Autophagy News and Research

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Autophagy is a normal process in which a cell destroys proteins and other substances in its cytoplasm (the fluid inside the cell membrane but outside the nucleus), which may lead to cell death. Autophagy may prevent normal cells from developing into cancer cells, but it may also protect cancer cells by destroying anticancer drugs or substances taken up by them.

Scientists identify Smurf1 protein that plays role in autophagy of TB bacteria

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that is central to the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy the bacterium responsible for the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic.

12 Jan 2017

Researchers discover autophagy-dependent secretory system

Autophagy has long been considered as a physiological process solely for degradation, but its secretory role has recently emerged

10 Jan 2017

Experimental treatment approach reverses cognitive decline and neuropathology in AD mouse model

Treatment with an inhibitor of 12/15-lipoxygenase, an enzyme elevated in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), reverses cognitive decline and neuropathology in an AD mouse model, reports a new study in Biological Psychiatry.

5 Jan 2017

How does the brain control appetite?

Energy balance between energy intake and expenditure in our bodies is important for maintaining energy homeostasis to keep our bodies functioning properly. The appetite determines how much we eat, the energy intake, by communication between the brain and body.

4 Jan 2017

Combined genetic disruptions can counteract premature aging, TSRI study suggests

In a new study, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown how two genes "balance" each other to maintain normal cell function.

22 Dec 2016

Mayo Clinic scientists show how hungry liver cells find energy

In a recent Science Advances article, Mayo Clinic researchers show how hungry human liver cells find energy.

20 Dec 2016

TMDU researchers identify novel type of cell death in Huntington's disease

In Huntington's disease (HD), the huntingtin gene is mutated, causing progressive neuronal death.

22 Nov 2016

New study describes role of protein that is crucial for melanoma cell survival

The main goals of the Melanoma Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre are to identify biomarkers of tumour progression and to validate novel therapeutic targets in melanoma.

21 Nov 2016

BAG3 protein plays protective role by limiting reperfusion injury to the heart

The inability of cells to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles following the blockage of a coronary artery and its subsequent re-opening with angioplasty or medications - a sequence known as ischemia/reperfusion - often results in irreparable damage to the heart muscle.

17 Nov 2016

New study raises serious safety concerns in clinical use of caspase inhibitors for liver injury

Many acute and chronic liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis, result from apoptotic (programmed) cell death mediated by the enzyme caspase.

20 Oct 2016

Researchers discover how appetite is controlled and influenced by the brain

Researchers from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in Korea have uncovered the mechanisms behind the enzyme that controls our appetite in response to low glucose availability in the brain.

5 Oct 2016

GUMC receives FDA clearance to begin clinical study of cancer drug in patients with Alzheimer's disease

Georgetown University Medical Center today announces the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed its review of an investigational new drug application (IND) for the use of nilotinib in a phase II clinical trial for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

30 Sep 2016

ADDF awards $2.1 million grant for clinical study of cancer drug in Alzheimer's patients

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation announces a $2.1 million grant awarded to R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD, of Georgetown University Medical Center to conduct a phase II clinical trial of low-dose nilotinib (marketed as Tasigna for use as a cancer therapy) in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

29 Sep 2016

DGIST researchers uncover mechanisms that control appetite during low glucose conditions in the brain

Researchers from Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) in Korea have uncovered the mechanisms behind the enzyme that controls our appetite in response to low glucose availability in the brain.

24 Sep 2016

New study identifies potential therapeutic option for treatment of Huntington's disease

A new scientific study reveals one way to stop proteins from triggering an energy failure inside nerve cells during Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an inherited genetic disorder caused by mutations in the gene that encodes huntingtin protein.

14 Sep 2016

Cold plasma therapy may help treat non-healing wounds

Russian scientists at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Gamaleya Research Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology found that treating cells with cold plasma leads to their regeneration and rejuvenation.

13 Sep 2016

New study raises safety concerns on clinical use of caspase inhibitors for liver diseases

Many acute and chronic liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis, result from apoptotic (programmed) cell death mediated by the enzyme caspase. Caspase inhibitors have therapeutic potential to treat and prevent apoptosis-mediated liver injury, and some are currently in clinical trials.

9 Sep 2016

Multi-purpose protein may offer clues for successful treatment of Alzheimer's disease

The tidal wave approaches. In the coming decades, Alzheimer's disease is projected to exact a devastating economic and emotional toll on society, with patient numbers in the US alone expected to reach 13.5 million by mid-century at a projected cost of over a trillion dollars.

30 Aug 2016

UCSF researchers identify new strategy to cultivate beneficial energy-burning fat

UC San Francisco researchers studying beige fat — a calorie-burning tissue that can help to ward off obesity and diabetes — have discovered a new strategy to cultivate this beneficial blubber.

25 Aug 2016

Novel innovation could help scientists study new treatments for mitochondrial diseases

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from the University of Missouri has succeeded in creating embryos with "heteroplasmy," or the presence of both maternal and paternal mitochondrial DNA.

23 Aug 2016