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Tipping the scales to initiate tumorigenesis in the colon

The regulatory protein c-MYC plays an important role in promoting the development of many types of tumors. c-MYC is a transcription factor that controls the activity of large numbers of genes involved in cell division, and its overexpression leads to excessive cell proliferation.

5 Sep 2018

Research uncovers new mechanism involved in bone formation

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to fracture easily due to a reduction in both bone mass and quality. Aging is one of its leading causes, and it is estimated that around 200 million people are affected worldwide.

5 Sep 2018

Modified Nurr1 protein may pave way for new Parkinson's therapy

Researchers have modified the protein Nurr1 so that it can enter cells from the outside. Nurr1 deficiency may be one of the causes of Parkinson's disease.

31 Aug 2018

Finding ways to improve cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects dopamine signaling neurons in patients' brains. Cell-replacement therapy shows some promise as a treatment for Parkinson's. A recent paper in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics reports a technical advance in selecting cells to use in this therapy.

24 Aug 2018

Scientists work towards solving mystery of incurable blood diseases

Scientists may be on the road to solving the mystery of a group of mostly incurable blood diseases called myelodysplastic syndromes, which cause people to have immature, malfunctioning bone marrow cells that fuel a diverse set of health problems and can lead to leukemia.

23 Aug 2018

Researchers describe how RNA polymerase detects UV light damage in DNA

Damage to DNA is a constant threat to cellular life, and so it is constantly monitored and detected by a family of enzymes called RNA polymerases, resulting in subsequent repair to maintain genome integrity.

23 Aug 2018

New integrated gene logic-chips could have great value in medical care

Gene expression is a fundamental of life, where each cell switches on and off specific genes. Thus, an autonomous device that could control the on-off switching would have great value in medical care.

20 Aug 2018

New assay may help improve both sarcoma diagnosis and treatment

Sarcomas are rare tumors that are often misdiagnosed. Specific recurrent chromosomal rearrangements, known as translocations, can serve as essential diagnostic markers and are found in about 20 percent of sarcomas.

20 Aug 2018

Scientists discover key vulnerability of mixed lineage leukemia

Childhood leukemia is a diagnosis that no family ever wants to endure. While the treatment of most types of leukemia has improved steadily over the years, a few specific types remain very difficult to treat.

13 Aug 2018

Researchers describe underlying mechanisms of congestive heart failure

Congestive heart failure is a terminal disease that affects nearly 6 million Americans. Yet its management is limited to symptomatic treatments because the causal mechanisms of congestive heart failure -- including its most common form, ischemic cardiomyopathy -- are not known.

10 Aug 2018

New sensor allows scientists to measure cancer cell's response to chemotherapy drug

MIT chemical engineers have developed a new sensor that lets them see inside cancer cells and determine whether the cells are responding to a particular type of chemotherapy drug.

8 Aug 2018

Study could lead to new diagnostic blood test for Kawasaki disease

For the first time, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Imperial College London, with international collaborators, have determined that Kawasaki Disease (KD) can be accurately diagnosed on the basis of the pattern of host gene expression in whole blood. The finding could lead to a diagnostic blood test to distinguish KD from other infectious and inflammatory conditions.

6 Aug 2018

Researchers identify new regulator in breast cancer cells

Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. Here, important receptors are missing, which often serve as targets for treatments.

6 Aug 2018

Research uncovers new approach for expanding stem cells from umbilical cord blood

Researchers from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and collaborators have identified a way to expand blood-forming, adult stem cells from human umbilical cord blood.

3 Aug 2018

Study sheds new light on link between calorie-burning fat and muscle function

Abundant in human babies and small mammals, brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, was only recently discovered in human adults, and its role remains unclear.

3 Aug 2018

MGH researchers explore how genetic abnormality in Ewing sarcoma unleashes tumor growth

A Massachusetts General Hospital research team has used epigenome editing tools to investigate how the genetic abnormality that drives Ewing sarcoma - the second most common bone cancer in children and young adults - unleashes tumor growth.

2 Aug 2018

Scientists solve 60-year-old mystery of how thalidomide caused birth defects

More than 60 years after the drug thalidomide caused birth defects in thousands of children whose mothers took the drug while pregnant, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have solved a mystery that has lingered ever since the dangers of the drug first became apparent: how did the drug produce such severe fetal harm?

2 Aug 2018