DNA Damage News and Research

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Cancer drug may protect kidneys from damage caused by chemotherapy agent cisplatin

A class of drugs used increasingly to help fight cancer may have the additional benefit of protecting the kidneys when packaged with the powerful chemotherapy agent cisplatin.

16 Dec 2015

TET proteins needed to maintain genome instability, say researchers

Members of the TET (short for ten-eleven translocation) family have been known to function as tumor suppressors for many years, but how they keep a lid on the uncontrolled cell proliferation of cancer cells had remained uncertain. Now, researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology demonstrate that TET proteins collectively constitute a major class of tumor suppressors and are required to maintain genome instability.

9 Dec 2015

Low levels of BRCA1 protein in the brain linked to dementia

Mutant forms of breast cancer factor 1 (BRCA1) are associated with breast and ovarian cancers but according to new findings, in the brain the normal BRCA1 gene product may also be linked to Alzheimer's disease. The results, published in Nature Communications, suggest that low levels of BRCA1 protein in the brain may contribute to dementia.

1 Dec 2015

BRCA1 depletion can potentially contribute to cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes have shown for the first time that the protein BRCA1 is required for normal learning and memory and is depleted by Alzheimer's disease.

30 Nov 2015

Seven new nCounter PanCancer profiles launched to deeply probe cancer biology

NanoString Technologies, Inc.a provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, today announced the expansion of its 3D Biology™ portfolio with the commercial launch of the nCounter® PanCancer Profiles, seven new gene expression panels each designed to interrogate a focused area of cancer biology including immuno-oncology.

9 Nov 2015

Utah chemists devise new way to detect DNA damage

University of Utah chemists devised a new way to detect chemical damage to DNA that sometimes leads to genetic mutations responsible for many diseases, including various cancers and neurological disorders.

6 Nov 2015

University of Kansas professor recognized with MERIT Award

Emily Scott, professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas, has been recognized with a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. It's a rare and important recognition -- researchers can receive them only once in a career.

30 Oct 2015

Study reports discovery of new class of DNA repair enzyme

This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry was given to three scientists who each focused on one piece of the DNA repair puzzle. Now a new study, reported online Oct. 28 in the journal Nature, reports the discovery of a new class of DNA repair enzyme.

30 Oct 2015

Certain drugs could be used to treat gastric cancers with particular pattern of mutations

Gastric cancer, otherwise known as stomach cancer, does not respond well to existing treatments and it is currently the third leading cause of cancer death in the world (after lung and liver cancer). Researchers have discovered that certain drugs, currently used to treat breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, could also be used to treat certain gastric cancers with a particular pattern of mutations (genomic molecular fingerprint).

29 Oct 2015

DNA study reveals basic principle of gene regulation

A study of where and how an enzyme cuts DNA may have inadvertently revealed a basic principle of gene regulation, say researchers in Boston Children's Hospital's Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (PCMM).

23 Oct 2015

Ground-breaking discovery helps scientists view DNA damage with crystal clarity

Scientists have developed a new technique for looking at the initial steps of DNA oxidation – a process which can lead to DNA damage, mutations and cancers. The breakthrough, which uses DNA in crystals, should help related research in the fields of cancer medicine and drug development.

22 Oct 2015

DelMar reports positive data from preclinical study of VAL-083 for treatment of ovarian cancer

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new cancer therapies, announced that yesterday it presented positive preclinical data demonstrating the promising potential of its lead product candidate VAL-083 (dianhydrogalactitol) as a treatment for ovarian cancer.

19 Oct 2015

Forces in external environmental and oxidation are greatest threats to DNA, study finds

A study led by Indiana University biologist Patricia Foster and colleagues has found that forces in the external environment and oxidation are the greatest threats to an organism's ability to repair damage to its own DNA.

14 Oct 2015

Blocking the production of CHD4 protein may help increase effectiveness of AML treatments

Preclinical experiments led by a team of researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have shown that blocking the production of a protein known as chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 4 (CHD4) may help increase the effectiveness of first-line treatments for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a particularly lethal blood cancer that is increasing in incidence among older adults.

14 Oct 2015

Penn Medicine announces $375,000 in new grants to support BRCA-focused research projects

Penn Medicine's Basser Center for BRCA announced $375,000 in new grant funding to support BRCA-focused research projects across the nation. The grants are aimed at advancing the care of patients living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

7 Oct 2015

Unlocking the genes behind antibiotic resistance: an interview with Professor Romesberg

Bacteria are very, very diverse. This is why their susceptibility to different antibiotics can be very different. It also makes the tools they have to evolve resistance in many cases different.

30 Sep 2015

Researchers identify triple mechanism that prevents onset of chromosomal instability

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona researchers have identified for the first time the triple mechanism that stops chromosome separation in response to situations that compromise the integrity of the genetic information. The loss of this response capacity is characteristic of cancerous cells.

18 Sep 2015

Scientists generate pluripotent stem cells with more stable genomes

Damaged tissue, such as pancreas, heart, and neuronal tissue, which is regenerated to treat cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or neurodegenerative diseases. This is one of the ambitious scenarios to which regenerative medicine aspires and that is being announced as one of the great promises of twenty-first century biomedicine for the treatment of a long list of diseases affecting people today.

28 Aug 2015

Obesity raises Lynch syndrome CRC risk

Obesity increases the risk of colorectal cancer in patients with Lynch syndrome, research indicates, but daily aspirin use may combat this excess risk.

27 Aug 2015

Discovery could help in development of novel cancer-selective viral therapies

Every organism--from a seedling to a president--must protect its DNA at all costs, but precisely how a cell distinguishes between damage to its own DNA and the foreign DNA of an invading virus has remained a mystery.