T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Master gene could lead to new ways of cancer treatments

The master gene that causes blood stem cells to turn into disease-fighting 'Natural Killer' (NK) immune cells has been identified by scientists, in a study published in Nature Immunology today. The discovery could one day help scientists boost the body's production of these frontline tumour-killing cells, creating new ways to treat cancer.

14 Sep 2009

New method for detecting oxidative stress in tumor cells

The growth of cancerous tumors is fueled, at least in part, by the buildup of free radicals---highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules.

14 Sep 2009

Researchers discover two proteins controlling the stem cell switch to skin cells

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, in collaboration with colleagues at the Centro de Investigaciones Energ-ticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT) in Madrid, have discovered two proteins that control when and how these stem cells switch to being skin cells.

14 Sep 2009

Scientists to get funding from The European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) expects to fund some 240 top researchers in its second prestigious ERC Starting Grant competition. This new wave of grantees follows the 299 researchers who received grants in the first Starting Grant competition in 2007.

11 Sep 2009

Abell Foundation plays major role in BioMarker's $1.7M private placement funding

BioMarker Strategies announced today that it has raised $1.7 million in a private placement funding round that occurred in conjunction with the Maryland Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit Program. BioMarker Strategies is developing the patent-pending, SnapPath™ testing system to enable oncologists to determine the most effective drug treatment for their cancer patients.

11 Sep 2009

Stem Cell Therapy International to merge with Histostem Korea

Stem Cell Therapy International Inc. (OTCBB: SCII) announced today that the Company has agreed to be a party to the settlement between Histostem, Incorporated, a Delaware Corporation ("Histostem USA") and Histostem Corporation, a Korean Corporation ("Histostem Korea"). The agreement is contingent upon the close of the SCII and Histostem Korea merger, and specifically, the agreement is contingent that at the close of the merger, SCII will acquire no less than 90% of the total fully diluted equity of Histostem Korea.

11 Sep 2009

Pluristem begins enrollment following FDA approval for clinical trials of its PLX-PAD stem cell product

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (NasdaqCM: PSTI) (DAX: PJT) today announced that it has begun enrolling patients in the U.S. for a Phase I clinical trial with its unmatched placenta-derived stem cell product, PLX-PAD, the Company’s leading product candidate for the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI), the end-stage of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

11 Sep 2009

Roche scientists use their xCELLigence System to analyze nutlin-induced apoptosis

The p53 tumor suppressor, a transcription factor that activates or inhibits hundreds of genes, either directly or indirectly, triggers a variety of cellular effects and plays a central role in the cellular defense against cancer. One of the main approaches for pharmacological intervention is to activate wild-type p53 in cancer cells by blocking MDM2 from binding to p53.

11 Sep 2009

Abstracts on Merck Serono oncology treatments to be presented at ECCO and ESMO

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, continues to drive the global effort to ensure patients receive personalized cancer therapies. A total of 17 abstracts concerning Merck Serono oncology treatments will be presented at the joint 15th Congress of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) and 34th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), to be held in Berlin from 20-24 September 2009.

11 Sep 2009

New stem cell technology could destroy breast cancer cells

GENova Biotherapeutics, Inc., ("GENova"), released important information about its innovative method for destroying breast cancer cells, using stem cell technology.

11 Sep 2009

Cellular mechanosensory system may yield new insights for cancer therapy

Every moment, millions of a body's cells flawlessly divvy up their genes and pinch perfectly in half to form two identical progeny for the replenishment of tissues and organs - even as they collide, get stuck, and squeeze through infinitesimally small spaces that distort their shapes.

11 Sep 2009

ERC funds DiaDrug project to study the link between insulin resistance and albuminuria

11 Sep 2009

Second-hand tobacco smoke exposure results in NAFLD

A team of scientists at the University of California, Riverside has found that even second-hand tobacco smoke exposure can result in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common disease and rising cause of chronic liver injury in which fat accumulates in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol.

11 Sep 2009

Researchers discover the role of endothelin in vaso-occlusive pain

Agonizing physical pain, known as vaso-occlusive pain, can afflict children who have sickle cell disease (SCD). In some cases infants as young as two months of age suffer vaso-occlusive pain so severe that opiate medications and hospitalizations are their only relief. Researchers believe vaso-occlusion is caused by a blockage of the blood vessels that occurs when sickle shaped red cells attempt to pass through the round blood vessels.

11 Sep 2009

Ascent Therapeutics demonstrates Pepducin efficacy

Ascent Therapeutics announced today that the Company has demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models in two Pepducin projects. One of the projects targets CXCR4, a key regulator of stem cell and inflammatory cell homeostasis. A second project has yielded the first potent Pepducin agonists for an undisclosed cardiovascular target.

11 Sep 2009

Zevalin radioimmunotherapy drug approved for treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

SNM applauds the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recent decision to approve the radioimmunotherapy (RIT) drug, Zevalin, as a front-line treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

11 Sep 2009

eChIP genetic technique developed to examine FA proteins with DNA crosslinks

While Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare and dangerous disease, new laboratory research at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shows it may lead researchers toward clues in more common diseases, including highly hereditary types of breast cancer.

11 Sep 2009

New study reveals that actual sex ratios can sway from the ideal

In a perfect world, for every boy there would of course be a girl, but a new study shows that actual sex ratios can sometimes sway very far from that ideal. In fact, the male-to-female ratio of one tropical butterfly has shifted rapidly over time and space, driven by a parasite that specifically kills males of the species, reveals a report published online on September 10th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

11 Sep 2009

Fau and MELK genes may help improve breast cancer diagnosis and treatment

Researchers at Keele University have identified two genes which may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients.

11 Sep 2009

TrKA and CCM2 combination results in pediatric tumour regression

Why are some pediatric cancers able to spontaneously regress? Prof. Michael Fainzilber and his team of the Weizmann Institute's Biological Chemistry Department seem to have unexpectedly found part of the answer. Further research towards a better understanding of the mechanism of action might hopefully lead, in the future, to the development of drugs that will be able to induce regression of certain tumors.

10 Sep 2009