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Replacing absent microRNAs could make tumors less invasive, more treatable

One group of small, non-coding RNA molecules could serve as a marker to improve cancer staging and may also be able to convert some advanced tumors to more treatable stages, report a University of Chicago-based research team in the April 1, 2008, issue of the journal Genes & Development.

1 Apr 2008

New insights into anti-cancer effects of NSAIDs

Researchers at the National Sun Yat-Sen University and Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan have revealed a new mechanism by which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) attenuate tumor invasion and metastasis.

28 Mar 2008

REST protein protects embryonic stem cells' versatility and self-renewal

A protein known as REST blocks the expression of a microRNA that prevents embryonic stem cells from reproducing themselves and causes them to differentiate into specific cell types, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Nature.

25 Mar 2008

Researchers reveal hidden properties of an on-off switch that governs cell growth

Investigators at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy have revealed the hidden properties of an on-off switch that governs cell growth.

25 Mar 2008

More efficient gene targeting improves prospects for gene therapy

The Nobel prize-winning MRC scientist Sir Aaron Klug and a team from an American company, Sangamo BioSciences, have announced a new way to target genes that may revolutionise medical research and pave the way for new treatments.

20 Mar 2008

New understanding of rare immune disorder called Job's syndrome

Scientists have made another major breakthrough--the second in the past year--in understanding a rare immune disorder called Job's syndrome.

18 Mar 2008

Nuclear protein SATB1 triggers aggressive breast cancer

SATB1 is a nuclear protein well known for its crucial role in regulating gene expression during the differentiation and activation of T cells, making it a key player in the immune system.

13 Mar 2008

Scientists characterizes novel regulator of chromosome function

The Stowers Institute's Workman Lab has shed new light on a novel histone acetyltransferase protein complex called ATAC.

11 Mar 2008

Researchers discover molecular pathway in blood vessels that controls blood pressure and vascular function

University of Iowa researchers have identified a molecular pathway in blood vessels that controls blood pressure and vascular function and may help explain why certain drugs for type II diabetes also appear to lower patients' blood pressure.

6 Mar 2008

Molecular alliance that sustains embryonic stem cell state

One of the four ingredients in the genetic recipe that scientists in Japan and the U.S. followed last year to persuade human skin cells to revert to an embryonic stem cell state, is dispensable in ES cells, thanks to the presence of a molecular alliance between a specific group of key proteins known as transcription factors, a research team led by the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) reports in the current issue of Nature Cell Biology.

6 Mar 2008

Drinking black tea might help combat type 2 diabetes

In an unexpected discovery Scottish scientists have found that black tea may help combat type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

5 Mar 2008

Cigarette smoke prevents stem cells from becoming cartilage

A toxic pollutant spread by oil spills, forest fires and car exhaust is also present in cigarette smoke, and may represent a second way in which smoking delays bone healing, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in San Francisco.

4 Mar 2008

Novel mechanism found that may boost impaired function of leukemia protein

A new study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reports on a novel mechanism that can enhance the function of a protein that is frequently impaired in patients with acute forms of leukemia.

3 Mar 2008

Atypical protein kinase C stabilizes SRC-3 levels in breast cancer cells

A new study provides valuable insight into a previously undescribed mechanism that regulates a prominent cancer-associated protein.

28 Feb 2008

Understanding primate evolution could aid HIV research

Evolution moves in fits and starts, shaping species through random genetic mutations that can help them survive or even hasten their death.

28 Feb 2008

Single microRNA plays role in innate immune response

Over the last few years scientists have discovered hundreds of microRNAs - tiny RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes.

20 Feb 2008

Scientists shed light on long-distance signaling in developing neurons

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret.

20 Feb 2008

New key finding in neurodevelopment

A longstanding puzzle in neurodevelopment may have yielded up a key secret. A team led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College says they have determined how events at the very tips of the developing neuron's long, skinny axon affect gene transcription back in the cell's distant nucleus.

20 Feb 2008

Stanford researchers make first direct observation of 3-D molecule folding in real time

All the crucial proteins in our bodies must fold into complex shapes to do their jobs.

18 Feb 2008

Oncoproteins double-team and destroy vital tumor-suppressor

Two previously unconnected cancer-promoting proteins team up to ambush a critical tumor suppressor by evicting it from the cell's nucleus and then marking it for death by a protein-shredding mechanism, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Feb. 10 issue of Nature Cell Biology.

17 Feb 2008