Cell Biology News and Research

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New hope for patients with premature aging condition progeria

There is renewed hope for treatment of a rare genetic condition that causes rapidly accelerated aging and leads to an average life expectancy of 13 years.

4 May 2007

Ultra fast and ultra active: the strange life of the extraocular muscles

The eye, often called the window to the soul, may become a window to the mysteries of muscular dystrophy, a debilitating muscle disease that often leads to death in early adulthood.

2 May 2007

Genetic differences may explain why many Asian women who never smoked develop lung cancer

Analysis of three genetic mechanisms that cause non-small cell lung cancer might explain why East Asians respond better than other ethnic groups to a certain type of chemotherapy, a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has found.

27 Apr 2007

Mutations in a gene that helps regulate cell division linked to inherited form of fatal lung disease

Mutations in a gene that helps regulate cell division are responsible for some inherited cases of a fatal lung disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Apr 2007

Scientists develop method to convert normal human blood cells into

Cancer researchers led by Dr. John Dick at Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) have developed a method to convert normal human blood cells into "human" leukemia stem cells.

27 Apr 2007

Stem cell identity in culture may strongly depend on the cellular microenvironment

Identification, isolation and large scale culture of stem cells for potential medical applications is a major challenge in cell biology.

26 Apr 2007

Researchers identify key function of a molecule - wound healing in the skin

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It protects against environmental influences and pathogens, regulates body temperature, and protects the body against dehydration.

24 Apr 2007

UNC-45 protein critical to proper formation of muscles

Proper formation of the proteins that power heart and skeletal muscle seems to rely on a precise concentration of a "chaperone" protein known as UNC-45, according to a new study.

24 Apr 2007

Novel forms of synaptic plasticity uncovered

The Chicago Medical School (CMS) of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS) have announced that Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Athanasios Tzounopoulos, has uncovered novel forms of synaptic plasticity that occur at the very first step in the processing of sound in the central nervous system. His findings are released in Neuron.

20 Apr 2007

Scent prediction test

The scent of lily of the valley hangs in the air for readers of the journal Angewandte Chemie: just rub the journal's cover and enjoy a lily-of-the-valley scent.

19 Apr 2007

Jefferson participates in global study to extend effectiveness of drug for Parkinson's

After Parkinson's disease patients use the drug levodopa or L-dopa for several years as a treatment for restoring the cellular communication that controls muscle movement by replacing lost dopamine, they begin to experience motor complications that include a shortened response to each dose of L-dopa.

19 Apr 2007

Astrocytes may contribute to Lou Gehrig's disease

Two papers by Columbia and Harvard researchers report for the first time that astrocytes (the most abundant non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system), which carry a mutated gene known to cause some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease), induce motor neuron death.

16 Apr 2007

Massive gene screening points way to more effective chemotherapy

Using a technology that can quickly screen all 20,000-plus human genes for biological activity, scientists have isolated 87 genes that seem to affect how sensitive human cancer cells are to certain chemotherapy drugs.

12 Apr 2007

Female stem cells work better

Female stem cells derived from muscle have a greater ability to regenerate skeletal muscle tissue than male cells, according to a study at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

10 Apr 2007

Almac announces study on colorectal pre-malignancies

Almac Diagnostics has announced a major study analysing colorectal polyp tissue samples using its novel Colorectal Cancer DSA microarray.

5 Apr 2007

New device sniffs out olfactory disorders that could be an early warning of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

The Sniff Magnitude Test (SMT), an invention of UC Psychology Professor Robert Frank and Professor Emeritus Robert Gesteland of the UC Department of Cell Biology, is now under further development with the WR Medical Electronics Company in Stillwater, Minn. The company will manufacture and market the test.

4 Apr 2007

Recognition for cancer researchers

World-class cancer researchers whose science has significantly contributed to progress in the fight against cancer will be recognized April 14-18, 2007, by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) at its 2007 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Calif.

3 Apr 2007

Regenerative medicine project taps into human stem cells

Researchers at the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida have initiated a project to treat human brain and other diseases by plundering the secrets of regeneration from creatures with remarkable powers of self-renewal, such as salamanders, newts, starfish and flatworms.

2 Apr 2007

DNA repair runs by the biological clock

No sooner have the clocks gone forward than scientists have shed new light on the link between our biological clocks and DNA damage repair processes, essential in protecting our cells from cancer.

27 Mar 2007

Researchers discover vitiligo gene

In a study appearing in the March 22 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at St George's, University of London, the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) and the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes have discovered a connection between a gene and the chronic skin condition vitiligo, as well as a possible link to an array of other autoimmune diseases.

22 Mar 2007