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Combination produces more proliferative, enduring central memory T cells for cellular therapy

Treating T cells harvested from a patient with a combination of an epigenetic drug and a cytokine while expanding the cells in the lab re-programs them into a stronger T cell type that persists longer than its comrades, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cancer Immunology Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

25 Mar 2020

3D chromatin landscapes in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia important beyond DNA code changes

Children with aggressive blood cancers have differences -- not just in the DNA code of their blood cells -- but also in the heavily twisted protein superstructure that controls access to genes.

23 Mar 2020

Bacteria-trapping protein may contribute to breast cancer metastasis

The protein peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), which enables some immune cells to trap bacteria, promoted breast cancer metastasis in mice when expressed in cancer cells, according to data published in Molecular Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

19 Mar 2020

Bacterial extracellular vesicles could combat antibiotic resistance

Children's National Hospital researchers for the first time have isolated bacterial extracellular vesicles from the blood of healthy donors, a critical step to better understanding the way gut bacteria communicate with the rest of the body via the bloodstream.

18 Mar 2020

Researchers elucidate new mechanism for controlling DNA methylation in cells

Why normal cells turn into cancer cells One of the factors is deeply related to the failure of the cell differentiation mechanism called DNA methylation.

17 Mar 2020

Scientists create new tool to study the genetic underpinnings of brain disorders

Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine and colleagues created a new computational tool called H-MAGMA to study the genetic underpinnings of nine brain disorders, including the identification of new genes associated with each disorder.

9 Mar 2020

Scientists discover novel molecular pathway involved in immunotherapy response

Scientists at The Wistar Institute discovered a novel pathway that enables detection of DNA in the cytoplasm and triggers inflammation and cellular senescence.

20 Feb 2020

DNA misfolding linked to heightened risk for Type 1 diabetes

It's known that genetics, or an inherited genome, is a major determinant of one's risk for autoimmune diseases, like Type 1 diabetes. In human cells, a person's genome--about six feet of DNA--is compressed into the micrometer space of the nucleus via a three-dimensional folding process.

11 Feb 2020

Research provides new insights into molecular basis of X-chromosome inactivation

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and Institut Curie in Paris have shown that the protein SPEN plays a crucial role in the process of X-chromosome inactivation, whereby female mammalian embryos silence gene expression on one of their two X chromosomes.

7 Feb 2020

Research uncovers how HIV develops resistance to key drugs

The mechanism behind how HIV can develop resistance to a widely-prescribed group of drugs has been uncovered by new research from the Crick and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with the findings opening the door to the development of more effective treatments.

30 Jan 2020

Study may help develop ibrutinib-based combination therapies for blood cancer

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of blood cancer (leukemia) in the Western world, affecting approximately 1.2% of all cancer patients.

30 Jan 2020

New discovery changes the understanding of gene expression

A group of University of Chicago scientists has uncovered a previously unknown way that our genes are made into reality.

22 Jan 2020

Pilot study highlights the effect of chemotherapy on male fertility

A pilot study conducted by INRS researchers highlights the effect of chemotherapy on male fertility before and after puberty.

22 Jan 2020

Researchers discover new regions of non-coding DNA that may lead to cancer growth

In an unprecedented pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes, researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research have discovered new regions of non-coding DNA that, when altered, may lead to cancer growth and progression.

17 Jan 2020

Study sheds new light on impact of common plasticizer on human reproductive health

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the New York State Department of Health have discovered how a common plasticizer associated with human reproductive abnormalities likely does its damage at the molecular level.

10 Jan 2020

Study shows potential new approach to treating two common subtypes of lymphoma

A study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated a potential new approach to treating two of the most common subtypes of lymphoma through manipulation of molecular programs controlled by the cAMP-response element binding protein.

8 Jan 2020

Mount Sinai awarded more than $10 million in federal funding for research on glioblastoma

The Department of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received more than $10 million in federal funding for several projects focusing on brain tumor research.

2 Jan 2020

Common plasticizer leads to fertility problems in roundworms

A new study published 9th January in PLOS Genetics by Mónica Colaiácovo of Harvard Medical School and colleagues reports that the most commonly used plasticizer, diethylhexyl phthalate, leads to fertility problems by causing an excess number of breaks in the DNA during egg production, and then interfering with the repair systems that fixes the breaks.

2 Jan 2020

Study opens up new treatment possibilities for Wilms' tumor

As an embryo develops, its cells must learn what to do with the thousands of genes they've been equipped with. That's why each cell comes with a detailed gene-expression manual outlining exactly which genes should be switched on, to what extent, and when.

18 Dec 2019

Penn researchers track defective sperm epigenome linked to male infertility

One out of eight couples has trouble conceiving, with nearly a quarter of those cases caused by unexplained male infertility. For the past decade, research has linked that infertility to defective sperm that fail to "evict" proteins called histones from DNA during development.

16 Dec 2019