Daughter Cell News and Research

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Researchers determine how Ki-67 protein disperses chromosomes in dividing cells

Billions of your cells divide every day. Cell division fuels growth and also replaces short-lived cells in some organs, like your skin, blood, and gut.

30 Jun 2016

Penn researchers help identify unique characteristics of reserve stem cells

Adult stem cells represent a sort of blank clay from which a myriad of different cell and tissue types are molded and as such are of critical importance to health, aging and disease.

16 Jun 2016

Mayo study finds mechanism by which Pten safeguards against tumor formation

Pten (short for phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor that is defective in about 20-25 percent of all patients with cancers. Mayo Clinic researchers now have discovered that Pten safeguards against tumor formation by keeping chromosome numbers intact when a cell splits into two daughter cells.

3 Jun 2016

Cryptococcus research: an interview with Associate Professor Kirsten Nielsen

Cryptococcus is a fungus found in the environment throughout the world that is able to cause disease in humans. While most fungal pathogens don’t receive as much press as their bacterial or viral counterparts, they can be just as deadly.

1 Jun 2016

Nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon act as luminescent markers in early diagnosis of cancer

The group of Russian and French researchers, with the participation of scientists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, has succeeded to synthesize nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon, which exhibited the property of efficient photoluminescence, i.e., secondary light emission after photoexcitation.

22 May 2016

Key protein involved in mitosis helps prevent abnormal distribution of chromosomes

A tension-sensitive "fail safe" protein helps make sure that when our cells divide the two resulting cells inherit the normal number of chromosomes, researchers from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center report today, May 5, in the journal Cell.

6 May 2016

LJI study could provide important target for autoimmune disease interventions

Follicular helper T cells (Tfh cells), a rare type of T cells, are indispensable for the maturation of antibody-producing B cells. They promote the proliferation of B cells that produce highly selective antibodies against invading pathogens while weeding out those that generate potentially harmful ones.

3 May 2016

Hippo signaling pathway controls phases of quiescence in fruit fly central nervous system

Neural stem cells are responsible for the formation of differentiated daughter cells in the developing brain. If no new cells are needed, the stem cells may enter a resting phase called quiescence. Biologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have now discovered that the phases of quiescence in the Drosophila fruit fly central nervous system are controlled by the Hippo signaling pathway. Drosophila serves as a model organism that helps geneticists to decode the molecular fundamentals of cellular biology and unravel mechanisms that are conserved in human beings and other vertebrates.

21 Apr 2016

Distribution of c-Myc protein during asymmetric cell division influences fate, roles of activated T cells

The fates of immune cells can be decided at the initial division of a cell. Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that the production of daughter cells with different roles in the immune system is driven by the lopsided distribution of the signaling protein c-Myc. Nudging c-Myc in one direction or the other could make vaccines more effective or advance immunotherapies for cancer treatment. The research appears online today in the scientific journal Nature.

12 Apr 2016

SLU scientist describes several tactics that can help cells overcome lesions

In a recent review paper published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, SLU scientist Alessandro Vindigni, Ph.D., describes the strategies cells use when their DNA faces replication stress, challenges that may derail a cell's ability to reproduce.

29 Mar 2016

Study uncovers role of small RNAs in fine-tuning egg development

All multicellular organisms that reproduce sexually rely on eggs to support early life. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Ludwig Cancer Research used the tiny roundworm C. elegans as a model to better understand how eggs enable embryonic development, using only the materials already present in them.

25 Mar 2016

Researchers elucidate how cells are blind to chromosome cohesion defects

Research led by Raquel Oliveira, group leader at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, has elucidated how cells are almost blind to chromosome cohesion defects.

24 Mar 2016

High-fat diet may make intestinal stem cells to become cancerous

Over the past decade, studies have found that obesity and eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet are significant risk factors for many types of cancer. Now, a new study from Whitehead Institute and MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research reveals how a high-fat diet makes the cells of the intestinal lining more likely to become cancerous.

3 Mar 2016

Duchenne muscular dystrophy: direct effect on muscle stem cells? An interview with Dr Rudnicki

For twenty years, it has been understood that dystrophin is expressed in differentiated muscle fibers where it is part of a protein complex that crosses the membrane and connects the extracellular matrix to the actin network inside the cell to provide structural integrity.

5 Feb 2016

Researchers find how microtubules, motor proteins assemble into macroscopic networks

What bones are to bodies, the cytoskeleton is to cells. The cytoskeleton maintains cellular structure, builds appendages like flagella and, together with motor proteins, powers cellular movement, transport, and division. Microtubules are a critical component of the cytoskeleton, vital for cell division and, because of that, an excellent target for chemotherapy drugs.

29 Jan 2016

Rockefeller University researchers identify new mechanism involved in early stem cell development

Stem cells work throughout our lives as a sort of handyman, repairing damaged tissues and renewing some normal ones, like the skin we shed. Scientists have come to understand much about how stem cells function when we are adults, but less is known about where these stem cells come from to begin with, as an embryo is developing.

18 Jan 2016

Newly discovered mechanism may help explain why some embryos not useful for fertility treatments

It's the dream of many infertile couples: to have a baby. Tens of thousands of children are born by in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a technique commonly used when nature doesn't take its course. However, embryos obtained when a sperm fertilizes an egg in a test tube often have defects.

5 Jan 2016

TBK1 protein plays vital role in the process of cell division

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have found that a protein called TBK1 plays an important role in the process of cell division, especially at a stage called mitosis.

11 Dec 2015

Researchers find new significant link between NPM protein and development of AML

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has found a new significant correlation between the protein nucleophosmin (NPM) and the development of an aggressive form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

8 Dec 2015

NEK7 enzyme acts as on-off switch in innate immune system

UT Southwestern Medical Center and California researchers today provide the first report that an enzyme previously known solely for its role in cell division also acts as an on-off switch in the innate immune system -- the body's first defense against infection.