Signaling Pathway News and Research

RSS

TSC and PTEN genes important in controlling blood precursor cells in Drosophila

UCLA stem cell scientists have shown that two common tumor suppressor genes, TSC and PTEN, are vital to regulating the stem cell-like precursor cells that create the blood supply in Drosophila, the common fruit fly.

6 Sep 2012

Researchers discover how tamoxifen-resistant breast-cancer cells grow and proliferate

A study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) has discovered how tamoxifen-resistant breast-cancer cells grow and proliferate.

31 Aug 2012

PD0325901 drug may hold potential to prevent neurofibromatosis 1 in children

A drug originally developed to stop cancerous tumors may hold the potential to prevent abnormal brain cell growth and learning disabilities in some children, if they can be diagnosed early enough, a new animal study suggests.

31 Aug 2012

Scientists decode signals that boost the burning of fat

The numbers of obese people are climbing steeply all over the world - with obvious major consequences for their health. Due to excess food intake and a lack of physical activity, but also due to genetic factors, the risk for overweight people dying from diseases like coronary heart disease, diabetes und atherosclerosis increases.

29 Aug 2012

Profilin-1 gene influences survival time in Lou Gehrig's disease

A team of scientists, including faculty at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), have discovered a gene that influences survival time in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

27 Aug 2012

ALDH enzyme marks melanoma stem cells

Cancer stem cells are defined by three abilities: differentiation, self-renewal and their ability to seed a tumor. These stem cells resist chemotherapy and many researchers posit their role in relapse. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Stem Cells, shows that melanoma cells with these abilities are marked by the enzyme ALDH, and imagines new therapies to target high-ALDH cells, potentially weeding the body of these most dangerous cancer creators.

24 Aug 2012

Microtubule stiffening worsens skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

University of Maryland (UM) researchers and collaborators report in the journal Science Signaling that skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is worsened by stiffening of the microtubule cytoskeleton that provides structure inside muscle cells.

23 Aug 2012

Study identifies certain small molecule chemicals that can disrupt quorum sensing in A. baumanni

Acinetobacter baumanni, a pathogenic bacterium that is a poster child of deadly hospital acquired infections, is one tough customer.

22 Aug 2012

Researchers identify key element in the development of Burkitt lymphoma

Burkitt lymphoma is a malignant, fast-growing tumor that originates from a subtype of white blood cells called B lymphocytes of the immune system and often affects internal organs and the central nervous system. Now Dr. Sandrine Sander and Professor Klaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have identified a key element that transforms the immune cells into malignant lymphoma cells.

14 Aug 2012

Neutrophils play an unexpected role in mediating insulin resistance

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say neutrophils, an abundant type of white blood cell typically tasked with attacking bacteria and other foreign invaders, also plays an unexpected role in mediating insulin resistance - the central characteristic of type 2 diabetes, which afflicts an estimated 26 million Americans.

6 Aug 2012

New role for oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell self-renewal

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Manchester, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a new role for an oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and in reprogramming adult cells into an ESC-state, which will aid in the development of future cancer therapies.

3 Aug 2012

EPHA3 mutations may be important drivers of lung cancers

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have identified how one of the genes most commonly mutated in lung cancer may promote such tumors.

31 Jul 2012

Scientists identify mechanisms by which GLP-1 protects against kidney disease, diabetes

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have identified biological mechanisms by which glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a gut hormone, protects against kidney disease, and also mechanisms that inhibit its actions in diabetes.

24 Jul 2012

Researchers identify several gene mutations responsible for medulloblastoma

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less-toxic, better-targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said.

23 Jul 2012

Bryologs more potent than prostratin in treating HIV

Thanks to antiretrovirals, an AIDS diagnosis hasn't been a death sentence for nearly two decades. But highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, is also not a cure.

19 Jul 2012

Inhibiting STAT3 might unleash an effective anti-lymphoma immune response

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues have demonstrated that the inhibition of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in mouse models of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), an aggressive and incurable subtype of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that becomes resistant to treatment, can harness the immune system to eradicate residual malignant cells responsible for disease relapse.

19 Jul 2012

Communication between brain and muscle cells is short-lived without LRP4 protein

Communication between the brain and muscle must be strong for us to eat, breathe or walk. Now scientists have found that a protein known to be on the surface of muscle cells must be present in both tissues to ensure the conversation is robust.

12 Jul 2012

Colon cancer cells use clever trick to migrate: Study

How does a tumor cell set up a signaling pathway in order to metastasize? Scientists at Technische Universit-t M-nchen's (TUM) Klinikum rechts der Isar and Helmholtz Zentrum M-nchen have made a significant discovery in this area by studying colon cancer.

11 Jul 2012

Broken heart syndrome arms against epinephrine high

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or “broken heart syndrome,” may actually protect the heart from very high levels of epinephrine, suggest results from an animal study.

10 Jul 2012