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NIPA levels act as switch regulating cell division

Cells control mitosis (cell division) by assembling a biochemical switch to block it or by disassembling the switch to trigger it, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Technical University of Munich.

18 Jul 2005

Novel way in which the brain size of developing mammals may be regulated

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a novel way in which the brain size of developing mammals may be regulated. They have identified a signaling pathway that controls the orientation in which dividing neural progenitor cells are cleaved during development.

14 Jul 2005

Drugs that block the enzyme Odc prevent the onset of cancers

The drug DFMO prevents cancer in laboratory models of lymphoma but fails to kill existing cancerous cells that have lost the ability to self-destruct, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

16 May 2005

Abnormal cell division explained

Why do some cancer cells divide not into two, as cells are supposed to do in mitosis, but into three-four new cells that look thoroughly abnormal? This question was raised as early as the 1890s by the German tumor researcher David Hansemann, who could observe the strange mitosis even using the microscopes of his day. Now another David, Lund University researcher David Gisselsson, has found an answer.

28 Apr 2005

Yeast discovery provides new insights into familial dysautonomia

A discovery in yeast that has important implications for finding a cure for a devastating disease of nerve cell failures -- called familial dysautonomia (FD) -- has been made by Cornell University researchers.

6 Apr 2005

DNA repair kit announced by scientists

A study by scientists at Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. has demonstrated the use of the Company's zinc finger DNA-binding protein (ZFP) technology to achieve highly efficient, permanent correction of a disease-causing gene in primary human cells.

5 Apr 2005

Protein Mnd2 protects chromosome bonds

The protein Mnd2 inhibits premature separation of chromosomes during the formation of gametes. The now published discovery of this regulatory function may help to understand the origin of some common congenital chromosome defects.

30 Mar 2005

Level of immune cell DNA in the blood might help predict success of stem cell transplantation

Measuring the quantity of a certain type of immune cell DNA in the blood could help physicians predict whether a bone marrow stem cell transplant will successfully restore a population of infection-fighting cells called T lymphocytes in a child.

7 Feb 2005

Local environment directly influences adult stem cell reservoirs

Using the common fruit fly, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that an intricate set of signals released by stem cells' surroundings governs their maintenance.

26 Jan 2005

Single abnormal cell can duplicate to form cancerous tumors

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified how a single aberrant cell can duplicate to form cancerous tumors, suggesting a specific protein mechanism as a target for the treatment of cancer, they report in a paper titled "Spindle Multipolarity Is Prevented by Centrosomal Clustering," published in the Jan. 7 issue of Science.

6 Jan 2005

Discovery shows how embryonic stem cells perform 'quality control' inspections

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a fundamental mechanism used by embryonic stem cells to assure that genetically damaged stem cells do not divide and pass along the damage to daughter stem cells.

26 Dec 2004

Needling chromosomes yields insights into cell division

By impaling individual chromosomes with glass needles one thousandth the diameter of a human hair, a Duke University graduate student has tested their "stickiness" to one another during cell division. Her uncanny surgical skills have added a piece to the large and intricate puzzle of how one cell divides into two -- a process fundamental to all organisms.

23 Dec 2004

New insight into how our body cells block the development of cancer

Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Cell Unit, at the University of Cambridge, have revealed a new insight into how our body cells block the development of cancer.

11 Nov 2004

Researchers attempt to quantify processes underlying cell heterogeneity

Combining the latest methods in gene splicing and computer modeling, Rice University researchers are trying to develop a predictive framework for one of the most basic and complex biological phenomena — cellular heterogeneity, or the ability of genetic clones to act and behave differently when exposed to the same set of environmental stimuli.

8 Nov 2004

New insight into the role of the breast cancer gene known as BRCA2

Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Cell Unit, Cambridge have gained an important new insight into the role of the breast cancer gene known as BRCA2.

29 Oct 2004

Researchers analyze the mechanisms and proteins that underlie mitochondria

New findings explaining the complicated process by which the "energy substations" of human cells split apart and recombine may lay the groundwork for new treatment approaches to a wide range of diseases, including some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

12 Oct 2004

The prion appears to function as an evolutionary stepping stone

“This prion,” explains Lindquist, “has a capacity to hide and release genetic information throughout the entire genome that can contribute to new traits in a complex way.”

16 Aug 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

Paclitaxel analog kills more cancer cells than natural product

Paclitaxel, a natural compound from yew trees, is the world's best-selling anticancer drug. Several analogs are in clinical trial, with others in preclinical development. One problem that paclitaxel and all its analogs share, however, is that they are all highly complex compounds, and cannot be prepared synthetically in a commercially viable way.

21 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