T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Protein transporter in the gut could speed drug 'take up'

For poorly absorbed medications, drug makers should consider using natural homing devices to drive the drugs through the hazards of gastrointestinal acidity and enzymes to reach the bloodstream quicker, James Polli, PhD, said today at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in Atlanta.

18 Nov 2008

First tissue-engineered windpipe transplant

The first tissue-engineered trachea (windpipe), utilising the patient's own stem cells, has been successfully transplanted into a young woman with a failing airway.

18 Nov 2008

Two common cancer drugs prevent, reverse type 1 diabetes

Two common cancer drugs have been shown to both prevent and reverse type 1 diabetes in a mouse model of the disease, according to research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco.

18 Nov 2008

Maas Biolab scientists validate cyclosporin human neuroprotection

Maas Biolab researchers CSO Eskil Elmer, M.D., Ph.D. and neuroscientist Magnus Hansson, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues have for the first time ever demonstrated the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) or "megapore" occurs in viable adult human neuron mitochondria and the ability of cyclosporin-A to block its formation.

18 Nov 2008

Gut check reveals vast multicultural community of bugs in bowels

Mention the phrase "diverse ecosystem," and it conjures images of tropical rainforests and endangered coral reefs.

18 Nov 2008

Exercise increases brain growth factor and receptors, prevents stem cell drop in middle age

A new study confirms that exercise can reverse the age-related decline in the production of neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the mouse brain, and suggests that this happens because exercise restores a brain chemical which promotes the production and maturation of new stem cells.

18 Nov 2008

Why only some former smokers develop lung cancer

Canadian researchers are trying to answer why some smokers develop lung cancer while others remain disease free, despite similar lifestyle changes.

17 Nov 2008

Palladin may play important role in metastasis of breast cancer cells

If scientists knew exactly what a breast cancer cell needs to spread, then they could stop the most deadly part of the disease: metastasis.

17 Nov 2008

Scientists use patient's own stem cells to treat heart failure

Researchers at the University of Utah are enrolling people in a new clinical trial that uses a patient's own stem cells to treat ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure.

17 Nov 2008

Study helps clarify role of vitamin D in cancer therapy

A colon cancer cell isn't a lost cause. Vitamin D can tame the rogue cell by adjusting everything from its gene expression to its cytoskeleton.

17 Nov 2008

Researchers find deadly protein that acts as a cancer master switch

Two critical properties of cancer cells are their ability to divide without restraint and to spread away from the primary tumor to establish new tumor sites.

17 Nov 2008

New evidence on how proteins help cells fix broken DNA

Aucott et al. report the first in vivo experiments on the heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) family, which sidles up to silent DNA.

17 Nov 2008

New molecular insight into vertebrate brain development

In the December 1st issue of G&D, Dr. Fred H. Gage (The Salk Institute for Biological Studies) and colleagues reveal a role for the Hippo signaling pathway in the regulation of vertebrate neural development, identifying new factors - and potential therapeutic targets - that may be involved in congenital brain size disorders and neurological tumor formation.

17 Nov 2008

New gene-silencing pathway found in plants

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes.

17 Nov 2008

Scientists identify dangerous 'two-faced' protein crucial to breast cancer spread and growth

Two critical properties of cancer cells are their ability to divide without restraint and to spread away from the primary tumor to establish new tumor sites.

17 Nov 2008

Breakthrough reveals first ever complete structure of a nuclear hormone receptor on human DNA

For decades, scientists have been studying nuclear hormone receptors to gain a better understanding of how they turn genes on and off throughout the body and how they function as key drug targets for a number of diseases, such as diabetes, breast cancer, osteoporosis and high cholesterol. A new UVA Health System study, led by Fraydoon Rastinejad, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and director of the UVA Center for Molecular Design and published in the October 29 issue of Nature, reveals the first ever complete structure of a nuclear hormone receptor on human DNA – a discovery that now clears a new path for scientists to design more effective drugs with fewer associated health risks. “Dr. Rastinejad’s findings fundamentally change the way people all over the world will study how nuclear hormone receptors work and introduces a new platform for designing better drugs,” says Jim Garrison, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at UVA Health System. Nuclear hormone receptors, including the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), are proteins that sit on the surface of cells and bind to specific hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and thyroid hormone. Once the receptor binds to its hormone and its DNA regulatory element, it can cause a number of alterations in the cell, switching genes on and off. These switches control the continual regulation of the metabolic system and reproductive tissues, as well as the development and differentiation of skin, bone and behavioral centers in the brain. “PPARs are widely studied because they regulate the genes that produce fat cells, glucose, insulin, lipids and metabolism,” says Dr. Rastinejad. “That’s what makes them such good drug targets for diseases like diabetes. We can design drugs more rationally to bind to the PPAR nuclear receptor complex to help regulate these functions in the body.” A number of diabetes drugs, called insulin sensitizers, have been developed based on that knowledge, but now that scientists have a clear view into how these receptors bind and what shape they take the door is wide open for the development of better drugs. "After 40 years of nuclear receptor research, we finally can view the first full and complete structure of a nuclear receptor, thanks to Dr. Rastinejad’s break-though achievement,” says Bert W. O’Malley, Ph.D., professor and chairman, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine who is widely considered a top expert in the field.

17 Nov 2008