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.

BrightFocus Foundation honors 5 outstanding scientists in fields of macular degeneration, glaucoma

The BrightFocus Foundation today honored five outstanding scientists in the fields of macular degeneration and glaucoma, presenting them with named research awards at an event during the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

6 May 2014

IRB Barcelona scientists develop new drug target to prevent muscle deterioration in certain diseases

In the study published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), one of the journals with highest impact in experimental medicine, the researchers associate the activity of the DOR protein with muscle atrophy and point to DOR as a plausible target against which to develop a drug to prevent muscle deterioration in certain diseases.

10 Apr 2014

Inhibiting cancer-promoting prolactin causes unconventional cell death in preclinical research

Under stress from chemotherapy or radiation, some cancer cells dodge death by consuming a bit of themselves, allowing them to essentially sleep through treatment and later awaken as tougher, resistant disease.

4 Apr 2014

UT Southwestern professor honored with 2014 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research

Dr. Benjamin P. Tu, associate professor of biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was honored today with the 2014 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research. Dr. Tu was recognized for innovative studies of once-unappreciated molecules that may someday improve treatments for cancer or conditions associated with aging.

28 Mar 2014

Discovery could lead to new medications for cancer, say Rice University scientists

A new understanding of proteins at the nexus of a cell's decision to survive or die has implications for researchers who study cancer and age-related diseases, according to biophysicists at the Rice University-based Center for Theoretical Biological Physics.

28 Mar 2014

Researchers review influence of lipid rafts on progression of Alzheimer's disease

Research over decades has implicated aberrant autophagy and lysosomal function as reliable markers and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases.

27 Mar 2014

Initial stage of autophagy does not affect components of beclin 1 complex

Alteration of the autophagic process is involved in neurodegeneration. The beclin 1 complex is shown to play a key role in the initial stage of autophagy.

27 Mar 2014

Tissue analysis near tumors holds promise for earlier detection, new treatments

Seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The research is published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

9 Mar 2014

Research: Beneficial and toxic roles of brain glycogen

In 2007, in an article published in Nature Neuroscience, scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) headed by Joan Guinovart, an authority on glycogen metabolism, reported that in Lafora Disease (LD), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative condition that affects adolescents, neurons die as a result of the accumulation of glycogen-chains of glucose.

3 Mar 2014

Scientists reveal two regulatory mechanisms that keep the body's immune response in check

A Keck Medicine of USC-led team of microbiologists has identified previously unknown interactions between critical proteins in the human immune response system, uncovering two independent regulatory mechanisms that keep the body's immune response in check. Their findings appear in the February 2014 edition of Cell Host & Microbe, the top peer-reviewed scientific journal that focuses on the study of cell-pathogen interaction.

27 Feb 2014

Scientists explain why women with dense breast tissue at greater risk of developing breast cancer

Scientists from The University of Manchester working with IBM Research have identified a key biological mechanism that for the first time explains why women with dense breast tissue are at greater risk of developing breast cancer.

12 Feb 2014

Researchers demonstrate new approach to treating muscular dystrophy

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have demonstrated a new approach to treating muscular dystrophy. Mice with a form of this muscle-weakening disease showed improved strength and heart function when treated with nanoparticles loaded with rapamycin, an immunosuppressive drug recently found to improve recycling of cellular waste.

12 Feb 2014

Scientists identify twenty proteins specifically secreted by primary effusion lymphoma cell lines

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare B-cell neoplasm distinguished by its tendency to spread along the thin serous membranes that line body cavities without infiltrating or destroying nearby tissue.

10 Feb 2014

Researchers find link between mutations in gene called RAB 24 and inherited neurodegenerative disease

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a link between a mutation in a gene called RAB 24 and an inherited neurodegenerative disease in Old English sheepdogs and Gordon setters. The findings may help further understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and identify new treatments for both canine and human sufferers.

7 Feb 2014

Drug used to treat schizophrenia, dementia has potential for treating liver disease

Opening up a can of worms is a good way to start hunting for new drugs, recommend researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

4 Feb 2014

UT Southwestern' faculty receives Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award for contributions to understanding of autophagy

Dr. Beth Levine, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Director of the Center for Autophagy Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has received the 2014 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

22 Jan 2014

Researchers find inhibition of basic cellular process that contributes to schizophrenia

Surprisingly little is known about schizophrenia. It was only recognized as a medical condition in the past few decades, and its exact causes remain unclear. Since there is no objective test for schizophrenia, its diagnosis is based on an assortment of reported symptoms.

30 Dec 2013

Study reveals that K-Ras gene mutations behave in ways that subvert normal mechanisms of cell death

Cells with a mutation in the gene called K-Ras—found in close to 30 percent of all cancers, but mostly those with worst prognosis, such as pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer—behave in ways that subvert the normal mechanisms of cell death, according to a cell-culture study by researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah.

20 Dec 2013

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals presents positive interim data from two ricolinostat clinical trials at ASH 2013

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leader in the development of selective histone deacetylase inhibitors for enhanced therapeutic outcomes, today announced that positive interim clinical data from the two proof-of-concept clinical trials with selective HDAC6 inhibitor, ricolinostat (ACY-1215), were presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans, LA.

9 Dec 2013

Scientists receive $12.5M NIH grant to continue research on targeted therapies for melanoma

Despite recent advances in therapy, melanoma remains the deadliest, most aggressive form of skin cancer as incidence rates continue to climb. Now, a team of melanoma scientists from The Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania received a $12.5 M, five-year program project grant (P01) from the National Institutes of Health to continue trailblazing research on targeted therapies in melanoma.

4 Dec 2013