In a study published in the Feb. 16, 2015, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Duke researchers and their colleagues revealed that mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene contribute to the formation of benign tumors in cartilage that can be a precursor to malignancies. These benign tumors, known as enchondromas, are associated with severe pain, fractures, and skeletal deformities…
If the laboratory findings are supported by tests in animal models, the breakthrough could hold the promise of increasing the effectiveness of radiation and chemotherapy in shrinking or even eliminating tumors. The key is to build up a “good” protein — p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) — so that it weakens the cancer cells, leaving them more susceptible to existing cancer-fighting measures. The breakthrough detailed appeared in the Nov. 24 online edition of the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). …
The researchers investigated patterns of molecules called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), a class of RNA molecules more than 200 nucleotide units long that are involved in regulating genes. The researchers examined the abundance, or expression, of lncRNAs in patients who were 60 years and older and who had cytogenetically normal (CN) AML. The study is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how the common chemotherapy drug topotecan can drastically suppress the expression of Topoisomerase-1, a gene that triggers the creation of proteins essential for normal brain function. Specifically, the drug tamps down the proteins that are necessary for neurons to communicate through synapses. However, the researchers found that the protein levels and synaptic communication return to normal when the drug is removed. …
“Triclosan’s increasing detection in environmental samples and its increasingly broad use in consumer products may overcome its moderate benefit and present a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action,” said Robert H. Tukey, PhD, professor in the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Tukey led the study, together with Bruce D…
The research teams from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute worked together to discover the three-dimensional structure of a key cell death protein called Bak and reveal the first steps in how it causes cell death. Their studies were published in Molecular Cell and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Programmed cell death, known as apoptosis, occurs naturally when the body has to remove unwanted cells. Chemical signals tell the cell to die by activating the apoptosis proteins Bak and Bax, which break down the ‘energy factory’ of the cell, known as the mitochondria. …
In the United States, more than 2,700 new cases of eye cancer are diagnosed each year, according to the American Cancer Society, and the mortality rate is high for the disease. Some patients undergo a life-saving surgery known as exenteration that involves removing the contents of the eye socket and other tissue…
“To develop next generation nanomedicines with superior anti-cancer attributes, we must understand the correlation between their physicochemical properties — specifically, particle size — and their interactions with biological systems,” explains Jianjun Cheng, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a recent study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Cheng and his collaborators systematically evaluated the size-dependent biological profiles of three monodisperse drug-silica nanoconjugates at 20, 50 and 200 nm…
Although it had long been suspected that obesity ages a person faster, it hadn’t been possible to prove the theory, said study first author Steve Horvath, a professor of human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a professor of biostatistics at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. …
In research published in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Prof. Ben-Jacob and researchers from Rice University and the University of Texas M.D…