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.

Intracellular process of autophagy plays role in prostate cancer development, shows research

Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, shows the intracellular process of autophagy plays a role in the development of prostate cancer.

15 Feb 2016

Fasudil improves memory in rats, promotes degradation of toxic tau in the eyes of fruit flies

Could a kinase inhibitor some doctors prescribe to keep blood flowing after brain surgery be used to treat neurodegeneration? New research suggests it might be worth exploring the question.

10 Feb 2016

The mechanism behind protective cells protecting themselves

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered the mechanism by which immune cells called regulatory T cells keep themselves intact and functional during their demanding task of holding the immune system in check. Such T cells are key to preventing the immune system from attacking the body in autoimmune disease.

26 Jan 2016

Johns Hopkins study shows high doses of cocaine kill brain cells

Working with mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have contributed significant new evidence to support the idea that high doses of cocaine kill brain cells by triggering overactive autophagy, a process in which cells literally digest their own insides. Their results, moreover, bring with them a possible antidote, an experimental compound dubbed CGP3466B.

19 Jan 2016

Cholesterol essential for health, but also plays key role in longevity

Animals from tiny worms to human beings have a love-hate relationship with fats and lipids. Cholesterol is a famous example of how they are both essential for health and often have a role in death.

23 Dec 2015

New CRC aims to better understand autophagy at molecular and cellular level

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/DFG) has approved 11 M € for the next four years for establishing a CRC on selective autophagy under the lead of Goethe University. Autophagy literally means "self-eating" and refers to a sophisticated system in which cellular waste is specifically detected and removed.

12 Dec 2015

Potential treatment strategy for glycogen storage disease

Researchers from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and Duke Medicine have identified a potential treatment strategy for an often-fatal inherited glycogen storage disease.

18 Nov 2015

New research shows that autophagy can operate in cell nucleus to guard against start of cancer

Autophagy, literally self-eating or the degradation of unwanted cellular bits and pieces by the cell itself, has been shown for the first time to also work in the cell nucleus. In addition, in this setting it plays a role in guarding against the start of cancer, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

29 Oct 2015

New hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

New hope for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. A mouse genetic study in PLoS Medicine reports that targeting the P2RX7 gene, a purinoreceptor, may halt the progression of DMD.

14 Oct 2015

New study finds link between maternal protein deficiency during pregnancy and metabolic diseases in offspring

A new study has uncovered the genetic processes that link insufficient protein consumption during pregnancy with the development of muscle problems in mothers and their male offspring.

19 Sep 2015

Treating cancer cells with quizartinib inhibits key metabolic pathway, activates macroautophagy

A study published in The Journal of Cell Biology describes a way to force cancer cells to destroy a key metabolic enzyme they need to survive.

1 Sep 2015

Four UC San Diego researchers selected to receive newly established NCI Outstanding Investigator Award

Four University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers have been selected to receive the newly established National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award. The multi-million dollar awards fund new projects that have an unusual potential in cancer research over seven years.

29 Aug 2015

Two proteins that help cells eliminate trash may contribute to development of Parkinson's disease

Two proteins that share the ability to help cells deal with their trash appear to need each other to do their jobs and when they don't connect, it appears to contribute to development of Parkinson's disease, scientists report.

21 Aug 2015

New approach holds great promise for developing effective treatments for human mitochondrial diseases

Using existing drugs, such as lithium, to restore basic biological processes in human cells and animal models, researchers may have broken a long-standing logjam in devising effective treatments for human mitochondrial diseases.

21 Jul 2015

Scientists develop small molecule drug that prevents autophagy from starting in cancer cells

As a tumor grows, its cancerous cells ramp up an energy-harvesting process to support its hasty development. This process, called autophagy, is normally used by a cell to recycle damaged organelles and proteins, but is also co-opted by cancer cells to meet their increased energy and metabolic demands.

26 Jun 2015

VG Life Sciences receives U.S. patent for combination cancer therapy

VG Life Sciences, Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies for cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will issue Patent No. 9073985 covering VGLS' combination therapy for treating drug-resistant cancer by combining an autophagy inhibitor with a chemotherapy drug.

22 Jun 2015

Frankfurt researchers decode molecular details that provide better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases

Quality control is important - this is not only applicable to industrial production but also true for all life processes. However, whereas an enterprise can start a large-scale recall in case of any doubt, defects in the quality control systems of cells are often fatal.

9 Jun 2015

Study shows autophagic defects are linked to sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is the aging-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Preventing sarcopenia is important for maintaining a high quality of life (QOL) in the aged population.

9 Jun 2015

New finding may lead to development of immunity-based therapies for tuberculosis

A study by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified how an enzyme involved in protecting the body from pathogens senses Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB), a bacterial pathogen that infects millions of people worldwide and causes about 1.5 million deaths annually.

2 Jun 2015

Duke researchers reveal how bladder cells can eject UTI-causing bacteria

Duke Medicine researchers have found that bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs).

29 May 2015