Hedgehog Signaling News and Research

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Vismodegib therapy effective against medulloblastoma

A targeted therapy already used to treat advanced skin cancer is also effective against the most common subtype of the brain tumor medulloblastoma in adults and should be considered for treatment of newly diagnosed patients, according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

30 Jul 2015

Researchers establish safety, dosing of new drug for treating blood cancers

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have established the safety and dosing of a new drug for treating blood cancers. The findings are published online July 27 in The Lancet Haematology.

29 Jul 2015

Novartis announces FDA approval of Odomzo (sonidegib) 200 mg capsules for treatment of laBCC patients

Novartis today announced the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Odomzo (sonidegib, formerly LDE225) 200 mg capsules for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma (laBCC) that has recurred following surgery or radiation therapy, or those who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.

25 Jul 2015

Protein-signaling process accelerates work of gene mutation linked to common form of adult leukemia

In preliminary experiments with mice and lab-grown cells, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found that a protein-signaling process accelerates the work of the gene most frequently mutated in a common form of adult leukemia and is likely necessary to bring about the full-blown disease.

11 Jun 2015

Zinc deficiency can activate Hedgehog signaling pathway

Zinc deficiency - long associated with numerous diseases, e.g. autism, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancers - can lead to activation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway, a biomolecular pathway that plays essential roles in developing organisms and in diseases, according to new research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

17 Apr 2015

BWH researchers identify cells responsible for fibrosis

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have identified what they believe to be the cells responsible for fibrosis, the buildup of scar tissue. Fibrotic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease and failure, lung disease, heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver, are estimated to be responsible for up to 45 percent of deaths in the developed world.

2 Dec 2014

Study: Hedgehog cell signaling pathway may play role in breast cancer metastasis

Molecules called long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in breast cancer but exactly why they cause metastasis and tumor growth has been little understood…until now.

14 Nov 2014

UMMS, UMMSM researchers identify key genetic pathway underlying bipolar disorder

A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have identified what is likely a key genetic pathway underlying bipolar (manic depressive) disorder, a breakthrough that could lead to better drugs for treating bipolar affective disorder, as well as depression and other related mood disorders.

14 Oct 2014

IRCM researchers discover mechanism that promotes progression of medulloblastoma

Scientists at the IRCM discovered a mechanism that promotes the progression of medulloblastoma, the most common brain tumour found in children. The team, led by Fr-d-ric Charron, PhD, found that a protein known as Sonic Hedgehog induces DNA damage, which causes the cancer to develop.

3 Oct 2014

Repurposing anti-depressant medication to target new pathway may help combat medulloblastoma

An international research team reports in Nature Medicine a novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma, and suggests repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target the new pathway may help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children.

26 Aug 2014

NEI researchers describe functions of gene responsible for anchoring cilia

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have described the functions of a gene responsible for anchoring cilia - sensory hair-like extensions present on almost every cell of the body.

2 Jul 2014

EU-funded project aims to identify potential new targets for cancer therapy

Targeted therapies have revolutionised the treatment of cancer since they were first introduced. Amongst the first medications approved in Europe, was the breast cancer drug Herceptin, which was approved in 2000. Then, the drug Glivec, was initially introduced to treat a certain form of leukaemia, and approved in 2001. Targeted therapies specifically inhibit molecules within so-called signalling pathways that usually control cell growth, death and differentiation. If they are altered, for example falsely inactivated or activated, the cells may start growing in an uncontrolled manner.

11 Jun 2014

Neurobiologist Thomas Jessell to be honored with 2014 Gruber Neuroscience Prize

Thomas Jessell, PhD, the Claire Tow Professor of Motor Neuron Disorders in the Departments of Neuroscience and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, is the recipient of the 2014 Neuroscience Prize of The Gruber Foundation.

4 Jun 2014

New study of how biodiversity arises

A new study of how biodiversity arises, by evolutionary biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, shows how a mutation in a single gene during development can lead to different consequences not only in how animals' skull and jaw are shaped, but how this leads to different feeding strategies to exploit different ecological niches.

27 May 2014

UNIGE researchers get closer to unraveling mystery of sexual ambiguity

A team of researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has been involved in a thorough genetic investigation based on the case of a child suffering from the Nivelon-Nivelon-Mabille Syndrome, a complex condition characterised mainly by a sexual development disorder.

6 May 2014

UT Southwestern docs receive grants for innovative studies on lung cancer pathways, drug therapy

Two UT Southwestern doctors have received more than a half-million dollars in grants from the Department of Defense for innovative studies on lung cancer pathways and to test the effectiveness of a potentially less expensive drug therapy.

2 May 2014

Stanford researchers identify normal cell type that gives rise to most invasive bladder cancers

A single type of cell in the lining of the bladder is responsible for most cases of invasive bladder cancer, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

21 Apr 2014

Nanostring Technologies launches nCounter PanCancer Pathways Panel

NanoString Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ:NSTG) a provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, today announced the launch of the nCounter® PanCancer Pathways Panel, a highly-multiplexed, digital gene expression assay that offers a unique way for translational researchers to investigate cancer biology across all major cancer pathways.

From NanoString Technologies 8 Apr 2014

Blocking function of enzyme slows spread of pancreatic cancer, say researchers

A research team from Imperial College London has shown that blocking the function of an enzyme known as Hhat slows the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer, by preventing a protein called Hedgehog from stimulating nearby normal cells to help the cancer.

13 Mar 2014

Two oncogenes work together to sustain population of cells in lung squamous cell carcinoma

Patients with a common form of lung cancer — lung squamous cell carcinoma — have very few treatment options. That situation may soon change.

10 Feb 2014