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Bim protein may hold clue for immunotherapy response in metastatic melanoma patients

A protein called Bim may hold the clue to which patients may be successful on immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, according to the results of a study by Mayo Clinic researchers led by senior author Haidong Dong, M.D., Ph.D., and published online in the May 5 edition of JCI Insight.

6 May 2016

Study reveals new cell-signaling pathway that detects chromosome missegregation

A recent research study at The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota is providing insight into the regulation of chromosome segregation and the mechanisms used by cells to prevent them from forming tumors.

4 May 2016

University of Leicester-led researchers solve 3D structure of NuRD complex that plays role in cancer

A team of researchers led by the University of Leicester has shed new light on how the regulation machinery that controls gene expression works by characterising a complex known as the NuRD complex.

27 Apr 2016

First breakthrough in gene therapy against aging

In September 2015, then 44 year-old CEO of BioViva USA Inc. Elizabeth Parrish received two of her own company's experimental gene therapies: one to protect against loss of muscle mass with age, another to battle stem cell depletion responsible for diverse age-related diseases and infirmities.

25 Apr 2016

Novel function of PLK1 gene in prostate cancer metastasis

Researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have uncovered a novel function of the gene PLK1 (polo-like kinase 1) that helps prostate cancer cells metastasize (spread) to other parts of the body. This mechanism highlights new potential targets for cancer therapies and challenges the previous understanding of PLK1's role in cancer growth and progression.

22 Apr 2016

Hippo signaling pathway controls phases of quiescence in fruit fly central nervous system

Neural stem cells are responsible for the formation of differentiated daughter cells in the developing brain. If no new cells are needed, the stem cells may enter a resting phase called quiescence. Biologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have now discovered that the phases of quiescence in the Drosophila fruit fly central nervous system are controlled by the Hippo signaling pathway. Drosophila serves as a model organism that helps geneticists to decode the molecular fundamentals of cellular biology and unravel mechanisms that are conserved in human beings and other vertebrates.

21 Apr 2016

Scientists aim to identify marker that could indicate aggressive basal cell skin cancer

Most basal cell skin cancers are easily removed -- those on the arm, leg or back. But when the cancer is on the eyelid or when it starts to invade surrounding tissue, it's no longer straightforward.

21 Apr 2016

Proteins can be used as targets to deliver drugs into stressed cancer cells

Targeted missiles that can enter cancer cells and deliver lethal cell toxins without harming surrounding healthy tissue. This has been a long-standing vision in cancer research, but it has proved difficult to accomplish. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now taken some crucial steps in this direction.

20 Apr 2016

Reducing hair loss during chemotherapy: an interview with Richard Paxman

The basic principle of chemotherapy is to damage the mitotic and metabolic processes in the cancer cells. The chemotherapy doesn't just target the cancer cells, it also targets the healthy cells, specifically ones that are rapidly dividing - our hair follicles are also rapidly dividing. We see damage to those hair cells, which then causes the hair to fall out.

From Paxman 19 Apr 2016

Distribution of c-Myc protein during asymmetric cell division influences fate, roles of activated T cells

The fates of immune cells can be decided at the initial division of a cell. Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that the production of daughter cells with different roles in the immune system is driven by the lopsided distribution of the signaling protein c-Myc. Nudging c-Myc in one direction or the other could make vaccines more effective or advance immunotherapies for cancer treatment. The research appears online today in the scientific journal Nature.

12 Apr 2016

European researchers aim to spare people with type 1 diabetes from lifelong insulin therapy

More and more children in Europe and the USA are suffering from diabetes. A Group of European Researchers has now joined forces under the leadership of the Gothe University Frankfurt. They are searching for a new method in order to spare people with Diabetes type 1 from lifelong insulin therapy.

2 Apr 2016

Tumor suppressor p53 gene twice as likely to be defective in autistic children

A large study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found that a gene whose role is to suppress cellular damage from environmental stressors is nearly twice as likely to be defective in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and that the deficit is also present in their fathers.

1 Apr 2016

Scientists identify RingoA protein as key regulator of meiosis

Published today in Nature Communications, a study by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine headed by ICREA researcher Angel R. Nebreda has reported that the protein RingoA is a key regulator of meiosis--the cell division process that gives rise to ovules and sperm for sexual reproduction in mammals.

31 Mar 2016

Shugoshin protein maintains proper gene expression in subtelomeres

A research group discovered a new function of the chromosomal terminus, which may lead to the clarification of the mechanism for developing abnormal telomere structure such as multiple malformation and mental retardation.

29 Mar 2016

UT Southwestern scientists discover mutation that causes X-linked reticulate pigmentary disorder

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have discovered a mutation that causes a rare systemic disorder known as X-linked reticulate pigmentary disorder (XLPDR) and, significantly, the unexpected cellular mechanism by which the mutation causes the disease.

29 Mar 2016

Study uncovers role of small RNAs in fine-tuning egg development

All multicellular organisms that reproduce sexually rely on eggs to support early life. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Ludwig Cancer Research used the tiny roundworm C. elegans as a model to better understand how eggs enable embryonic development, using only the materials already present in them.

25 Mar 2016

Researchers elucidate how cells are blind to chromosome cohesion defects

Research led by Raquel Oliveira, group leader at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, has elucidated how cells are almost blind to chromosome cohesion defects.

24 Mar 2016

Research shows tumor suppressor protein regulates polarity genes

What does Brad Pitt have in common with a fruit fly? His Hollywood hairstyles cover a prominent cowlick - the swirl of hair that that is caused by a patterning mechanism also active in our two-winged friends -- that similarly feature "polarized" hair patterns.

24 Mar 2016

Scientists provide overview of most promising compounds to combat prostate cancer

Scientists from MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), MSU (Moscow State University), and National University of Science and Technology “MISIS” provided an overview of the most promising compounds which can be used as medications for prostate cancer.

23 Mar 2016

Tews Laboratory uses LaVision BioTec UltraMicroscope to study molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion

LaVision BioTec, developers of advanced microscopy solutions for the life sciences, report on the work in the Tews Laboratory which is studying the molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion using an UltraMicroscope for enhanced imaging of cells.

22 Mar 2016