Signaling Pathway News and Research

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Link between PKC enzyme and kidney disease in diabetes confirmed

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have investigated PKC-beta - a critical enzyme implicated in the devastating complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes - for more than two decades.

12 Jun 2005

Link between hyperglycemia (high blood glucose), overexpression of PKC-beta 2 and kidney disease

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have investigated PKC-beta -- a critical enzyme implicated in the devastating complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes -- for more than two decades.

10 Jun 2005

Combining morphine with small doses of methadone could increase the effectiveness of morphine for the treatment of chronic pain

Although morphine is well known as a highly effective analgesic, its clinical utility is severely limited by the development of drug tolerance, the requirement for increasing doses to maintain analgesic effect, and the development of physical dependence.

6 Jun 2005

Novel topical treatment of psoriasis

Cytochroma Inc. today announced results from a Phase Ia clinical study for CTA018, a novel vitamin D analog developed for the treatment of psoriasis.

2 Jun 2005

Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Since 2001, scientists have wrestled with the discovery that there are fewer genes in humans than biological processes linked to those genes over the course of a human lifespan. One way to understand genetically coded events is by studying epigenetics, the regulation and heritability of genes at a cellular level due to molecular changes to the many proteins (called histones) that package DNA in a cell's nucleus.

23 May 2005

Specific genes play key role in the of regulation of human-blood stem cells

This work is the first to validate gene expression analysis in human stem cells with functional experiments. The findings also suggest that changes in the expression of genes associated with universal cell signaling pathways can have a substantial impact on human stem cell behavior.

2 May 2005

P12 protein influences key cell-signaling pathway

New research shows that a protein produced by a cancer-causing virus influences a key signaling pathway in the immune cells that the virus infects. This stimulates the cells to divide, helping the virus spread through the body.

26 Apr 2005

With a complement, the sperm gets the egg

When a sperm fuses with an egg, a specific reaction takes place that exposes the inner membrane of the spermatozoa, where a protein called the complement regulator membrane cofactor protein (MCP) is expressed. MCP is an immune regulatory molecule and its presence in reproductive tissues was unclear.

21 Apr 2005

New drug, RAD001, shown to stop the growth of ovarian cancer cells

A new drug, RAD001, has been shown to stop the growth and movement of certain ovarian cancer cells, according to scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. The research was presented today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim, Calif.

20 Apr 2005

Assessing the function of unknown genes is feasible and can be done with a microarray phenotype

Microarrays provide a method of quantifying the expression and order of genes in a particular genome -- acting as a surrogate measure of cell physiology, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics.

10 Apr 2005

Q. What turns an obese person into a person with diabetes? - A. Leptin

Twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes are bearing down on the world's population, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people. But scientists are still trying to determine how the two conditions are linked, and what it takes to turn an obese person into a person with diabetes.

16 Mar 2005

Molecule called DJ-1 is likely to be involved in the generation of human tumors

Scientists have discovered that a molecule called DJ-1 is likely to be involved in the generation of human tumors through negative regulation of the well-known tumor suppressor, PTEN. The research, published in the March issue of Cancer Cell, has important implications for determining the prognosis of some human cancers, and may prove to be a suitable target for cancer therapy.

14 Mar 2005

Overlapping signals in embryo help get the backbone right

A major step in the development of the vertebrate embryo - the establishment of a back that morphs into a brain, spinal cord and muscles - turns out to be so important that the body uses at least three signals to make sure it happens properly.

9 Mar 2005

ViroLogic and AstraZeneca to conduct Iressa biomarker study

ViroLogic announced today that it had entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca to conduct a cancer biomarker study with application to Iressa, AstraZeneca's selective epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor.

7 Mar 2005

Novel role for cholesterol inside the cell

Cholesterol, often condemned for its role in heart disease, has always been known to be essential for the health of the fatty membranes that surround individual cells.

7 Mar 2005

Good side to cholesterol in controlling cell signals

Cholesterol, often stigmatized for its role in heart disease, has long been known to be essential for the health of the fat-laden membranes that surround individual cells.

6 Mar 2005

New therapeutic targets in liver diseases

Many patients with liver diseases often encounter difficulties with therapy and ultimately require liver transplant to survive. Since many acute and chronic liver diseases are driven by immune-mediated mechanisms, there is a necessity to find new therapies that can inhibit these immune-based triggers and block liver damage.

6 Mar 2005

Researchers identify first known mutation to occur in lung cancer patients who have never smoked

Dr.Adi Gazdar, professor of pathology in the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and senior author of the study in today's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, explains that the findings may show why certain lung cancer patients respond dramatically to a specific form of targeted therapy while others have little or no response.

2 Mar 2005

Study describes the first known mutation to occur in lung cancer patients who have never smoked

Lung cancer patients who have never smoked are more likely than smokers to harbor one of two genetic mutations that researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have now linked to the disease.

1 Mar 2005