T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

Bone repair using patient's stem cells comes closer

Hitherto it has been difficult to induce adult human stem cells to produce bone, e.g. in order to repair bone tissue. Researchers at the University of Twente have shown that if the enzyme PKA is previously activated in the stem cells in the lab, following implantation this results in substantial bone formation.

26 May 2008

Discovery on how an Helicobacter pylori toxin gets into cells

Helicobacter pylori is one tough bug. It can survive in the human stomach, a zone with a pH somewhere between that of lemon juice and battery acid. Now researchers have discovered how an H. pylori toxin gets into cells, a feat that helps the bacterium live in one of the most inhospitable environments in the body

26 May 2008

Researchers find multiple cancer genes cooperate to cause malignant cell transformation

Pinpointing new targets for cancer treatments is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, yet a University of Rochester team has discovered an entire novel class of genes they believe will lead to a greater understanding of cancer cell function and the next generation of effective and less harmful therapies for patients.

26 May 2008

Intracellular antibody mops up mutant protein in Huntington's disease model

Scientists have created a tool for mopping up the clumps of mutant protein that drive neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease. Emory University researchers engineered a virus to make an intracellular antibody or "intrabody" against huntingtin, the protein whose mutant forms poison the brain cells of people with Huntington's.

26 May 2008

Cancer vaccine could be in the pipeline

Cancer researchers in the UK say they are one step closer to producing a specific targeted vaccine for killing cancer cells.

25 May 2008

Scientists image a single HIV particle being born

A mapmaker and a mathematician may seem like an unlikely duo, but together they worked out a way to measure longitude - and kept millions of sailors from getting lost at sea. Now, another unlikely duo, a virologist and a biophysicist at Rockefeller University, is making history of its own.

25 May 2008

New cancer vaccine protein target found

Cancer Research UK scientists have identified an important new protein target which could be used to produce highly focused vaccine therapies for cancer - according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

25 May 2008

Embryonic pathway delivers stem cell traits

Studies of how cancer cells spread have led to a surprising discovery about the creation of cells with adult stem cell characteristics, offering potentially major implications for regenerative medicine and for cancer treatment.

25 May 2008

How cells size up their growth opportunities

The intricate mechanisms that switch cell growth on and off are regulated by mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) protein complexes, which sense nutrients within the cell. When amino-acids are abundant, the protein complexes promote cellular growth, and when nutrients are scarce they signal that hard times are ahead to the cell. But just how nutrients regulate mTOR signaling to control size has remained a mystery. Now, scientists in the lab of Whitehead Member David Sabatini have found the first step in the process.

25 May 2008

Discovery provides hope for patients with pancreatic cancer

This week researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Oregon Stem Cell Center and the OHSU Digestive Health Center are shining a new ray of hope on patients with pancreatic cancer. They've developed new reagents, or antibodies, that can recognize this often lethal disease. This important discovery may one day lead to earlier detection and treatment.

22 May 2008

Most HIV cases traced to transmission of single virus

Most HIV cases can be traced to the transmission of a single virus, according to a study published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, the Birmingham News reports. According to researcher George Shaw, a professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, the findings are surprising and could have an impact on HIV/AIDS vaccine development.

22 May 2008

Fluorescent 'barcodes' called nanostrings could revolutionise diagnostics

A new technology with research and clinical application including the early detection of disease has been invented and developed by University of Queensland researchers.

From NanoString Technologies 22 May 2008

An alternative strategy for HIV vaccine research

Today, Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) report that their unique HIV vaccine formulation was effective in eliciting strong and balanced immune responses in healthy human volunteers.

22 May 2008

Research shows protecting p53 from degradation also defends metastasis-promoter

Efforts to protect the tumor-suppressor p53 could just as easily shelter a mutant version of the protein, causing cancer cells to thrive and spread rather than die, according to research by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported in the current issue of the journal Genes and Development.

22 May 2008

Real-time observation of the DNA-repair mechanism

For the first time, researchers at Delft University of Technology have witnessed the spontaneous repair of damage to DNA molecules in real time.

22 May 2008

NCI scientists visualize gene regulation in living cells

A research team led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has applied advanced imaging methods and computer simulations to be able to glance at the regulation of a cancer-related gene in a living cell. They found that the efficiency with which the components of the cell's gene reading machinery come together has an impact on gene expression, the process by which a gene translates its information into a new protein. The findings, published in the May 23, 2008 issue of Molecular Cell, shed new light on the means by which living cells regulate gene activity.

22 May 2008

High resolution confocal endomicroscopy probe system tells whether colon polyp is benign without removal

A probe so sensitive that it can tell whether or not a cell living within the human body is veering towards cancer development may revolutionize how future colonoscopies are done, say researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

21 May 2008

Possible biological explanation for C-Section-linked allergies and asthma found

Scientists believe they may have identified a biological explanation for the link between cesarean-section delivery and risk of allergy and asthma in childhood. They will present their findings at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Tuesday, May 20.

21 May 2008

Scientists reveal the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells

New research by the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has revealed the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells, which may lead to a new understanding of and potential treatments for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. While scientists have long understood that lipid droplets contribute to fat build up in cells, the genes involved in droplet biology have been a focus of extensive research.

21 May 2008

New insights into the neural circuitry of trust

The brain centers triggered by a betrayal of trust have been identified by researchers, who found they could suppress such triggering and maintain trust by administering the brain chemical oxytocin. The researchers said their findings not only offer basic insights into the neural machinery underlying trust; the results may also help in understanding the neural basis of social disorders such as phobias and autism.

21 May 2008