Autophagy News and Research RSS Feed - Autophagy News and Research

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.
Mitochondrial gene regulators involved in Huntington’s disease pathology

Mitochondrial gene regulators involved in Huntington’s disease pathology

Researchers have identified two molecules involved in mitochondrial function that appear to be important in the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease. [More]
PGC-1alpha and TFEB provide two new therapeutic targets for Huntington's disease

PGC-1alpha and TFEB provide two new therapeutic targets for Huntington's disease

In a paper published in the July 11 online issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified two key regulatory proteins critical to clearing away misfolded proteins that accumulate and cause the progressive, deadly neurodegeneration of Huntington's disease. [More]
DRCRF names 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows

DRCRF names 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review. [More]
Scientists discover new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis

Scientists discover new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis

A*STAR scientists from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) have discovered a new signalling pathway that controls both obesity and atherosclerosis. [More]
The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation supports Genetic Initiative at CCFA

The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation supports Genetic Initiative at CCFA

The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, which actively supports science research, has given substantial support to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America to continue its Genetic Initiative to find a cure for the diseases. [More]
GRP78 plays an important role in breast cancers that respond to anti-estrogen therapy

GRP78 plays an important role in breast cancers that respond to anti-estrogen therapy

Researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a single molecule they say is a major determinant of resistance to anti-estrogen therapy used to treat or prevent breast cancer in high-risk women. [More]
New clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently

New clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new clues to why some urinary tract infections recur persistently after multiple rounds of treatment. [More]
Multi-institutional research uncovers new mechanism for treatment of lung cancer

Multi-institutional research uncovers new mechanism for treatment of lung cancer

A multi-institutional research study has uncovered a new mechanism that may lead to unique treatments for lung cancer, one of the leading causes of death worldwide. [More]
Study reveals molecular link between aging and cancer

Study reveals molecular link between aging and cancer

It has long been known that cancer is a disease of aging, but a molecular link between the two has remained elusive. [More]
Aspirin controls two key processes to kill bowel cancer cells

Aspirin controls two key processes to kill bowel cancer cells

Aspirin kills cancer cells by controlling two key processes that influence energy use in cells and could explain how aspirin can prevent bowel cancer. The research is published in this month's Gastroenterology. [More]
Scientists may be step closer to developing new therapy for AML

Scientists may be step closer to developing new therapy for AML

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center may be one step closer to developing a new therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after discovering that the targeted agents obatoclax and sorafenib kill leukemia cells much more effectively when combined than when the drugs are administered individually. [More]

Researchers develop potent new drug that can kill tumor cells

All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. Now, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine; the Abramson Cancer Center; and the School of Arts and Sciences, at the University of Pennsylvania, have developed a potent new drug that clogs up the recycling machinery and kills tumor cells in mouse models. [More]
Combination of two mTOR inhibitors stops growth of hepatocellular carcinoma

Combination of two mTOR inhibitors stops growth of hepatocellular carcinoma

The combination of two inhibitors of protein mTOR stops the growth of primary liver cancer and destroys tumour cells, according to a study by researchers of the Group of Metabolism and Cancer at Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute. [More]
Body’s own DNA can cause inflammation in the heart

Body’s own DNA can cause inflammation in the heart

DNA from the heart's own cells plays a role in heart failure by mistakenly activating the body's immune system, according to a study by British and Japanese researchers, co-funded by the British Heart Foundation. [More]
Self-degradation response to antidepressant Zoloft observed in yeast cells

Self-degradation response to antidepressant Zoloft observed in yeast cells

Princeton University researchers have observed a self-degradation response to the antidepressant Zoloft in yeast cells that could help provide new answers to lingering questions among scientists about how antidepressants work, as well as support the idea that depression is not solely linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin. [More]
Autophagy potential target for new CF treatments

Autophagy potential target for new CF treatments

Scientists have found why a certain type of bacteria, harmless in healthy people, is so deadly to patients with cystic fibrosis. [More]

Study: Kidney cancer growth depends on autophagy

New research at the University of Cincinnati (UC) suggests that kidney cancer growth depends on autophagy, a complex process that can provide cells with nutrients from intracellular sources. Researchers say in certain circumstances autophagy can protect tumor cells from chemotherapy, allowing them to survive for long periods of time in a hidden, dormant, metastatic state. [More]
Combination treatment effective against melanoma

Combination treatment effective against melanoma

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) shows that a coordinated effort to block signaling pathways that promote cancer cell growth and survival enhances programmed cell death in melanoma. [More]
Penn oncologist to discuss role of autophagy in fighting cancer at AAAS annual meeting

Penn oncologist to discuss role of autophagy in fighting cancer at AAAS annual meeting

Blocking autophagy -- the process of "self-eating" within cells -- is turning out to be a viable way to enhance the effectiveness of a wide variety of cancer treatments. [More]
Scientists identify single prion protein that causes neuronal death

Scientists identify single prion protein that causes neuronal death

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a single prion protein that causes neuronal death similar to that seen in "mad cow" disease, but is at least 10 times more lethal than larger prion species. [More]