Cytoplasm News and Research

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SRC-3 gene sends signal to cell membrane to promote cell motility

The master gene called SRC-3 (steroid receptor coactivator 3) not only enhances estrogen-dependent growth of cancer cells by activating and encouraging the transcription of a genetic message into a protein, it also sends a signal to the cell membrane to promote cell motility or movement - a key element of cancer spread or metastasis, said Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) researchers and collaborators in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

15 Feb 2010

NNK induces epigenetic alteration during cancer formation and inhibits tumor suppressor genes

In the history of humans fighting against cancer, the relationship between tobaccos and cancer has been an important subject for the academic and clinical research. By understanding the mechanism of why cancer is caused by tobaccos, scientists around the world all anticipate to solve the mystery of cancer and find the way of prevention and cure.

9 Feb 2010

Leukemia cells rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and evade cell death

Leukemia cells, like most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate their energy, but new research shows for the first time that these cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and to evade cell death.

28 Jan 2010

Discovery challenges understanding of blood cell development

University of Utah researchers led an international team of scientists that is the first to report on the previously undescribed ability of platelets to reproduce themselves in the circulation. Their revolutionary findings were published online Jan. 19, 2010, in the journal Blood.

27 Jan 2010

Understanding mechanism of SIRT6 activity may help treat diabetes and cancer

A study investigating how a cellular enzyme affects blood glucose levels in mice provides clues to pathways that may be involved in processes including the regulation of longevity and the proliferation of tumor cells.

22 Jan 2010

GIND scientists identify major role of TDP-43 in two neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) have identified the reason a key protein plays a major role in two neurodegenerative diseases.

13 Jan 2010

Researchers identify new approach to eliminate side effects of drugs

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken an early step toward identifying a new approach to drug discovery that may eventually yield drugs with fewer side effects.

7 Jan 2010

Rev protein plays essential role in spreading viruses within organism, discover researchers

Professor Denis Archambault of the Department of Biological Sciences of Universit- du Qu-bec - Montr-al (UQAM), and doctoral student Andrea Corredor Gomez have made a major discovery in the field of molecular biology. They have unlocked some of the secrets of a viral protein, known as Rev, which is very different from other proteins of the same type studied to date.

6 Jan 2010

Elusive human protein outsmarted

A team of researchers is being recognized for devising a new way to study a human protein that long has evaded close scrutiny by scientists investigating its role in the communication of important genetic messages inside a cell's nucleus to workhorse molecules found elsewhere.

5 Jan 2010

Influence of key transcription factor is less widespread than thought and varies over time

For decades, science texts have told a simple and straightforward story about a particular protein-a transcription factor-that helps the embryo of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, pattern tissues in a manner that depends on the levels of this factor within individual cells.

18 Dec 2009

New technology sheds light on intracellular transport

Using new technology developed in his University of Oregon lab, chemist Andrew H. Marcus and his doctoral student Eric N. Senning have captured what they describe as well-orchestrated, actin-driven, mitochondrial movement within a single cell.

18 Dec 2009

New biomarkers can predict patients' response to certain drugs

Recent advances in cancer therapeutics have led to the discovery of biomarkers that can predict patient response to certain drugs. Screening for mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGRF) prior to non-small cell lung cancer treatment, for example, has been shown to indentify patients who are likely to respond to treatment with erlontinib. This maximizes the drug's impact, and spares patients who are not likely to benefit from being subjected to potentially debilitating side effects.

19 Nov 2009

New research on viral activity may aid in treating bacterial infections

Viruses are well known for attacking humans and animals, but some viruses instead attack bacteria. Texas A&M University researchers are exploring how hungry viruses, armed with transformer-like weapons, attack bacteria, which may aid in the treatment of bacterial infections.

19 Nov 2009

Research study on cowpox virus

In the annals of medicine, Edward Jenner's 1796 vaccination of a young boy against smallpox, using fluid from cowpox blisters, remains a landmark case. In a new study, Kathryn Sykes, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and her colleagues have taken a fresh look at cowpox.

19 Oct 2009

Magnetic nanoworms and nanocrystals deliver siRNA to tumors

Small pieces of nucleic acid known as short interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, can turn off the production of specific proteins, a property that makes them one of the more promising new classes of anticancer drugs in development. Indeed, at least two siRNA-based anticancer therapies, both delivered to tumors in nanoparticles, have begun human clinical trials.

23 Sep 2009

Study reveals microRNAs affect tumor progression

UCSF researchers have identified collections of tiny molecules known as microRNAs that affect distinct processes critical for the progression of cancer. The findings, they say, expand researchers' understanding of the important regulatory function of microRNAs in tumor biology and point to new directions for future study and potential treatments.

18 Sep 2009

TRAF6 protein plays a role in cell growth and carcinogenesis, says researchers

The mainstay immune system protein TRAF6 plays an unexpected, key role activating a cell signaling molecule that in mutant form is associated with cancer growth, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Aug. 28 edition of Science.

2 Sep 2009

New gene therapy vector developed for transferring therapeutic DNA to a cell's nucleus

A research report featured on the cover of the September 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal describes how Australian scientists developed a new gene therapy vector that uses the same machinery that viruses use to transport their cargo into our cells. As a result of this achievement, therapeutic DNA can be transferred to a cell's nucleus far more efficiently than in the past, raising hopes for more effective treatment of genetic disorders and some types of cancers.

1 Sep 2009

TRAF6 protein can activate a cell signalling molecule associated with cancer

28 Aug 2009

Tiny filaments extending from cells may play a role in common malignant brain tumors

UCSF scientists have discovered that a tiny filament extending from cells, until recently regarded as a remnant of evolution, may play a role in the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

24 Aug 2009