DNA Damage News and Research

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Scientists develop new nonradioactive method to determine telomere length

UT Southwestern Medical Center cell biologists have identified a new method for determining the length of telomeres, the endcaps of chromosomes, which can influence cancer progression and aging.

30 Jun 2016

Health-promoting bacteria may protect women from breast cancer

Bacteria that have the potential to abet breast cancer are present in the breasts of cancer patients, while beneficial bacteria are more abundant in healthy breasts, where they may actually be protecting women from cancer, according to Gregor Reid, PhD, and his collaborators.

25 Jun 2016

Researchers identify new potential target for pancreatic cancer treatment

Using an innovative approach to identify a cancer's genetic vulnerabilities by more swiftly analyzing human tumors transplanted into mice, researchers have identified a new potential target for pancreatic cancer treatment, published online in Cell Reports.

24 Jun 2016

Researchers use sensitive technique to reveal high levels of genetic heterogeneity in schizophrenia

International researchers centered at Nagoya University use a highly sensitive technique to identify significantly more DNA sequence repeats in patients with schizophrenia than in control individuals, and outline a possible link between genome instability and disease.

24 Jun 2016

Sperm of smokers has greater extent of DNA damage than that of non-smokers

A recent study found that that sperm of men who smoke has a greater extent of DNA damage than that of non-smokers.

22 Jun 2016

Researcher aims to develop easy-to-use, inexpensive sperm sorting devices to help infertile couples

The competition is fierce and only the strongest survive the obstacle course within the female reproductive tract. Of the millions of sperm that enter the vagina, only about 10 or so make it to the oocyte or egg, demonstrating how rigorous the natural sperm selection process really is.

17 Jun 2016

Researchers aim to protect kidneys while improving cisplatin's efficacy against cancer

Cisplatin is a common, powerful chemotherapy agent used for a wide range of cancers such as breast, ovarian and lung, that in a handful of days can also permanently damage or destroy patients' kidneys.

14 Jun 2016

CNIO researchers avoid genetic manipulation to create lab mice with extra-long telomeres

The Telomeres and Telomerase Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, in collaboration with the Centre's Transgenic Mice Core Unit, has succeeded in creating mice in the laboratory with hyper-long telomeres and with reduced molecular ageing, avoiding the use of what to date has been the standard method: genetic manipulation.

3 Jun 2016

Maintaining cardiomyocyte telomere length may enhance heart regeneration in adults

Researchers at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered that the ends of heart muscle cell chromosomes rapidly erode after birth, limiting the cells' ability to proliferate and replace damaged heart tissue.

31 May 2016

Research describes how gene BRCA1 plays vital role in DNA repair

Scientists at the University of Birmingham are a step closer to understanding the role of the gene BRCA1. Changes in this gene are associated with a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

30 May 2016

Continuous errors in damaged DNA repair may lead to tumor formation

A group of researchers at Osaka University found that if DNA damage response (DDR) does not work when DNA is damaged by radiation, proteins which should be removed remain instead, and a loss of genetic information can be incited, which, when repaired incorrectly, will lead to the tumor formation.

25 May 2016

AstraZeneca, MedImmune to provide update on extensive oncology pipeline at ASCO 2016

AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, will provide an update on their extensive oncology pipeline at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, USA, on 3-7 June 2016.

20 May 2016

Effective chemotherapeutic drug may induce permanent hearing loss in Cockayne syndrome individuals

The chemotherapy drug cisplatin can kill cancer, but it can also cause permanent hearing loss.

19 May 2016

Food deprivation may help treat fatty liver disease

Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum München have new information on what happens at the molecular level when we go hungry. Working with the Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung and the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum they were able to show that upon deprivation of food a certain protein is produced that adjusts the metabolism in the liver.

9 May 2016

Novel animal model helps understand mechanisms that lead to multiple myeloma

Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have developed an animal model that allows them to better understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of multiple myeloma, a hematologic cancer of plasma cells, and the amyloidosis that sometimes accompanies it. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

6 May 2016

Combination of existing chemotherapy drugs can reduce breast cancer stem cells, improve survival

Two existing chemotherapy drugs appear to be a powerful pair in targeting errant stem cells that are making breast cancer and enabling its spread and recurrence, scientists report.

3 May 2016

New class of cancer-driver gene may serve as unique therapeutic targets, biomarkers in TNBC

The discovery of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has dramatically changed the understanding of the biology of diseases such as cancer. The human genome contains about 20,000 protein-coding genes - less than 2 percent of the total - but 70 percent of the genome is made into non-gene-encoding RNA.

29 Apr 2016

Newly discovered player in epigenetic regulation closely linked to known cancer promoters

If genes form the body's blueprint, then the layer of epigenetics decides which parts of the plan get built. Unfortunately, many cancers hijack epigenetics to modulate the expression of genes, thus promoting cancer growth and survival.

19 Apr 2016

Intestinal bacteria can be used to reduce cancer risk, reveals UCLA study

Researchers have shown that various types of intestinal bacteria might be factors in both causing and preventing obesity, and in other conditions and diseases. Now, a UCLA study suggests that it could also potentially be used to reduce the risk for some types of cancer.

16 Apr 2016

Scientists use FAN1 knockout mice to refine detailed mechanisms involved in damaged DNA repair

Like jewels in a vault, our precious genetic material is stored in the nucleus of a cell--sequestered away from potentially damaging cellular components and toxins so that no harm can come to it. Yet over the course of a life moving through this world, our DNA does get damaged, and our cells have a host of complicated repair mechanisms to deal with such injuries.

13 Apr 2016