Proliferation News and Research

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Arteries bio-engineered from elderly cells

Researchers from Duke University's Medical Center and Pratt School of Engineering have demonstrated that they can grow new human blood vessels from cells taken from patients who especially need such assistance – older adults with cardiovascular disease.

14 Jun 2005

Researchers discover how microRNA are involved in the development of heart muscle

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how a small molecule of RNA called microRNA - a chemical cousin of DNA - helps fine tune the production of a key protein involved in the early development of heart muscle.

12 Jun 2005

First clues as to why stem cells ignore stop signs in the cell cycle

Everyone knows that stem cells are controversial. Many people know that stem cells can grow into virtually any cell type found in the body, from a red blood cell to a muscle cell to a brain cell. But no one really knows why stem cells continue to divide and renew themselves long after the point where other cells stop dividing.

10 Jun 2005

Lorus Therapeutics receives patent allowance to protect novel anticancer drug

Lorus Therapeutics today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, GeneSense Technologies Inc. (GeneSense), has received notice from the European Patent Office of its intention to grant GeneSense's application for a patent of its novel antisense drug, GTI-2501.

9 Jun 2005

New understanding of microRNAs

Ribonucleic acid, or RNA, has long been thought to be important only to translate a gene's DNA into the proteins that are cells' workhorses. But new evidence shows that tiny bits of RNA not used to make proteins actually play central roles in normal biology and in the development of cancers.

8 Jun 2005

Researchers discover quick new way that mosquitoes can pass West Nile virus to each other

The new study challenges fundamental assumptions about the virus' transmission cycle and may help explain why it spread so rapidly across North America despite experts' predictions that it would progress more slowly or even die out.

6 Jun 2005

Test accurately predicts aggressiveness of breast cancer

A test that measures how quickly cells are dividing is an accurate way for doctors to predict the aggressiveness of breast cancer tumors, even among women with very early stages of the disease, researchers told the 2nd ESMO Scientific & Educational Conference (ESEC) in Budapest, Hungary.

6 Jun 2005

Discovery will lead to more effective treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension

A University of Alberta research team has discovered important new information they hope will lead to more effective treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)--a deadly form of high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries caused by uncontrolled cell growth.

5 Jun 2005

Suppression of growth hormone and related compounds beginning in early adulthood may delay the onset or progression of several types of cancer

A modest suppression of growth hormone and related compounds beginning in early adulthood may delay the onset or progression of several types of cancer, researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and other centers reported today at ENDO 2005, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in San Diego.

5 Jun 2005

Exposure to aflatoxins that contaminate crops in developing countries can be reduced by a simple, cost-effective intervention

Exposure to a cancer-causing toxin that contaminates crops in developing countries can be reduced by a simple, cost-effective intervention on post-harvest storage, concludes a study in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

3 Jun 2005

New approach to inhibiting blood vessel growth or angiogenesis

A manmade protein with a tail of amino acids delivered to target cells can dramatically reduce blood vessel growth that obstructs vision or feeds a tumor, researchers have found.

31 May 2005

Ceramide can be administered through the blood stream to target and kill cancer cells

A Penn State College of Medicine study shows for the first time in an animal model that ceramide, a naturally occurring substance that prevents the growth of cells, can be administered through the blood stream to target and kill cancer cells.

25 May 2005

Incretin hormones, a new wave of promising diabetes research

A new understanding of specialized incretin (or gut) hormones may lead to significant advances in the treatment and management of type 2 diabetes. This conclusion and other recent research were reported recently at the 14th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress of the American Association for Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) in Washington, DC.

23 May 2005

New polysaccharide may help combat multidrug resistance in cancer

In a recent study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists report that a molecule previously thought to play a purely structural and inert role in cells is actually involved in multidrug resistance in cancer.

22 May 2005

Researchers prevent post-traumatic brain damage using experimental drug

In animal studies, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center have shown how traumatic brain injury leads to loss of brain function - and found that an experimental drug can stop the damage and promote recovery.

18 May 2005

New drug combination prevents breast cancer growth pre-surgery

A new type of drug originally developed for lung cancer can reduce the size of breast cancer tumours when taken in combination with other drugs.

17 May 2005

Gefitinib (Iressa) could reduce the size of breast cancer tumours

Giving women with early breast cancer a drug called gefitinib (Iressa) before surgery could reduce the size of their tumours, suggests a randomised trial published online today by The Lancet Oncology.

17 May 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

Intralesional immunotherapy for common warts is effective and safe

Injection of skin test antigens (preparations used in skin tests for immunity) into warts appears to stimulate the immune system and successfully treat the injected wart and also helps to treat distant non-injected warts, according to a study in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology.

16 May 2005

Critical lock and key mechanism found for the assembly of tumor blood vessels

A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply.

3 May 2005