T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Novel small-molecule-inhibiting drug stops spread of breast cancer cells

Scientists have developed a small-molecule-inhibiting drug that in early laboratory cell tests stopped breast cancer cells from spreading and also promoted the growth of early nerve cells called neurites.

22 Jun 2012

Researchers identify genes that cooperate in development of medulloblastoma

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project lifts lid on the most aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma and finds genes that cooperate in tumor development.

22 Jun 2012

Grb2 switch controls normal signaling through fibroblast growth factor receptor

Once considered merely a passive link between proteins that matter, Grb2 - pronounced "grab2" - actually lives up to its nickname with its controlling grip on an important cell signaling pathway, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the June 22 issue of Cell.

22 Jun 2012

Evolutionary principles of natural selection may be applied to successfully manage cancer

According to researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, cancer is subject to the evolutionary processes laid out by Charles Darwin in his concept of natural selection. Natural selection was the process identified by Darwin by which nature selects certain physical attributes, or phenotypes, to pass on to offspring to better "fit" the organism to the environment.

22 Jun 2012

New methods to track stem cells

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed new methods to track stem cells and further understanding of what happens to them after they have been in the body for a significant period of time.

22 Jun 2012

Faulty conclusions due to contamination, misidentification and redundancy in widely available cell lines

Modern cancer therapies start in cells - researchers compare cancer samples to healthy cells to discover how cancer is genetically different, and use cell lines to test promising new drugs. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Gynecologic Oncology shows that due to a high rate of contamination, misidentification and redundancy in widely available cell lines, researchers may be drawing faulty conclusions.

22 Jun 2012

New melatonin analogues more efficient in inhibiting NOS activity in Parkinson's disease

University of Granada researchers have tested melatonin analogues in rats as it inhibits the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which is involved in the development of conditions as inflammatory bowel disease, septic shock or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

22 Jun 2012

Scientists identify cause of double-cortex syndrome

Researchers at McGill University have discovered the cause of an inherited form of epilepsy. The disease, known as double-cortex syndrome, primarily affects females and arises from mutations on a gene located on the X chromosome. Drs. Susanne Bechstedt and Gary Brouhard of the Department of Biology have used a highly advanced microscope to discover how these mutations cause a malformation of the human brain.

22 Jun 2012

New signal transduction pathway might be fruitful target for cancer drugs

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a new signal transduction pathway specifically devoted to the regulation of alternative RNA splicing, a process that allows a single gene to produce or code multiple types of protein variants. The discovery, published in the June 27, 2012 issue of Molecular Cell, suggests the new pathway might be a fruitful target for new cancer drugs.

22 Jun 2012

Aeterna Zentaris announces perifosine Phase 1 trial on neuroblastoma

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that Phase 1 trial results for its oral PI3K/Akt inhibitor, perifosine, showed the drug's activity against chemo-resistant and radio-resistant neuroblastoma, while allowing good quality of life and sparing vital organs. Neuroblastoma is a type of childhood cancer which usually begins in nerve tissues.

22 Jun 2012

REG3A molecule may lead to new treatments for psoriasis, wound-healing

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder in which skin cells proliferate out of control. For some hard-to-heal wounds, the problem is just the opposite: Restorative skin cells don't grow well or fast enough. In a paper published in the June 21, 2012 issue of Immunity, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe a molecule that may lead to new treatments for both problems.

22 Jun 2012

Lead 8A analog can treat osteosarcoma in children

Jiayuh Lin, PhD, and colleagues at Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a drug to target the most common cancerous bone tumor in children, osteosarcoma, using a version of the FDA-approved drug, Celebrex. The team will soon begin testing the drug using human and canine tumor cell lines thanks to a two-year, $200,000 grant from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.

22 Jun 2012

Even small-stage oral SCC metastases impact prognosis

The presence of even small tumor-cell deposits in the lymph nodes of patients with early oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma reflects a potential for the primary tumor to metastasize, report researchers in Head and Neck.

21 Jun 2012

FOXO3a transcription factor actually promotes growth of anaplastic thyroid cancer

A molecule widely believed to fight many forms of cancer actually helps deadly thyroid tumors grow, and cancer therapies now being tested in humans might boost the activity of this newly revealed bad guy, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida say.

21 Jun 2012

New understanding of how motor neurons die in spinal muscular atrophy patients

Cedars-Sinai's Regenerative Medicine Institute has pioneered research on how motor-neuron cell-death occurs in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, offering an important clue in identifying potential medicines to treat this leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers.

21 Jun 2012

Tinkering with p190RhoGAP molecule shapes development of cardiac stem cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a single protein molecule may hold the key to turning cardiac stem cells into blood vessels or muscle tissue, a finding that may lead to better ways to treat heart attack patients.

21 Jun 2012

Researchers can silence mutated gene responsible for Huntington's with single drug treatment

With a single drug treatment, researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine can silence the mutated gene responsible for Huntington's disease, slowing and partially reversing progression of the fatal neurodegenerative disorder in animal models.

21 Jun 2012

Spinach consumption can partially offset damaging effects of carcinogen

Researchers at Oregon State University for the first time have traced the actions of a known carcinogen in cooked meat to its complex biological effects on microRNA and cancer stem cells.

21 Jun 2012

Researchers discover protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves

A protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

21 Jun 2012

Structure of human P-glycoprotein in a moving 3D computer model

A picture is worth 1,000 words when it comes to understanding how things work, but 3D moving pictures are even better. That's especially true for scientists trying to stop cancer by better understanding the proteins that make some chemotherapies unsuccessful.

21 Jun 2012