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.

Techne acquires Tocris Holdings

Techne Corporation announced today that it has acquired 100% ownership of Tocris Holdings Limited and subsidiaries, a leading supplier of reagents for non-clinical life science research.

3 May 2011

Scientists develop novel genetic model of premature aging disorders

Working with a group of national and international researchers, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have developed a new genetic model of premature aging disorders that could shed light on these rare conditions in humans and provide a novel platform for large-scale screening of compounds to combat these and other age-related diseases.

29 Apr 2011

ISC-4 topical compound may prevent skin cancer lesion formation

While incidents of melanoma continue to increase despite the use of sunscreen and skin screenings, a topical compound called ISC-4 may prevent melanoma lesion formation, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

27 Apr 2011

FDA grants orphan drug status to Provectus' PV-10 for liver cancer treatment

Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company, has received orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Rose Bengal, the active ingredient in its novel oncology drug PV-10, for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer.

27 Apr 2011

Nutlin-3a molecules stimulate signal to induce cell death and senescence in brain cancer

Researchers of Apoptosis and Cancer Group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have found that a small molecule, Nutlin-3a, an antagonist of MDM2 protein, stimulates the signalling pathway of another protein, p53.

21 Apr 2011

Researchers discover new way to force cancer cells to self-destruct

Researchers at The Wistar Institute have found a new way to force cancer cells to self-destruct. Low doses of one anti-cancer drug currently in development, called Gamitrinib, sensitize tumor cells to a second drug, called TRAIL, also currently in clinical development as part of an anticancer regimen.

20 Apr 2011

Normal breast cells provide an innate defense mechanism against cancer

It is well known that the human body has a highly developed immune system to detect and destroy invading pathogens and tumor cells. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown that the body has a second line of defense against cancer - healthy cells.

15 Apr 2011

Novelos Therapeutics acquires Cellectar

Novelos Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing novel drugs for treatment and diagnosis of cancer, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Cellectar, Inc., a Wisconsin-based drug development company, in a stock-for-stock transaction.

12 Apr 2011

Polaris' ADI-PEG 20 exhibits potential against AML, GBM and bladder cancer

Polaris Group announced today that data from preclinical studies suggest ADI-PEG 20, the Company's pegylated arginine deiminase therapeutic, may be effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and bladder cancer.

8 Apr 2011

USPTO issues notice of allowance to Mirna's mir34a patent application

Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed patent claims related to the therapeutic application of the potent tumor suppressor microRNA, mir34a.

7 Apr 2011

Keryx KRX-0401 data in colorectal cancer, multiple myeloma presented at AACR meeting

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that two posters on KRX-0401 were presented at the 102nd annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research currently ongoing at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Perifosine, the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials for refractory advanced colorectal cancer and multiple myeloma.

6 Apr 2011

Caliper's CDAS unit enters cancer research collaboration with Denver-based CHI

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life-sciences research, today announced that its Caliper Discovery Alliances and Services unit has formed a research collaboration with Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the nation's largest health systems.

6 Apr 2011

Estrogen only hormone replacement not so risky after 50’s: Study

According to a new study hormone therapy may not be as risky for elder women as earlier thought. This comes from the Women's Health Initiative, a federally funded trial that tracked thousands of women taking hormones or placebo pills for years. The WHI looked at women who have had hysterectomies or have had their uterus removed and thus can take estrogen unaccompanied by another hormone, progestin. It found that a heightened risk of stroke from taking estrogen faded with time, while a reduced risk of breast cancer held steady.

5 Apr 2011

Aeterna Zentaris presents two posters on perifosine at AACR meeting

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that two posters on its lead anticancer agent, perifosine, were presented at the 102nd annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research currently held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

5 Apr 2011

Oncothyreon's ONT-10, PX-866 preclinical data presented at AACR meeting

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced the presentation of preclinical data for ONT-10, a therapeutic vaccine directed at cancers expressing MUC1, and PX-866, its irreversible inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Orlando, Florida.

4 Apr 2011

Rsearchers define new step that controls programmed cell death in cancer cells

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death.

2 Apr 2011

Blocking TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand pathway partially reconstitutes HBV-specific T cells

A new study presented today at the International Liver Congress shows a novel pathway where activated natural killer (NK) cells expressing death ligands may excessively down-modulate the antiviral immune response in chronic HBV patients.

2 Apr 2011

Loss of SKIP sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic effects of DNA damage-inducing anticancer drugs

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

2 Apr 2011

PUMA-mediated intestinal apoptosis contributes to ulcerative colitis in humans, mice

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease thought to be related to aberrant activation of the immune system in the intestine. Recent research has also suggested that regulated cell death of the intestinal epithelial cells is a contributing factor to the pathogenesis.

2 Apr 2011

Merck's VICTRELIS phase III study results against HCV presented at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced results from several new data analyses from the pivotal Phase III studies evaluating the addition of its investigational oral protease inhibitor VICTRELIS to peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin in adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.

1 Apr 2011