Cell Biology News and Research

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Researchers find new mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug sorafenib

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a new mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug sorafenib, which could stimulate the development of novel regimens in which it is combined with other molecularly targeted agents for patients with blood cancers and solid tumors.

15 Jun 2007

Researchers reprogram normal tissue cells into embryonic stem cells

Researchers at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to take normal tissue cells and reprogram them into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells, the cells that are able to give rise to every cell type found in the body.

8 Jun 2007

Researchers turn normal tissue cells into embryonic stem cells

8 Jun 2007

HIV uses pathways to infect cells

Like hobos on a train, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, uses a pre-existing transport system to leave one infected cell and infect new ones, Hopkins scientists have discovered.

8 Jun 2007

Reprogrammed fibroblasts resemble embryonic stem cells

Stem cell biology takes another exciting leap forward as scientists report that normal tissue cells can be reprogrammed to exhibit many of the properties that are characteristic of embryonic stem cells, including the ability to give rise to multiple cell types and contribute to the germline.

8 Jun 2007

Aging stem cells in mice may hold answers to diseases of the aged

As stem cells in the blood grow older, genetic mutations accumulate that could be at the root of blood diseases that strike people as they age, according to work done in mice by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

8 Jun 2007

Researchers find stem cells in colorectal tumors

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified the cancer stem cells that propagate tumors in colon and rectal cancer, a discovery that could lead to improved treatment of this deadly cancer.

5 Jun 2007

Diagnosing skin cancers with laser-based system

In an early step toward nonsurgical screening for malignant skin cancers, Duke University chemists have demonstrated a laser-based system that can capture three-dimensional images of the chemical and structural changes under way beneath the surface of human skin.

5 Jun 2007

Molecular motors may speed nutrient processing

Matthew Tyska, Ph.D., recalls being intrigued, from the first day of his postdoctoral fellowship in 1999, with a nearly 30-year-old photograph.

1 Jun 2007

Existence of muscle-building stem cells points to regenerative therapies for muscular disease

A new report in the June 1 issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press, confirms the existence of some apparently uncommitted stem cells amongst cells responsible for generating the bulging biceps of body builders and the rippling abs of fitness buffs.

1 Jun 2007

Stem cells may look malignant, not act it

Call it the cellular equivalent of big glasses, a funny nose and a fake mustache.

24 May 2007

Brca2 gene prevents medulloblastoma

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained some of the first major insights into how certain genes known to prevent cancer also guide the normal development of the nervous system before birth and during infancy by repairing DNA damage.

22 May 2007

Celecoxib offers promise for premature babies

Scientists have found evidence that the cox-2 inhibitor celecoxib, a common pain reliever used to treat arthritis, may offer a new way to reduce the risk of the most common cause of brain damage in babies born prematurely.

18 May 2007

Study revises dynamin's role in nerve cell function

An unexpected finding on how nerve cells signal to one another could rewrite the textbooks on neuroscience, says a collaborative team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and Yale University.

17 May 2007

Researchers watch repair proteins arrive around DNA breaks

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital had a molecule's eye view of the human cell's DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends.

10 May 2007

Novel therapies to prevent metastasis

In a study that could point to novel therapies to prevent cancer spread, or metastasis, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have targeted a sugar that supports blood vessel growth in the tumor.

8 May 2007

Diabetes drug rosiglitazone boosts power of platinum chemotherapy

A widely used diabetes drug dramatically boosted the potency of platinum-based cancer drugs when administered together to a variety of cancer cell lines and to mice with tumors, scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report.

8 May 2007

Master regulator for epithelial tissue regeneration found

The skin's ability to replace the tissue it sloughs off is controlled by a variety of genes.

4 May 2007

Scientists work out mechanism underlying asymmetric cell division in nematode worms

When a cell divides, normally the result is two identical daughter cells. In some cases however, cell division leads to two cells with different properties. This is called asymmetric cell division and plays an important role in embryonic development and the self-renewal of stem cells.

4 May 2007

Single gene is responsible for most cool temperature sensation

The discovery, reported in the May 3 issue of the journal Neuron, might one day lead to the development of drugs that induce cold sensation as an analgesic, or block it to prevent certain forms of chronic pain associated with cold sensation.

4 May 2007