DNA Damage News and Research

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Human model of rare genetic disease reveals new clues to aging process

Scientists from A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) in Singapore and the University of Hong Kong's Department of Medicine have produced the world's first human cell model of progeria, a disease resulting in severe premature ageing in one in four to eight million children worldwide. This model has allowed them to make new discoveries concerning the mechanism by which progeria works.

25 Jan 2011

UNC scientists discover how chaperone enzyme plays a key role in cells' ability to tolerate DNA damage

UNC scientists who study how cells repair damage from environmental factors like sunlight and cigarette smoke have discovered how a "chaperone" enzyme plays a key role in cells' ability to tolerate the DNA damage that leads to cancer and other diseases.

19 Jan 2011

New patented technique offers unprecedented view of DNA damage

New technology providing the first view of DNA damage throughout the entire human genome developed by Cardiff University scientists could offer a valuable new insight into the development and treatment of conditions like cancer.

19 Jan 2011

Inhibiting miR-193a decreases tumor growth in SCC

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a common type of skin cancer. In this paper, Leif Ellisen and colleagues at Mass General Hospital investigated the p53-related proteins p63 and p73 in SCC cells, and discovered a feedback loop between p63, microRNAs (miRs), and p73. In a model of SCC, they found that inhibiting one of these miRs decreased tumor growth and made the cells more sensitive to chemotherapy, highlighting a new potential therapeutic target.

11 Jan 2011

Single cellular crisis shatters chromosomes in cancer causation

Remarkable new research overthrows the conventional view that cancer always develops in a steady, stepwise progression. It shows that in some cancers, the genome can be shattered into hundreds of fragments in a single cellular catastrophe, wreaking mutation on a massive scale.

7 Jan 2011

Researchers demonstrate that monensin antibiotic prevents prostate cancer cell growth

Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku have demonstrated that an antibiotic called "monensin" prevents the growth of prostate cancer cells. Monensin is used in the meat and dairy industry, for example.

20 Dec 2010

New findings says TRIM24 protein plays active role in breast cancer formation

The recently identified TRIM24 protein plays an active role in pushing normal breast cells into rapid cell proliferation and, potentially, into breast cancer.

16 Dec 2010

Ultraviolet light activates enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive, proliferate: Researchers

The sun's ultraviolet light activates an enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive and proliferate, researchers report.

8 Dec 2010

Drugs that target DNA in later-stage cancers could be effective in treating breast tumors

Breast cancers that arise sporadically, rather than through inheritance of certain genes, likely start with defects of DNA repair mechanisms that allow environmentally triggered mutations to accumulate, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

30 Nov 2010

Ageing reversed in mice: Study

A scientific team at Harvard-affiliated medical centers genetically manipulated mice to age faster. Then they used gene therapy to lengthen telomeres. Telomeres are compounds found at the ends of strands of DNA that are related to age. This lengthening of telomeres reversed age-related problems such as decreased brain function and infertility.

29 Nov 2010

Study sheds light on poorly understood aspect of interaction of HIV with natural killer cells

Natural killer cells are major weapons in the body's immune system. They keep the body healthy by knocking off tumors and cells infected with viruses, bombarding them with tiny lethal pellets. But natural killer cells are powerless against HIV, a fact that has bedeviled science for over 20 years.

20 Nov 2010

ZIOPHARM announces data on darinaparsin efficacy for solid tumors at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. announced today important new preclinical data on the efficacy of darinaparsin (ZinaparTM, or ZIO-101) in various solid tumor models delivered at the EORTC-NCI-AACR International Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics being held in Berlin, Germany.

19 Nov 2010

NCI awards $11.5 million to Fred Hutchinson Center for breast cancer research

The National Cancer Institute has awarded $11.5 million to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to lead a five-year, Seattle-based breast cancer research consortium. The goal of the endeavor is to positively impact breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment and care of women who have or are at risk for the disease.

11 Nov 2010

Cyclacel announces publication of sapacitabine in British Journal of Cancer

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies that target the various phases of cell cycle control for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, announced today publication of data demonstrating that its sapacitabine oral nucleoside analog works synergistically with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to induce significant reductions in tumor cell growth in both in vitro and in vivo preclinical models.

11 Nov 2010

UC Davis researchers identify new pathway to repair oxidative-damaged DNA

UC Davis researchers have found a new pathway for repairing DNA damaged by oxygen radicals. The results are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

10 Nov 2010

New findings could help scientists devise optimal therapies for Friedreich's ataxia

Scripps Research Institute scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the cause of Friedreich's ataxia, a debilitating neurological condition that affects tens of thousands of people worldwide, and so far has no cure.

8 Nov 2010

New technique could help scientists to predict how living prostate tissues respond to therapy

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, University of Helsinki and Stanford University have developed a technique to keep normal and cancerous prostate tissue removed during surgery alive and functioning normally in the laboratory for up to a week.

3 Nov 2010

BioNanomatrix nanoAnalyzer 1000 System to be introduced at ASHG Annual Meeting

BioNanomatrix, Inc., which is developing and commercializing breakthrough single-molecule genomic analysis technology, will introduce next month the nanoAnalyzer 1000 System at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) Annual Meeting from November 2-6, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

28 Oct 2010

Scientists develop new imaging technique that can detect breast cancer treatment response

Cancer Research UK scientists have developed a new imaging technique that can show when breast cancer treatment is working, weeks before current methods. The research is published in the British Journal of Cancer today1 (Wednesday).

27 Oct 2010

Cancer researcher to receive 2010 AACR Award of excellence

John D. Groopman, Ph.D., has been selected to receive the 2010 American Association for Cancer Research-Prevent Cancer Foundation Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research

26 Oct 2010