Tag Archives: gens

Sugar molecule links red meat consumption and elevated cancer risk in mice

In a study published in the Dec. 29 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists found that feeding Neu5Gc to mice engineered to be deficient in the sugar (like humans) significantly promoted spontaneous cancers. The study did not involve exposure to carcinogens or artificially inducing cancers, further implicating Neu5Gc as a key link between red meat consumption and cancer. …

Studies target androgen in breast cancer

“We’re on the cusp of a major revolution in the way we treat breast cancer. We’ve known for years that prostate cancer is driven by androgens and now it’s increasingly clear that androgens and androgen receptors can influence many breast cancers as well. AR is actually even more prevalent in breast cancer than estrogen or progesterone receptors. Targeting androgen receptors in breast cancer gives us an new way to attack the disease,” says Jennifer Richer, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and head of the Richer Laboratory that produced the results. …

Protein that controls the ‘guardian of the genome’ identified

The researchers study the development of T cells and B cells, which are lymphocytes (or immune cells) that play a central role in protecting our body against infections by viruses, bacteria and other microbial agents. “As these lymphocytes develop, they must learn how to recognize different pathogens in the body,” says Dr. M�r�y, Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer research unit at the IRCM. “Part of this process involves the breaking and rearranging of the genes responsible for producing the lymphocyte receptors that recognize these pathogens…

Promising prognostic biomarker candidates for ovarian cancer uncovered

The first study establishes an association of this often-deadly cancer with the immune system and clarified the role of a class of immunogenic tumor antigens known as cancer testis (CT) antigens, and the second reports new evidence that certain molecular interactions influence ovarian cancer prognosis. In context with recent evidence that the immune system can potently inhibit the growth of cancer cells, these novel findings may enable development of a new strategy for identifying those patients most likely to benefit from particular targeted therapies. “There is a lot of interest right now in what to do with the human genome,” says Kevin Eng, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at RPCI who was first author on both studies. …

Integrins losing their grip drive activate T cell immune responses

Integrins are adhesion molecules expressed on the surface of cells. They play a crucial role in “integrating” the cell exterior and the interior cytoskeleton in cells. �The beta2-integrin family members are highly expressed in dendritic cells that are very important in immune responses. Dendritic cells pick up antigens in inflamed tissues and move to lymph nodes where they present the antigen to T cells and activate them to help fight infection…

New discovery in the microbiology of serious human disease

The scientists at the University’s Centre for Biomolecular Sciences have shed new light on how two proteins found on many human cells are targeted by the human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis which can cause life-threatening meningitis and septicaemia. The proteins, laminin receptor (LAMR1) and galectin-3 (Gal-3) are found in and on the surface of many human cells. Previous research has shown they play diverse roles in a variety of infectious and non-infectious diseases. For example, the LAMR1 is a key receptor targeted by disease-causing pathogens and their toxins and is also a receptor for the spread of cancer around the body and for the development of Alzheimer’s. …

Statistical Approach for Calculating Environmental Influences in Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) Results

The approach fills a gap in current analyses. Complex diseases like cancer usually arise from complex interactions among genetic and environmental factors. When many such combinations are studied, identifying the relevant interactions versus those that reflect chance combinations among affected individuals becomes difficult. In this study, the investigators developed a novel approach for evaluating the relevance of interactions using a Bayesian hierarchal mixture framework…