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Ingredient in red peppers inhibits prostate cancer in laboratory studies

Capsaicin is the pungent ingredient in red peppers and is presently used as a topical pain reliever. Now, a new study shows it may be justified to evaluate capsaicin for inhibiting prostate cancer (CaP) in patients.

5 Apr 2006

Genetic clues to longevity

In a new study, Drs. Gil Atzmon and Nir Barzilai at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that people harbor alleles--alternative forms of a gene--that confer the same sort of longevity advantage.

4 Apr 2006

Mitochondria induce nuclear deformation

In a paper being presented in two American Physiological Society sessions at Experimental Biology 2006, a joint Estonian-French team demonstrated "for the first time that mitochondria are able to induce nuclear deformation, suggesting that mitochondria may mechanically regulate nuclear function."

4 Apr 2006

NHGRI announces comprehensive strategy to identify structural variation in human genome

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced its latest round of sequencing targets, with an emphasis on enhancing the understanding of how human genes function and how genomic differences between individuals influence the risk of health and disease.

19 Mar 2006

The transcription factor MEF/ELF4 regulates the quiescence of primitive hematopoietic cells

Scientists have uncovered new information about what orchestrates the complex balance between blood stem cells and mature blood cells, a relationship that is often disrupted in leukemia.

15 Mar 2006

Scientists gain better understanding of the behavior of leukemic cells

Scientists have uncovered new information about what orchestrates the complex balance between blood stem cells and mature blood cells, a relationship that is often disrupted in leukemia.

15 Mar 2006

Australian researchers find key 'go-betweeen' in heart disease

Medical researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Australia, have shed light on a little-known mechanism involved in the thickening of arteries, a process associated with heart disease.

13 Mar 2006

Smk-1 is the first known gene that regulates longevity without disrupting life-sustaining function

Within a hormone-triggered cascade of molecular signals that plays a crucial for a wide range of physiological functions, researchers for the very first time have identified a protein that functions specifically to extend lifespan and youthfulness - without disrupting fertility

13 Mar 2006

Gene regulation determines human-chimp differences

The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees are due more to changes in gene regulation than differences in individual genes themselves

9 Mar 2006

ATF2 protein may play a crucial role in cancer's ability to resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a molecular mechanism that may play a crucial role in cancer's ability to resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment and that also may be involved in Alzheimer's and heart disease.

9 Mar 2006

Metabolic switch required for cellular adaptation to hypoxia

Two new studies in the March Cell Metabolism reveal a survival mechanism by which cells adapt to oxygen starvation by ratcheting down their demand.

9 Mar 2006

Research shows promise for the advancement of cancer and stem-cell research

The paper explains how proteins, known as epigenetic activators (such as Ash1 from the fruit fly Drosophila), bind to their target DNA and activate genes that determine what function a cell will have in the body.

1 Mar 2006

Removing a gene involved in repairing damaged DNA causes metabolic syndrome

Removing a gene involved in repairing damaged DNA causes mice to develop the metabolic syndrome, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered.

21 Feb 2006

Cellular discovery suggests possibilities for drug therapy for kidney disease

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have reported a discovery at the cellular level that suggests possibilities for drug therapy for kidney disease.

13 Feb 2006

Protein associated with growth of tumors may prevent the spread of cancer

A protein associated with the growth of head and neck tumors may be a tumor suppressor that could prevent the spread of cancer when it is expressed above normal levels, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

13 Feb 2006

Cancer researchers find evolutionary change that occurred in a key developmental signalling pathway

Cancer researchers at the University of Helsinki, in trying to find a novel tumor suppressor gene, instead found an important evolutionary change that occurred in a key developmental signalling pathway. The finding suggests a potential mechanism for evolution of complex intercellular signalling pathways.

9 Feb 2006

Researchers find new mechanism potentially explaining evolution of signalling pathways

7 Feb 2006

Hepatitis C recurs rapidly after liver transplant

When a diseased liver is removed from a patient with Hepatitis C (HCV), serum viral levels plummet. However, after receiving a healthy liver transplant, virus levels rebound and can surpass pre-transplant levels within a few days, according to a new study published in the February 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

2 Feb 2006

Missing protein C/EBPb may be cause of infertility

The absence of a key protein may lead to infertility. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that experiments involving mice -- to be detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences -- indicate that the transcription factor protein C/EBPb must be present in the uterus for pregnancy to occur.

18 Jan 2006

Tissue-specific RNAi reveals that WT1 expression in nurse cells controls germ cell survival and spermatogenesis

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center say they have jumped a significant hurdle in the use of RNA interference (RNAi), believed by many to be the ultimate tool to both decode the function of individual genes in the human genome and to treat disease.

16 Jan 2006