Cell Signaling News and Research

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Cell signaling is vital for cells to communicate and coordinate their activities, not just in the human body, but in all organisms. There are thousands of signaling pathways, ranging from protein homeostasis to carcinogenesis and biofilm formation.

Researchers discover how cells flatten out as they adhere to internal bodily surfaces

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how cells in the body flatten out as they adhere to internal bodily surfaces, the first step in a wide range of important processes including clot formation, immune defense, wound healing, and the spread of cancer cells.

18 Jan 2010

Researchers seek to defeat Alzheimer's disease by modifying mice's immune system

Using laboratory mice that had been bred to have brain changes similar to Alzheimer's disease, scientists were able to reduce two characteristic features of the disease by modifying the mice's immune systems with a special peptide (MOG45D) related to the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and nerve fibers. As a result, anti-inflammatory cells were recruited from the blood into the brain, dampening the local inflammatory response.

7 Jan 2010

Jamming bacterial communication may improve chronic wound care

Listening in on bacterial conversations could be the solution for improving chronic wound care, says a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Their findings have been published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.

5 Jan 2010

TheScientist honors Seahorse Bioscience's XF96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer as a 2009 Top Ten Innovation

Seahorse Bioscience, Inc., leader in the design and development of instruments for measuring cellular bioenergetics, announced that TheScientist magazine cited their XF96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer as a 2009 Top Ten Innovation.

30 Dec 2009

Researchers determine structures of two enzymes that customize histones

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have determined the structures of two enzymes that customize histones, the spool-like proteins around which DNA coils inside the cell.

20 Dec 2009

Human protein may help prevent H1N1 infection

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a naturally occurring human protein that helps prevent infection by H1N1 influenza and other viruses, including West Nile and dengue virus.

18 Dec 2009

UCLA researchers find link between brain cancer and fatty acid synthesis

Inhibiting fatty acid synthesis in brain cancer cells may offer a new option to treat about 50 percent of deadly glioblastomas that are driven by amplified signaling of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Dec 2009

Genetic variations in Sonic Hedgehog pathway associated with response to standard immunotherapy

Genetic variations in the Sonic Hedgehog pathway increase the likelihood of recurrence, reduce survival time and limit response to therapy for people with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference.

10 Dec 2009

Cytometry system to precisely control cell movement using sound waves

Applied Biosystems, part of Life Technologies Corporation today announced its entry into the flow cytometry instrumentation market with the debut of the Attune™ Acoustic Focusing Cytometer, a first of its kind cytometry system designed to use sound waves to precisely control the movement of cells.

7 Dec 2009

TGFb growth factor controls spread of cancer cells

The spread, or metastasis, of individual breast cancer cells from the main tumor into the blood circulation to the lungs and other body tissues and organs is under the control of a growth factor abbreviated TGFb, according to a study with laboratory mice that will be presented at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 49th Annual Meeting, Dec. 5-9, 2009 in San Diego.

7 Dec 2009

PEG polymer may prevent GI injury during cancer radiotherapy

A non-absorbed, oral co-polymer therapy under development by Midway Pharmaceuticals demonstrated the ability to protect against damage to healthy gastrointestinal tissues and to prevent lethal bacterial infections in animal models of radiation damage.

3 Dec 2009

CRi announces study results of imaging and analysis platform for drug and molecular diagnostic development

Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi), a leader in biomedical imaging, today announced the results of a study demonstrating for the first time the capability to detect and automatically measure key activity indicators of cancer cell signal transduction pathways in intact tissue.

2 Dec 2009

Wnt and EGFR signaling pathways interact to promote tumor cell invasion and metastasis

Two signaling pathways essential to normal human development - the Wnt/Wingless (Wnt) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways - interact in ways that can promote tumor cell invasion and metastasis, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 25 issue of Molecular Cell.

26 Nov 2009

Study may pave way for potential drug targets in lung cancer treatment

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the Boston University Biomedical Engineering Department have identified a number of proteins whose activation allows them to distinguish between cancer and normal cells with almost 97 percent accuracy.

25 Nov 2009

People with severe EBS at increased risk of skin cancer, say scientists

UK scientists have discovered the link between people with the skin blistering disease Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex-Dowling-Meara, (EBS -DM) - and tumour growth, according to research published in Journal of Investigative Dermatology today (Monday).

25 Nov 2009

Possible new approach to slow the progression of cognitive decline in Down's syndrome

A study by neuroscientist William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School has demonstrated a possible new approach to slowing the inevitable progression of cognitive decline found in Down's syndrome.

19 Nov 2009

Scientists to develop a treatment for rare genetic disorder, FOP

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is taking the first step in developing a treatment for a rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue turns to bone, immobilizing patients over a lifetime with a second skeleton.

13 Nov 2009

Researchers discover a fungal protein that causes disease in plants and animals

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress.

7 Nov 2009

Antiviral protein produced by immune system can tame HIV and other viruses, show researchers

Researchers have shown how an antiviral protein produced by the immune system, dubbed tetherin, tames HIV and other viruses by literally putting them on a leash, to prevent their escape from infected cells.

30 Oct 2009

National Cancer Institute awards Johns Hopkins $14.8 million for cancer research

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology have been awarded $14.8 million from the National Cancer Institute to launch a research center aimed at unraveling the physical underpinnings of the growth and spread of cancer.

26 Oct 2009