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.

Glasgow Professor discusses about new approach for CML treatment at UK conference

Speaking at the UK National Stem Cell Network conference in York later today, Professor Tessa Holyoake from the University of Glasgow will discuss a brand new approach to treating chronic myeloid leukaemia in which a small number of cancer cells persist despite effective therapy thus preventing cure.

31 Mar 2011

Medical oncologist to receive AACR award for breast cancer research

Vassiliki Karantza, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey will be honored with the Genentech BioOncology Career Development Award sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research at the Association's 102nd Annual Meeting taking place April 2 through 6 in Orlando.

23 Mar 2011

Low calorie diet may delay or prevent aging and neurodegenerative diseases

Cells, which employ a process called autophagy to clean up and reuse protein debris leftover from biological processes, were the original recyclers. A team of scientists from Paul Greengard's Rockefeller University laboratory have linked a molecule that stimulates autophagy with the reduction of one of Alzheimer's disease's major hallmarks, amyloid peptide.

17 Mar 2011

Malaria drug shrinks, slows resistant pancreatic tumors

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report they have shrunk or slowed the growth of notoriously resistant pancreatic tumors in mice, using a drug routinely prescribed for malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.

16 Mar 2011

Study identifies potential therapeutic target for neurodegenerative disorders

Cell biologists pondering the death of neurons - brain cells - said today that by eliminating one ingredient from the cellular machinery, they prolonged the life of neurons stressed by a pesticide chemical. The finding identifies a potential therapeutic target to slow changes that lead to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

14 Mar 2011

Study: Roundworm protein can suppress inflammation in patients with sepsis

Research by the University of Liverpool has found that systemic inflammation caused by sepsis can be suppressed by a protein which occurs naturally in a type of roundworm.

8 Mar 2011

SMER28 can reduce beta-amyloid accumulation in patients with Alzheimer's disease

If you can't stop the beta-amyloid protein plaques from forming in Alzheimer's disease patients, then maybe you can help the body rid itself of them instead. At least that's what scientists from New York were hoping for when they found a drug candidate to do just that.

8 Mar 2011

Novel gene therapy can promote removal of amyloid plaques and prevent Alzheimer's disease

Gene therapy that boosts the ability of brain cells to gobble up toxic proteins prevents development of Alzheimer's disease in mice that are predestined to develop it, report researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. They say the treatment - which is given just once - could potentially do the same in people at the beginning stages of the disease.

5 Mar 2011

Scientists discover killer protein that protects against development of cancer

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made an important discovery concerning how fledgling cancer cells self-destruct, which has the potential of impacting on future cancer therapies.

27 Feb 2011

Discovery highlights unexpected role for killer protein in 'autophagy'

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made an important discovery concerning how fledgling cancer cells self-destruct, which has the potential of impacting on future cancer therapies. The Trinity research group, led by Smurfit Professor of Medical Genetics, Professor Seamus Martin and funded by Science Foundation Ireland, has just published their findings in the internationally renowned journal, Molecular Cell.

25 Feb 2011

Genetic proof for anti-cancer properties of antioxidants and autophagy inhibitors

Researchers from Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center have genetic evidence suggesting the antioxidant drugs currently used to treat lung disease, malaria and even the common cold can also help prevent and treat cancers because they fight against mitochondrial oxidative stress-a culprit in driving tumor growth.

16 Feb 2011

Research: MEF2D protein in mitochondria appears to contribute early steps in Parkinson's disease

For the last several years, neurologists have been probing a connection between Parkinson's disease and problems with mitochondria, the miniature power plants of the cell.

15 Feb 2011

Cancer cells 'addicted' to self-preservation process

A team of investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ); Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and Princeton University, have determined that cancer cells are "addicted" to a self-preservation process known as autophagy. They also showed that the inhibition of that process could prove to be a valuable treatment approach for aggressive cancers. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

11 Feb 2011

CINJ clinical trial explores anti-malaria drug against melanoma

Building upon recent laboratory discoveries on resistance by cancer cells to therapies that attempt to starve cancer, scientists at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) are conducting a clinical trial that further explores how to prevent that action.

14 Jan 2011

Study highlights role of SIRT1 protein as tumor suppressor in prostate cancer

Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and two other institutions have discovered new evidence that suggests the "longevity" protein SIRT1, known for its life-spanning effects in different species, can inhibit the development of a known precursor to prostate cancer, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.

14 Jan 2011

Study identifies over 30 breast cancer gene targets involved in drug resistance to chemotherapy

A new study conducted by Josh LaBaer's research team in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has pinpointed more than 30 breast cancer gene targets ---including several novel genes---that are involved in drug resistance to a leading chemotherapy treatment.

11 Jan 2011

AMPK activates autophagy by activating ATG1 enzyme

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered how AMPK, a metabolic master switch that springs into gear when cells run low on energy, revs up a cellular recycling program to free up essential molecular building blocks in times of need.

24 Dec 2010

Study broadens understanding of role of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, today announced the publication of a paper in Cancer Cell that illuminates the mechanism by which 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), and the mutations in the metabolic genes IDH1 and IDH2 that produce it, may be driving the growth of tumors in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

15 Dec 2010

New mechanism breaks drug resistance in ovarian cancer

Drug resistance is a major obstacle in curing ovarian cancer but new research from the Centenary Institute has discovered a treatment that kills ovarian cancer cells in a new way that can break the resistance mechanism.

16 Nov 2010