Cell Division News and Research

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A new method for controlling leukemic stem cells

Leukemia is caused by leukemic stem cells which are resistant to most known therapies. Relapses are also due to this resistance. Leukemic stem cells arise from normal blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells.

17 Feb 2021

A novel approach to suppress the growth of glioblastoma cells

Inhibiting a key enzyme that controls a large network of proteins important in cell division and growth paves the way for a new class of drugs that could stop glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, from growing.

12 Feb 2021

New research aims to explore functions of bile acids in the gut stem cell niche

Examining gut health from a different angle, Flinders University’s Associate Professor Robyn Meech is looking at what can trigger colon cancer – and she believes bile acids may provide a significant piece of the puzzle.

12 Feb 2021

Technion team discovers new process for attacking cancer cells

When treating cancer, researchers are always searching for ways to remove cancer cells while minimizing damage to the rest of the body. One possible approach is to find processes unique to cancer cells, and which would allow specific targeting. If such a process can be disrupted, only those cells would be affected.

6 Feb 2021

Scientists discover potential drug target for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome

New study describes a potential drug target for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome that may aid in the development of more effective treatments.

2 Feb 2021

Synthetic biology can help create complex embryo

Richard Feynman, one of the most respected physicists of the twentieth century, said "What I cannot create, I do not understand". Not surprisingly, many physicists and mathematicians have observed fundamental biological processes with the aim of precisely identifying the minimum ingredients that could generate them. One such example are the patterns of nature observed by Alan Turing.

2 Feb 2021

Researchers uncover the physics behind formation of branching microtubules during cell division

As any cook knows, some liquids mix well with each other, but others do not. For example, when a tablespoon of vinegar is poured into water, a brief stir suffices to thoroughly combine the two liquids.

30 Jan 2021

David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian receive Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone in this thirteenth edition to David Julius, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, from the Scripps Institute, La Jolla (United States), "for identifying the receptors that enable us to sense temperature, pain and pressure."

28 Jan 2021

Study shows how aneuploidy could become a weak point for cancer cells

What makes cancer cells different from ordinary cells in our bodies? Can these differences be used to strike at them and paralyze their activity? This basic question has bothered cancer researchers since the mid-19th century.

27 Jan 2021

Two-drug combination approach could be effective against bone cancer

An innovative approach to treating bone tumors - starving cancer cells of the energy they need to grow - could one day provide an alternative to a commonly used chemotherapy drug without the risk of severe side effects, suggests a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

27 Jan 2021

Prostate cancer: Drug-resistant, metastasis-causing cells can produce exponentially growing tumors

The cover for issue 1 of Oncotarget features Figure 2, "Results in clinical trials," published in "Drug resistant cells with very large proliferative potential grow exponentially in metastatic prostate cancer" by Blagoev, et al. which reported that most metastatic cancers develop drug resistance during treatment and continue to grow, driven by a subpopulation of cancer cells unresponsive to the therapy being administered.

26 Jan 2021

New study unravels complete sequence of DNA repair mechanism

Every living organism has DNA, and every living organism engages in DNA replication, the process by which DNA makes an exact copy of itself during cell division. While it's a tried-and-true process, problems can arise.

25 Jan 2021

Sloan Kettering Institute researchers offer a new answer to 100-year-old cancer mystery

The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of a fundamental discovery that's taught in every biochemistry textbook. In 1921, German physician Otto Warburg observed that cancer cells harvest energy from glucose sugar in a strangely inefficient manner: rather than "burn" it using oxygen, cancer cells do what yeast do -- they ferment it.

22 Jan 2021

Researchers develop a technique to modify biological polymers with protein-based biochemical messages

Imagine going to a surgeon to have a diseased or injured organ switched out for a fully functional, laboratory-grown replacement. This remains science fiction and not reality because researchers today struggle to organize cells into the complex 3D arrangements that our bodies can master on their own.

18 Jan 2021

Research reveals new details into how myosin transduces energy

A team of biophysicists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Penn State College of Medicine set out to tackle the long-standing question about the nature of force generation by myosin, the molecular motor responsible for muscle contraction and many other cellular processes.

14 Jan 2021

Mosaic mutations during embryonic development can cause autism spectrum disorder

Two studies in today's Nature Neuroscience, led by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Harvard Medical School (HMS), implicate mosaic mutations arising during embryonic development as a cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings open new areas for exploring the genetics of ASD and could eventually inform diagnostic testing.

11 Jan 2021

Master Regulator proteins control cancer transcriptional identity

Thousands of different genetic mutations have been implicated in cancer, but a new analysis of almost 10,000 patients found that regardless of the cancer's origin, tumors could be stratified in only 112 subtypes and that, within each subtype, the Master Regulator proteins that control the cancer's transcriptional state were virtually identical, independent of the specific genetic mutations of each patient.

11 Jan 2021

Cancer cells hibernate to survive harsh environment created by chemotherapy

Tapping into an ancient evolutionary survival mechanism, cancer cells enter into a sluggish, slow-dividing state to survive the harsh environment created by chemotherapy or other targeted agents.

7 Jan 2021

Study investigates control mechanism that ensures accurate chromosome inheritance during cell division

Starting as a single cell, organisms undergo millions of generations of divisions to ultimately generate the bones, heart, brain and other components that make up a living being.

6 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infected alveolar type-II lung cells show senescence

Using monoclonal antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and senescent markers, researchers provide evidence that virus-infected lung cells acquire characteristics of cellular senescence, which also leads to expression of proinflammatory cytokines.

5 Jan 2021