Programmed Cell Death News and Research

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Zinc's role in Alzheimer's disease

Zinc may be a familiar dietary supplement to millions of health-conscious people, but it remains a mystery metal to scientists who study zinc's role in Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other health problems.

23 Mar 2006

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals receives U.S. orphan drug designation for Ceflatonin

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug status for the company's most advanced drug, Ceflatonin, for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

21 Mar 2006

EntreMed announces new U.S. Patent - "Estrogenic Compounds as Anti-Mitotic Agents"

EntreMed has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 7,012,070 covering methods of treatment for a broad range of indications with its lead clinical-stage compound, 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2).

17 Mar 2006

Capsaicin drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves

Capsaicin, the stuff that turns up the heat in jalapeqos, not only causes the tongue to burn, it also drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves, according to studies published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research.

15 Mar 2006

Thalidomide, Lenalidomide show promise against Lou Gehrig's disease

New animal research suggests that two well-studied drugs, thalidomide and its derivative, lenalidomide, might extend the survival of patients with the neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

9 Mar 2006

Defective apoptosis of dendritic cells can be a critical component of autoimmune diseases

The failure of programming that sparks the death of dendritic cells - those that activate the immune system - can initiate autoimmune disease, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.

1 Mar 2006

New mechanism that regulates K-Ras - protein that plays an important role in cancer

Researchers have discovered a protein widely known to cause the out-of-control growth of cells can actually be manipulated to induce those cells to commit suicide, providing a novel target for the development of anti-cancer drugs, according to the results of a new study led by New York University School of Medicine researchers.

21 Feb 2006

Study identifies compounds that overcome a specific type of resistance to chemotherapeutic-induced apoptosis

Treatment of human cancer is often impeded when cancer cells develop resistance to drugs that are designed to induce a type of programmed cell death called apoptosis.

16 Feb 2006

Nod1 found to control tumor growth in certain breast cancers

This protein was previously thought to play a role solely in the innate immune system's response to bacterial infection. In the new study, which will be published on-line by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

12 Feb 2006

Two-drug treatment could help asthma and chronic bronchitis sufferers

Current treatments for asthma and chronic bronchitis aren't able to address the ultimate source of the problem--they can only alleviate symptoms.

7 Feb 2006

Link between high levels of a protein HtrA1 and preeclampsia

Mayo Clinic researchers have found an association between abnormally high levels of a protein named HtrA1 and preeclampsia, a sudden and dangerous rise in blood pressure that can result in premature delivery, disability or death for mother and fetus.

5 Feb 2006

Human umbilical cord blood cells may widen treatment window for stroke

An experimental treatment that spares disability from acute stroke may be delivered much later than the current three-hour treatment standard – a potential advance needed to benefit more stroke victims.

13 Nov 2005

Aspirin and ibuprofen may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett's esophagus

Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition associated with chronic heartburn that affects an estimated 1 million to 2 million Americans.

8 Nov 2005

Study identifies molecular switch that integrates cell survival signals from multiple intracellular signaling pathways

The finding has substantial clinical significance, as mutations in these cell survival-signaling pathways are associated with many human cancers, and a better understanding of how these pathways converge to regulate the delicate balance between cell proliferation and cell death may lead to development of more effective cancer therapies.

17 Oct 2005

WWOX gene finding could lead to a new strategy for treating lung cancer

The research focused on a gene known as WWOX, which is lost or silenced in a large majority of lung cancers, and in cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate, bladder, esophagus and pancreas. The work was led by scientists at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

17 Oct 2005

E-cadherin, that cellular touch so important in cancer

E-cadherin is a molecule involved in adhesion between epithelial cells that also seems to have a protective role in cancer, since its loss is associated with tumour progression and metastases formation in a series of different cancers.

16 Oct 2005

Fijiian seaweed shows potential to kill cancer cells, bacteria and the HIV virus

Researchers have discovered 10 new molecular structures with pharmaceutical potential in a species of red seaweed that lives in the shallow coral reef along the coastline of Fiji in the south Pacific Ocean.

12 Oct 2005

Researchers find CCL5 protein produced in the course of respiratory viral infections can serve to protect macrophages from an untimely death

Enlisted to help fight viral infections, immune cells called macrophages consume virus-infected cells to stop the spread of the disease in the body.

9 Oct 2005

Discovery provides an understanding of the mechanisms of oocyte death and a way to identify potential clinical treatments for infertility

An immature egg's internal nutrient supply is critical to its survival, an insight that offers a new route to understanding and treating infertility due to egg death, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.