georgetown University Medical Center today announces the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed its review of an investigational new drug application (IND) for the use of nilotinib in a phase II clinical trial for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

30 Sep 2016