Cell News and Research

RSS

Nematode worm provides model of invasive cancer

A single cell in a 1-millimeter nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behavior -- its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout the body.

17 Aug 2009

Running and addiction

Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.

17 Aug 2009

FDA approves Extavia for multiple sclerosis

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Extavia(R) (interferon beta-1b), the first in a new planned portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) medicines from Novartis to help patients manage this devastating disease.

17 Aug 2009

Cord Blood America shows significantly improved balance sheet

Cord Blood America, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CBAI), the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells to families nationwide and internationally, said today that its 10Q filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for the second quarter of 2009 shows a significantly improved balance sheet.

17 Aug 2009

Mother's immune system may block fetal treatments for blood diseases

Pediatric researchers have resolved an apparent contradiction in the field of prenatal cell transplantation - a medical approach that holds future promise in correcting sickle cell disease and other serious congenital blood disorders. In a new study in animals, the researchers showed that the mother's immune response interferes with the offspring's earlier ability to tolerate transplanted donor cells.

17 Aug 2009

Discovery of inherited gene variants that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified inherited variations in two genes that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including a gene that may help predict drug response.

16 Aug 2009

New target for Alzheimer's disease

For close to a decade, pharmaceutical researchers have been in hot pursuit of compounds to activate a key nicotine receptor that plays a role in cognitive processes. Triggering it, they hope, might prevent or even reverse the devastation wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

16 Aug 2009

New strategy for inhibiting virus replication

Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication.

16 Aug 2009

New study suggests possible genetic link between environmental toxins and myeloma

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) today said newly published data may provide a possible genetic link between environmental toxins and bone disease in multiple myeloma. Myeloma, also called multiple myeloma, is a cancer of cells in the bone marrow that affect production of blood cells and can damage bone.

14 Aug 2009

New immune therapy for kidney cancer tested

Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial to evaluate whether the standard treatment for a common form of kidney cancer works better by itself or when combined with a certain type of blood cell that comes from a patient’s relative. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

14 Aug 2009

Opexa Therapeutics reports Q2 2009 financials

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a company developing a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, and provided details on further developments.

13 Aug 2009

When cell death goes wrong - scientists gain new insights

Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong.

13 Aug 2009

First batch of cancer vaccine from Cancer Vaccine Collaborative goes into trial

The first batch of NY-ESO-1 recombinant protein produced in a facility supported entirely by non-profit entities has successfully cleared regulatory review and has entered clinical testing. The clinical trials are part of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, a joint program of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR).

13 Aug 2009

New tumour theory could change cancer treatment

University of Sydney researcher Dr Guy Lyons has come up with a new theory of cancer tumours that could change the way we treat cancer and conduct research into its causes.

13 Aug 2009

Discovery of possible genetic link between environmental toxins and bone disease in multiple myeloma

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) - supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians - today said newly published data may provide a possible genetic link between environmental toxins and bone disease in multiple myeloma.

13 Aug 2009

Sigma-Aldrich offers customizable synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) for stem cell research

Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL) today announced an agreement with Glycosan BioSystems for the sale of HyStem(TM), a fully customizable synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) for stem cell research. HyStem offers researchers flexibility to tailor microenvironments for their cultured cells that mimic natural in vivo conditions, optimizing stem cell proliferation and differentiation. HyStem was developed by Glycosan BioSystems and will be sold by Sigma-Aldrich under a non-exclusive distribution agreement.

13 Aug 2009

Marijuana/Cannabis may protect against osteoporosis

Scientists investigating the effects of cannabis on bone health have found that its impact varies dramatically with age.

13 Aug 2009

Discovery of compounds that selectively kills cancer stem cells

The cancer stem cells that drive tumor growth and resist chemotherapies and radiation treatments that kill other cancer cells aren't invincible after all. Researchers reporting online on August 13th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have discovered the first compound that targets those cancer stem cells directly.

13 Aug 2009

Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips

A protein specialist that opens the genomic door for DNA repair and gene expression also turns out to be a multi-tasking workhorse that protects the tips of chromosomes and dabbles in a protein-destruction complex, a team lead by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 13 edition of Molecular Cell.

13 Aug 2009

Researchers tackle aggressive cancer cells head on

A multi-institutional team of Boston-area researchers has discovered a chemical that works in mice to kill the rare but aggressive cells within breast cancers that have the ability to seed new tumors.

13 Aug 2009