Cell Death News and Research

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Novel pathway for antibiotic-induced cell death

Scientists have identified unforeseen mechanisms by which quinolones - a family of broad-spectrum antibiotics among the most widely prescribed - induce bacterial cell death.

13 Mar 2007

Scientists test 'secret weapon' against tumours

Cancer Research UK scientists in Glasgow have devised a new method of attacking cancer cells. They report the findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

11 Mar 2007

Cannibalistic signals help mammalian embryos develop normally

A cannibalistic process called autophagy spurs dying embryonic stem cells to send "eat me" and "come get me" signals to have their corpses purged, a last gasp that paves the way for normal mammalian development, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

8 Mar 2007

Mayo Clinic tests engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new Phase I clinical trial testing an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. This is the third of a series of molecular medicine studies in patients testing the potential of measles to kill cancer.

5 Mar 2007

New clues may explain why Graves' disease attacks muscle tissue behind eyes

UCLA researchers have uncovered new clues that may explain why Graves' disease (GD) attacks the muscle tissue behind the eyes, often causing them to bulge painfully from their sockets, as in the late actor Marty Feldman.

1 Mar 2007

Green tea and COX-2 inhibitors combine to slow growth of prostate cancer

Drinking a nice warm cup of green tea has long been touted for its healthful benefits, both real and anecdotal. But now researchers have found that a component of green tea, combined with low doses of a COX-2 inhibitor, could slow the spread of human prostate cancer.

1 Mar 2007

Scientists alter electrical properties of cells inducing regeneration

Scientists at Forsyth may have moved one step closer to regenerating human spinal cord tissue by artificially inducing a frog tadpole to re-grow its tail at a stage in its development when it is normally impossible. Using a variety of methods including a kind of gene therapy, the scientists altered the electrical properties of cells thus inducing regeneration.

28 Feb 2007

Aspirin offers help for Barrett's esophagus

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found that people with the most-aggressive form of Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition that can lead to esophageal cancer, may benefit the most from preventive therapy with aspirin, ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs.

27 Feb 2007

Genetically caused deafness may be reversible by compensating for a missing protein

Emory University researchers have found that in mice, increasing the amount of the protein connexin26 in the ear's cochlea compensates for an absence of another protein, connexin30.

26 Feb 2007

New understanding of how and why Taxol works in patients with breast cancer

Cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have taken a step towards understanding how and why a widely used chemotherapy drug works in patients with breast cancer.

22 Feb 2007

Scientists identify specific enzymes that make meningitis hard to fight

Two enzymes in meningitis bacteria which prevent the body from successfully fighting off the disease, and make the infection extremely virulent, have been identified in new research published today.

22 Feb 2007

Chemotherapy drug bortezomib packs a one-two punch

Cancer can be wily, and those who treat the disease have amassed a wide array of weapons with which to fight it and kill tumors.

20 Feb 2007

Watercress shows anti-cancer potential

Eating watercress daily can significantly reduce DNA damage to blood cells, which is considered to be an important trigger in the development of cancer, University of Ulster scientists revealed.

18 Feb 2007

HIV protein TAT used to pull protein Bim into cancer cells - helps kill cancer cells

Cancer cells are sick, but they keep growing because they don't react to internal signals urging them to die. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found an efficient way to get a messenger into cancer cells that forces them to respond to death signals. And they did it using one of the most sinister pathogens around - HIV.

15 Feb 2007

Variation in gene caspase-8 may help protect against breast cancer

A large-scale analysis of data on breast cancer risk has concluded that a common variation in the gene caspase-8 (CASP8) is associated with a somewhat lower risk of the disease. Variants are small changes that occur in a gene sequence.

13 Feb 2007

Changes in breast cancer management

Aggressive research currently underway brings hope of dramatic advances in breast cancer management, according to a new review.

12 Feb 2007

Calpain-mediated mGluR1-alpha truncation

Tricking a key enzyme can soothe over-excited receptors in the brain, say neuroscientists, calling this a possible strategy against stroke, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

31 Jan 2007

New testing approach to predict outcome in patients with bladder cancer

A new testing approach has been shown to be effective in identifying patients at the highest risk of cancer relapse after surgery for bladder cancer, say researchers in the February issue of The Lancet Oncology.

29 Jan 2007

Hepatitis C virus replication in transfected and serum-infected cultured human fetal hepatocytes

Researchers open the way for improved study of hepatitis C virus by devising a novel virus culture system that allows replication of patient-isolated virus in nontransformed hepatocytes, instead of culture-adapted virus strains in transformed cell lines.

23 Jan 2007

Dendrimer-based targeted delivery of an apoptotic sensor in cancer cells

Taking a critical step toward the development of a multifunctional nanoscale anticancer agent that can detect cancer, treat it, and then report on the success or failure of that treatment, investigators at the University of Michigan have developed a nanoscale sensor of cell death.

22 Jan 2007