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Inflammation in tissue creates a niche for cancer cells

In order to invade healthy tissue, tumor cells must leave the actual tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. For this purpose, they use certain enzymes, proteases that break down the tissue surrounding the tumor, thus opening the way for tumor cells to reach blood or lymphatic vessels. To keep the proteases in check, the body produces inhibitors such as the protein TIMP-1, which thwart the proteases in their work.

15 Oct 2014

Study reveals inner workings of PKA switch that regulates cellular functions, contributes to deadly disorders

A University of Utah-led study using X-rays and neutron beams has revealed the inner workings of a master switch that regulates basic cellular functions, but that also, when mutated, contributes to cancer, cardiovascular disease and other deadly disorders.

13 Oct 2014

Obesity greatly accelerates aging of the liver

Using a recently developed biomarker of aging known as an epigenetic clock, UCLA researchers working closely with a German team of investigators have found for the first time that obesity greatly accelerates aging of the liver. This finding could explain the early onset of many age-related diseases, including liver cancer, in obese subjects

13 Oct 2014

Rockefeller University researchers gain new insight into how cholesterol processes in our body

In spite of its dangerous reputation, cholesterol is in fact an essential component of human cells. Manufactured by the cells themselves, it serves to stiffen the cell's membrane, helping to shape the cell and protect it. By mapping the structure of a key enzyme involved in cholesterol production, Rockefeller University researchers and a colleague in Italy have gained new insight into this complex molecular process.

12 Oct 2014

Synthetic oil triheptanoin improves Rett syndrome, longevity

When young mice with the rodent equivalent of a rare autism spectrum disorder (ASD), called Rett syndrome, were fed a diet supplemented with the synthetic oil triheptanoin, they lived longer than mice on regular diets. Importantly, their physical and behavioral symptoms were also less severe after being on the diet, according to results of new research from The Johns Hopkins University.

10 Oct 2014

New technology developed to track position of nanoparticles within the body or inside a cell

A long-sought goal of creating particles that can emit a colorful fluorescent glow in a biological environment, and that could be precisely manipulated into position within living cells, has been achieved by a team of researchers at MIT and several other institutions. The finding is reported this week in the journal Nature Communications.

10 Oct 2014

TSRI research points toward new method for treating atherosclerosis

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have created a synthetic molecule that mimics "good" cholesterol and have shown it can reduce plaque buildup in the arteries of animal models. The molecule, taken orally, improved cholesterol in just two weeks.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers reveal new information about Protein Kinase A

Using X-rays and neutron beams, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Utah and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have teased out new information about Protein Kinase A (PKA), a ubiquitous master switch that helps regulate fundamental cellular functions like energy consumption and interactions with hormones, neurotransmitters and drugs.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers discover mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA-lookalikes in human genome

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are ancient workhorse molecules and part of the cellular process that creates the proteins, critical building blocks of life that keep a cell running smoothly.

9 Oct 2014

MicroRNA molecule plays crucial role in managing cell survival and growth

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a microRNA molecule as a surprisingly crucial player in managing cell survival and growth.

8 Oct 2014

New drug discovery tool against Ebola virus

University of Utah biochemists have reported a new drug discovery tool against the Ebola virus. According to a study published in this week's online edition of Protein Science, they have produced a molecule, known as a peptide mimic, that displays a functionally critical region of the virus that is universally conserved in all known species of Ebola.

8 Oct 2014

NF-kB molecule may help malignant cells hide from the immune system

A molecule that helps cancer cells evade programmed self-destruction, an internal source of death, might also help malignant cells hide from the immune system, an external source of death.

8 Oct 2014

USC scientists find new way to suppress obesity

Imagine being able to take a pill that lets you eat all of the ice cream, cookies, and cakes that you wanted – without gaining any weight.

7 Oct 2014

2014 Norman R. Alpert Award winner announced

Dr. Chris Berger, CMB Interim Director and Director of Graduate Education for the College of Medicine, announced the winner of the 2014 Norman R. Alpert Award at the annual Graduate Research Day for the CMB Program event held October 2, 2014. Jacqueline Leung, a graduate student in the Cellular, Molecular and Biosciences (CMB) Program at the University of Vermont won for her publication, “Identification of T. gondii Myosin Light Chain-1 as a Direct Target of TachypleginA-2, a Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Parasite Motility and Invasion.”1

6 Oct 2014

Researchers find new clues to how common cold can trigger asthma

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that could explain why the common cold can bring on life-threatening asthma attacks.

6 Oct 2014

Scientists shed new light on how LAMR1 and Gal-3 proteins can cause meningitis, septicaemia

Previously undiscovered secrets of how human cells interact with a bacterium which causes a serious human disease have been revealed in new research by microbiologists at The University of Nottingham.

5 Oct 2014

Diet may influence susceptibility to autoinflammatory bone disease in at-risk individuals

Diet-induced changes in the gut's bacterial ecosystem can alter susceptibility to an autoinflammatory bone disease by modifying the immune response, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists reported. The findings appeared September 28 as an advanced online publication of the scientific journal Nature.

3 Oct 2014

Novel test could revolutionise discovery of new prescription drugs

A new test developed by researchers from the University of Manchester could revolutionise the discovery of new prescription drugs. The test will help determine which drugs are unlikely to work at an early stage, speeding up the time it takes to make safe and effective medicines available.

From The University of Manchester 3 Oct 2014

Ardelyx announces positive Phase 2b results for tenapanor in IBS-C patients

Ardelyx, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cardio-renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases, today announced positive results from its 371 patient Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating tenapanor in patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C).

1 Oct 2014

Brain cancer patients can benefit from Rapamycin drug

Every day, organ transplant patients around the world take a drug called rapamycin to keep their immune systems from rejecting their new kidneys and hearts.

30 Sep 2014