Programmed Cell Death News and Research

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Genomic screen identifies 273 human proteins required for HIV propagation

In some ways, HIV resembles a minimalist painter, using a few basic components to achieve dramatic effects.

11 Jan 2008

Genetic evolution of tumours according to their growth dynamics.

A study co-directed by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and La Paz hospital in Madrid identifies a protein of high expression in cells located at the tumour boundary that could play an essential role in the evolution of tumours and their invasive potential.

11 Jan 2008

The drug sirolimus shrinks tumors, improves lung function

The drug sirolimus, normally used to help transplant patients fight organ rejection, may eventually be used as a less invasive treatment for a tumor called angiomyolipomata in patients with who would otherwise face surgery.

10 Jan 2008

Two genes are important key to regulating immune response

A research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City has identified two genes that may be crucial to the production of an immune system cytokine called interleukin-10 (IL-10)

2 Jan 2008

New information about how normal cells and cancer cells survive under stress

Scientists report that an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor may have both positive and negative effects on the growth of tumors, depending on whether or not the tumor cells have enough oxygen.

28 Dec 2007

Complex path to cell death shown by identification of new genes

Can a tiny winged insect's salivary glands really tell us about processes relevant to human disease? Yes, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), who gained new insights into autophagy - a cellular degradation process associated with a form of programmed cell death - by studying the salivary gland cells of the fruit fly.

17 Dec 2007

Bortezomib pushes cancer cells into overdrive, so that they self-destruct

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene.

21 Nov 2007

How inhibitor-of-apoptosis chemicals kill tumors

Chemical compounds specially designed to neutralize proteins that would otherwise allow tumor cells to cheat death have been recognized for some time by scientists as a promising new avenue for cancer therapy.

16 Nov 2007

New explanation for how regulatory networks of genes evolved

When ancient retroviruses slipped bits of their DNA into the primate genome millions of years ago, they successfully preserved their own genetic legacy.

15 Nov 2007

New finding about the relationship between stress and cancer

One way environmental stress causes cancer is by reducing the activity level of an enzyme that causes cell death, researchers say.

6 Nov 2007

Modified Curcumin demonstrates even greater tumor suppressive properties

Curcumin, the yellowish component of turmeric that gives curry its flavor, has long been noted for its potential anti-cancer properties.

6 Nov 2007

Chlorophyll breakdown in ripening apples and pears produces highly active antioxidants

Fall, the season of colors: Leaves turn red, yellow, and brown. The disappearance of the color green and the simultaneous appearance of these other colors are also signs of ripening fruit.

5 Nov 2007

How tumors respond to EGFR inhibitors

Three papers published this month in the open access general medical journal PLoS Medicine investigate how tumors respond to a an important class of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy, known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors.

31 Oct 2007

Emerging cancer therapies and novel targets

What are the cancer drugs of tomorrow and how will they be developed? At the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, researchers will present some answers to these and other pressing questions regarding emerging cancer therapeutics.

25 Oct 2007

Combination targets offer new hope in fight against cancer

While some targeted therapies - drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells - work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies.

24 Oct 2007

Six years advance warning of Alzheimer's

One of the most distressing aspects of Alzheimer's disease is the difficulty in determining whether mild memory problems are the beginning of an inevitable mental decline.

15 Oct 2007

Inhaled ozone impairs the body's first line of defense

As policy makers debate what levels of ozone in the air are safe for humans to breathe, studies in mice are revealing that the inhaled pollutant impairs the body's first line of defense, making it more susceptible to subsequent foreign invaders, such as bacteria.

1 Oct 2007

Mutation of the COX2 gene can double or treble a woman's risk of ovarian cancer

Researchers in Portugal have discovered that a specific mutation of the COX2 gene seems to play a role in the onset of ovarian cancer, increasing women's susceptibility to developing the disease.

26 Sep 2007

Fetal neurons play role in adult brain

Subplate neurons - once thought to die after directing the wiring of the cerebral cortex or gray matter - remain in the white matter of the adult brain in small numbers and maintain activity, communicating with other neurons in the brain said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a report that appears in today's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience

12 Sep 2007

Customized virus kills brain tumor stem cells that drive lethal cancer

A tailored virus destroys brain tumor stem cells that resist other therapies and cause lethal re-growth of cancer after surgery, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Sept. 18 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

12 Sep 2007