Apoptosis News and Research

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Apoptosis is programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

Novel way of directly activating Bak protein can trigger cell death

Melbourne researchers have discovered a new way of triggering cell death, in a finding that could lead to drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune disease.

27 May 2016

Cornell researchers develop nanoparticle-based drug delivery mechanism for combination cancer therapy

A team of researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York demonstrated a drug delivery mechanism that utilizes two independent vehicles, allowing for delivery of chemically and physically dis-tinct agents.

23 May 2016

Researchers identify potential ways in which cancer cells may develop resistance to BET inhibitors

A team of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers has worked out how a new class of anti-cancer drugs kills cancer cells, a finding that helps explain how cancer cells may become resistant to treatment.

23 May 2016

Phase I study of triple drug combination shows promise in multiple myeloma patients

PharmaMar announces the positive results from a Phase I study of plitidepsin in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

21 May 2016

TAK1 deficit protects mice from obesity

Obesity and subsequent complications are increasing in frequency worldwide. The accumulation of adipose tissue is associated with increased inflammation, and it has been proposed that modification of proinflammatory responses could alter adipose tissue composition.

20 May 2016

Phase 2 results of AbbVie’s venetoclax in patients with R/R CLL with 17p deletion published in The Lancet Oncology

AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, today announced The Lancet Oncology published results from the Phase 2, single arm, open label trial studying venetoclax in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) with 17p deletion.

17 May 2016

Unlocking the dark proteome: an interview with Dr Kriwacki

The term dark proteome refers to proteins whose structural features and thus functions are not well understood. Many proteins within the dark proteome do not fold into stable three-dimensional structures. These proteins are called intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and feature highly flexible, disordered confirmations.

16 May 2016

Scientists clarify molecular mechanism of Visomitin drug

An international team of scientists led by researchers from the Lomonosov Moscow State University succeeded to clarify the molecular mechanism of a drug created in Russia and designed to prevent the damaging of cell mitochondria by reactive oxygen species. This work is published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity.

12 May 2016

Scientists visualize apoptosis in live zebrafish using FLIM OPT method

A promising approach for watching cell signaling processes in their physiological context: Scientists visualize apoptosis in live zebrafish using fluorescence lifetime imaging with optical projection tomography to map FRET biosensor activity in space and time.

11 May 2016

MUSC Hollings Cancer Center receives $8.9 million grant to explore signaling in sphingolipids

The Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center received an $8.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute designed to foster collaboration across clinical and laboratory research for the study of signaling in sphingolipids, a class of lipids known to be involved in the growth of solid tumor cancers.

10 May 2016

Study hints at new therapeutic approach to mitigate effects of prenatal Zika virus infection

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently concluded that Zika virus infection in pregnant women can stunt neonatal brain development, leading to babies born with abnormally small heads, a condition known as microcephaly. Now, for the first time, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have determined one way Zika infection can damage developing brain cells.

9 May 2016

Controlling cholesterol metabolism could help reduce pancreatic cancer spread

Researchers have shown how controlling cholesterol metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells reduces metastasis, pointing to a potential new treatment using drugs previously developed for atherosclerosis.

4 May 2016

Biomedical researcher wins 2016 Gutenberg Research Award for work on programmed cell death

The Gutenberg Research College of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has chosen to give the 2016 Gutenberg Research Award to American biomedical researcher Dr. Vishva Dixit for his groundbreaking work in the field of programmed cell death.

4 May 2016

Mitochondrial dysfunction linked to chemotherapeutic resistance in African-American men with prostate cancer

Improper functioning of the mitochondria, a cell's source of energy, may help account for the fact that African-American men with prostate cancer respond poorly to the same conventional therapies provided to Caucasian-American men, according to research led by Dhyan Chandra, PhD, Associate Professor of Oncology in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

30 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

Researchers find mechanism behind pancreatic cancer cells' resistance to certain drugs

Pancreatic cancer is on track to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2020. These statistics are due, in part, to pancreatic cancer's resistance to most targeted cancer therapies. Working with pancreatic cancer cells, researchers have now found a mechanism that could be responsible for the cancer's resistance to at least one targeted approach.

19 Apr 2016

Survivin inhibitor with chemotherapy provides therapeutic advantage for Rb cells, tumors

Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) have demonstrated that targeting survivin - a protein that inhibits apoptosis or cell death - enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapy in cells and mouse models of retinoblastoma (Rb), the most common malignant tumor of the eye in children.

18 Apr 2016

Genetic modification of common virus gives extra weapon to kill cancer cells

A common flu virus could be used to overcome patients' resistance to certain cancer drugs -- and improve how those drugs kill cancer cells, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London.

16 Apr 2016

Six newly identified proteins may help potentially unlock new insights into aging-related diseases

A group of six newly discovered proteins may help to divulge secrets of how we age, potentially unlocking new insights into diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer, and other aging-related diseases.

12 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.