Cell Division News and Research

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Cell biologists may have discovered a new effective therapy for psoriasis

About two million Germans suffer from psoriasis (from the Greek psora meaning ‘itching, scratching’). In this incurable disease the regeneration of the epidermis is speeded up enormously: whereas it normally renews itself in just under four weeks, this period is cut to four to seven days in psoriasis patients.

16 Aug 2004

Researchers map structure of anti-cancer molecule and open the door to the creation of more effective cancer treatments

Scientists at Emory University, in collaboration with researchers at three national laboratories, have solved the structural puzzle of how an emerging class of promising cancer drugs works to halt cell division. The discovery potentially opens the door to the creation of more effective cancer treatments.

13 Aug 2004

Possible role for BK virus in development of prostate cancer

Now, new research by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School suggests the intriguing possibility that this common virus also may play a role in prostate cancer – the second-leading cause of deaths from cancer in American men.

9 Aug 2004

Promising families of drugs combat the spread of tumors in different ways

Pharmaceutical companies seeking to design more effective cancer chemotherapy agents may have an easier road ahead than was previously believed.

9 Aug 2004

Physicians offer several promising and unique approaches to brain tumor treatment

An estimated 41,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004, according to the American Brain Tumor Association.

5 Aug 2004

New screening test for oesophageal (food pipe) cancer

A new screening test for oesophageal (food pipe) cancer could dramatically improve survival from the disease, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer this week.

5 Aug 2004

Gene responsible for infertility

A paper describing discoveries about the role of a gene that is important in all animals, plants, and fungi is published in the 20 July 2004 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Jul 2004

8.5 million Euros to address a fundamental question on mitosis: How is cell division regulated?

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) join forces with top scientists from eleven research institutes in Austria, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom for “MitoCheck” – the largest integrated research project on cell cycle control within the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme (FP6).

15 Jul 2004

Chemoradioimmunotherapy for advanced breast cancer

A successful, and novel, technique to kill metastatic breast cancer cells by circumventing their chemo- and radioresistant mechanisms was by presented by Dr John Giannios, Head of Radiotherapeutic Cancer Research at the IASO Hospital

8 Jul 2004

New compound, ZK-CDK combines the inhibition of tumour cell growth as well as inhibition of tumour angiogenesis in one single molecule

Treatment with a new dual cell cycle and angiogenesis pathway inhibitor blocks VEGF-induced vascular permeability, inhibits tumour angiogenesis and induces apoptosis in human tumour models

7 Jul 2004

Combining targeted immunotherapy with chemotherapy and radiation therapy to successfully kill metastatic tumour cells

A successful, and novel, technique to kill metastatic breast cancer cells by circumventing their chemo and radioresistant mechanisms was by presented by Dr. John Giannios, Head of Radiotherapeutic Cancer Research at the IASO Hospital

7 Jul 2004

Chromosomal chaos in early embryonic development is linked to abnormalities in cytokinesis and spindle formation

Abnormalities in the spindles (the bi-polar thread like structures that link and pull the chromosomes during cell division) of human embryos before implantation may be the primary reason for many of the chromosome defects observed in early human development

29 Jun 2004

Discovery of a gene-expression signature common to distinct types of cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins and the Institute of Bioinformatics in India have discovered a gene-expression "signature" common to distinct types of cancer

23 Jun 2004

Targeting a gene that protects cancer cells from the lethal effects of radiotherapy could help improve the impact of treatment

Targeting a gene that protects cancer cells from the lethal effects of radiotherapy could help improve the impact of treatment, a leading Cancer Research UK scientist will tell conference delegates in Glasgow this week.

21 Jun 2004

Geneticists determine the lack of chromosomes

A healthy person’s genome contains 46 chromosomes, but an individual cell can contain less. Contemporary methods allow to determine the value of losses rather accurately. The Tomsk researchers’ effort has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

15 Jun 2004

African-American women less likely to survive breast cancer than white women

A new study led by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center may help explain why African-American women with breast cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to survive the disease than white women.

15 Jun 2004

Proteins transform DNA into molecular velcro

Proteins critical for compacting DNA in preparation for cell division actually interact with the double helix to fashion it into a kind of “molecular Velcro,” researchers have discovered.

5 Jun 2004

Study may help oncologists tailor chemotherapy to patients based on their genetic make-up

Genetic variations in an individual’s ability to repair DNA damage may help predict survival in lung cancer patients treated with the common chemotherapy drugs cisplatin or carboplatin, a new study shows.

2 Jun 2004

Cellular garbage plays a key role in the process of cytokinesis, or cell division

A cellular structure discovered 125 years ago and dismissed by many biologists as "cellular garbage" has been found to play a key role in the process of cytokinesis, or cell division, one of the most ancient and important of all biological phenomena.

27 May 2004

Evidence that abnormally short telomeres play a role in the early development of cancer

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that abnormally short telomeres - the end-caps on chromosomes that normally preserve genetic integrity -appear to play a role in the early development of many types of cancer.