Mammalian Cells News and Research

RSS

Anti-cancer antibodies produced in chickens

A team of researchers have produced the first fully functional, human sequence monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in chickens.

29 Aug 2005

First study to test the role of RNA chemical modifications on immunity

The investigators published their findings in the August issue of Immunity. "We think this study will open a new area of research in understanding how our immune systems protect us," says Weissman.

23 Aug 2005

Asymmetric cell divisions are essential for skin development

It took almost 10 years for Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Rockefeller University, to find a postdoctoral fellow who shared her curiosity for the direction of cell divisions in the skin.

18 Aug 2005

New gene technique useful for identifying genes and drug targets for diseases such as cancers and diabetes

A collaborative project between American and Chinese researchers developed a way to study the function of genes in mice and man by using a moveable genetic element from moths, according to a report in the journal Cell.

13 Aug 2005

New findings could help scientists design more effective treatments to slow or halt the progression of HIV infection

Random fluctuations in gene expression can influence the fates of cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) far more than previously thought, according to new research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

28 Jul 2005

Sigma-Aldrich licenses RNAi patent estate from Alnylam

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced today that Alnylam has granted Sigma-Aldrich a non-exclusive license to provide research products and services in RNA interference (RNAi) under the Kreutzer-Limmer patent family.

19 Jul 2005

How Ebola virus infects cells - discovery

Ebola virus reproduction in laboratory-grown cells is severely hampered by enzyme-inhibiting chemicals, and these chemicals deserve further study as possible treatments for Ebola virus infections in humans, report scientists supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

23 Apr 2005

Ancient protein could be critical to stopping the uncontrolled division of tumor cells that cause cancer

Molecular Biology and Microbiology professor Mark Muller has found that the protein, called MKRN1, promotes the destruction of an enzyme called telomerase that enables rapid duplication of cells. While researchers have known for years that healthy cells repress telomerase, they haven't understood why.

19 Apr 2005

Researchers set a new standard in the design and engineering of nuclear hormone receptor-based genetic on-off switches

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have set a new standard in the design and engineering of nuclear hormone receptor-based genetic on-off switches, without causing new problems or aggravating existing ones.

7 Apr 2005

HHS awards $97 million contract to Sanofi Pasteur to speed the production process for new influenza vaccines

United States Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $97 million contract to Sanofi Pasteur to speed the production process for new influenza vaccines for the U.S.

3 Apr 2005

Gene/yeast finding links processes in heart disease and cancer

By studying a little-known yeast too primitive to get diseases, Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered a surprising link between two processes at play in heart disease and cancer in people.

28 Mar 2005

Ultrafast laser detection of cancer cells also may improve understanding of stem cells

To investigate tumors, pathologists currently rely on labor-intensive microscopic examination, using century-old cell-staining methods that can take days to complete and may give false readings.

23 Mar 2005

Molecule called DJ-1 is likely to be involved in the generation of human tumors

Scientists have discovered that a molecule called DJ-1 is likely to be involved in the generation of human tumors through negative regulation of the well-known tumor suppressor, PTEN. The research, published in the March issue of Cancer Cell, has important implications for determining the prognosis of some human cancers, and may prove to be a suitable target for cancer therapy.

14 Mar 2005

DNA weak links may provide clues to cancer biology

The chromosomes of mammals, including humans, contain regions that are particularly prone to breaking under conditions of stress and in cancer. Now, new research by geneticists at Duke University Medical Center finds that yeast cells also contain such weak links in DNA and begins to reveal the molecular characteristics of these links that might help to explain them.

13 Mar 2005

Programmed cell death may provide clues to cancer and autoimmune diseases therapies

Dartmouth Medical School geneticists have found links in the cell death machinery of worms and mammals, opening new avenues for studying and targeting a process vital to development and implicated in cancer and autoimmune diseases.

16 Feb 2005

Evolutionarily ancient enzyme-repair system used to identify type of DNA damage responsible for the onset of skin-tumor development

In a finding that broadens our insight into the cause of certain kinds of UV-induced skin cancer, researchers at Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) have employed an evolutionarily ancient enzyme-repair system to identify the principal type of DNA damage responsible for the onset of skin-tumor development.

26 Jan 2005

Plant protein mimics hormone that mitigates diabetes and obesity

A common protein that protects plants from fungal infection mimics the activity of a hormone in mammals that is linked to weight loss and is believed to play a role in mitigating heart disease, obesity and diabetes, according to a team of researchers at Purdue University and several collaborating institutions.

25 Jan 2005

Patent issued for generating genetically evolved mammalian cells through the regulation of mismatch repair

Morphotek announced today the issuance of United States Patent 6,825,038 covering the regulation of mismatch repair (MMR), a powerful process for generating functional diversity in mammalian cells, to yield sibs exhibiting desirable phenotypes for target discovery, drug screening and/or product development.

13 Dec 2004

Scientist develops way to deliver promising genetic tool into living cells

By exploiting an HIV protein that readily traverses cell membranes, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have developed a new way to introduce a gene-like molecule called a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) directly into live mammalian cells, including human embryonic stem (ES) cells.

6 Dec 2004

New and revealing portrait of Yersinia pestis emerges

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the “Black Death” or “Bubonic” plague, has been a scourge of human civilization. One of the most virulent bacterial pathogens known, killing nearly 90% of those infected, Y. pestis was responsible for three historic pandemics that shattered whole societies.

4 Dec 2004