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.

New study sheds light on natural small molecule with antimicrobial effects

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the unique mechanism of a powerful natural product with wide-ranging antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects.

31 Mar 2015

Cantrixil proves highly effective at killing human ovarian stem cells in pre-clinical study

US-Australian drug discovery company, Novogen Ltd, and its subsidiary, CanTx, Inc., and Yale University, on March 27 released pre-clinical data on experimental anti-cancer drug, Cantrixil. The data was presented as an oral presentation by Professor Gil Mor MD PhD of Yale Medical School to the 62nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Reproductive Investigation in San Francisco, CA.

30 Mar 2015

Discovery opens new drug development avenues for treating multiple diseases

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a control switch for the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular stress relief mechanism drawing major scientific interest because of its role in cancer, diabetes, inflammatory disorders and several neural degenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

30 Mar 2015

Mitochondrial DNA movement: an interview with Professor Jiri Neuzil, Griffith University

According to our understanding, mitochondria undergo cycles of fusion-fission, i.e. they divide within the constraints of a cell and, upon cell division, each of the two daughter cells gets its ‘share’ of mitochondria.

29 Mar 2015

Stopping cellular quality-control mechanism can make chemotherapy more effective

A University of Rochester team found a way to make chemotherapy more effective, by stopping a cellular quality-control mechanism, according to a study published today in Nature Communications.

27 Mar 2015

Arno Therapeutics' AR-42 with cisplatin demonstrates anti-tumor effect in bladder cancer models

Arno Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of oncology therapeutics, today announced that data from a preclinical study demonstrate its histone-deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor AR-42 in combination with cisplatin has a synergistic anti-tumor effect in bladder cancer models.

26 Mar 2015

New approach to treating B-ALL tumour disease

B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, or B-ALL, is the most common tumour disease in children and also occurs in adults. It develops when signalling pathways in immature B cells, or pre-B cells, are dysregulated. Prof. Dr. Markus Müschen from the University of California in San Francisco, USA, and his team worked together with the BIOSS researchers Prof. Dr. Hassan Jumaa and Prof. Dr. Michael Reth to find a new approach for treating the B-ALL tumour disease.

25 Mar 2015

Vitamin D3 and metformin show promising results in preventing colorectal cancer

The concept was simple: If two compounds each individually show promise in preventing colon cancer, surely it's worth trying the two together to see if even greater impact is possible.

24 Mar 2015

Scientists examine how substances at low concentrations may impact human health

A public and scientific discussion is currently taking place focusing on the question whether substances at low concentrations may lead to health impairments in humans. For this reason, an increasing number of experimental studies to test such effects are currently conducted using different chemicals.

18 Mar 2015

TSRI scientists confirm ribosome assembly as new target for anti-cancer drugs

Ribosomes, ancient molecular machines that produce proteins in cells, are required for cell growth in all organisms, accomplishing strikingly complex tasks with apparent ease. But defects in the assembly process and its regulation can lead to serious biological problems, including cancer.

17 Mar 2015

Researchers identify new class of drugs that slows aging process

A research team from The Scripps Research Institute, Mayo Clinic and other institutions has identified a new class of drugs that in animal models dramatically slows the aging process—alleviating symptoms of frailty, improving cardiac function and extending a healthy lifespan.

10 Mar 2015

Researchers review ten years of scientific studies on mitochondrial toxicity in pregnant women

Researchers from the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Spain) have reviewed ten years' worth of scientific studies on mitochondrial toxicity in pregnant women. Exposure to toxic agents such as viruses, certain drugs, pesticides, alcohol and tobacco cause mitochondrial diseases about which very little is known, and which are transmitted from the mother to the foetus.

20 Feb 2015

TSRI scientists discover novel mechanism involved in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have for the first time discovered a killing mechanism that could underpin a range of the most intractable neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

16 Feb 2015

Findings show how human bodies restrict production of IgE to prevent allergic reaction

Scientists from the CNRS, INSERM and Université de Limoges, working in the Laboratoire Contrôle de la Réponse Immune B et Lymphoproliférations (CNRS/Université de Limoges) have demonstrated that the production of type E immunoglobulins (IgE) by B lymphocytes induces a loss in their mobility and the initiation of cell death mechanisms.

16 Feb 2015

'Mad Cow' discovery points to possible neuron killing mechanism behind alzheimer’s and parkinson’s diseases

The new study, published recently in the journal Brain, revealed the mechanism of toxicity of a misfolded form of the protein that underlies prion diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow disease”) and its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

13 Feb 2015

New research provides hope for treating stroke using HUCBCs

Researchers have known that transplanted human umbilical cord cells (HUCBCs) can have a restorative effect on the brain and brain function following a stroke. However, just how the cells exert their therapeutic effects has not been clear. Now, a research team from the University of South Florida using animal models of stroke has found that the HUCBCs are most beneficial in preventing neuron loss when the Akt signaling pathway is activated by secretions from the HUCBCs and that Akt activation subsequently impacts a specific gene involved in reducing inflammation.

10 Feb 2015

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome can be compared to normal aging, say scientists

In a new research study, scientists from Vision Genomics, LLC, Insilico Medicine, Inc., and Howard University showed that Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS or Progeria) is comparable to normal aging with respect to cellular signaling pathways, and that HGPS truly recapitulates the normal aging process.

28 Jan 2015

CHLA researchers develop new protein-based therapy against drug-resistant leukemia cells

Resistance of leukemia cells to contemporary chemotherapy is one of the most formidable obstacles to treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. Now researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have designed and developed a new protein-based therapy they believe will prove highly effective against drug-resistant leukemia cells.

27 Jan 2015

NMR in cancer research: an interview with Andy Byrd

My research these days is generally classified as structural biology, although as I trained in chemistry. I specialize in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applied to biological problems. Our lab is very interested in studying mammalian proteins, particularly systems involved in cancer, in order to try to understand mechanisms to provide that information for our collaborators, and for the general knowledge of the community as well.

From Bruker BioSpin Group 26 Jan 2015

PKC enzymes categorized as cancer promoters are actually tumor suppressors

Upending decades-old dogma, a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say enzymes long categorized as promoting cancer are, in fact, tumor suppressors and that current clinical efforts to develop inhibitor-based drugs should instead focus on restoring the enzymes' activities.

23 Jan 2015