Tag Archives: biology

Research uncovers key difference between our bodies’ fight against viruses and bacteria

The study, published in the journal Nature Immunology and led by Professor Uwe Vinkemeier in the University’s School of Life Sciences, centred on STAT1, a protein that can bind DNA and hence plays a vital role in regulating genes in the body. STAT1 responds to interferon signals, hormone-like molecules which control communication between cells to trigger defensive action by the body’s immune system when pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites are detected. …

Capturing a hard-wired variability: What makes some identical twins noticeably different?

"We have captured a fundamental randomness at the level of gene expression that has never before been described — one that persists throughout development and into adulthood," says Ludwig scientist Rickard Sandberg at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The discovery was made possible by a powerful new technique developed by Sandberg’s lab for analyzing the global expression of genes in single cells. With the exception of a subset of genes found on sex chromosomes, every mammal inherits one copy of every gene from each of its parents. Each of those copies is known as an allele, and alleles often differ measurably from their genomic siblings — a fact that accounts for a good deal of human and animal diversity…

Researchers discover tumor suppressor gene in very aggressive lung cancer

In addition to identifying the tumor suppressor role of MAX in lung cancer, the group led by Montse Sanchez-Cespedes has unveiled a functional relationship between MAX and another tumor suppressor, BRG1, in virtue of which BRG1 regulates the expression of MAX through direct recruitment to the MAX promoter. However, the functional connection is even more complex. On one hand, the presence of BRG1 is required to activate neuroendocrine transcriptional programs and to up-regulate MYC-targets, such as glycolytic-related genes. Moreover, the depletion of BRG1 strongly hinders cell growth, specifically in MAX-deficient cells, heralding a synthetic lethal interaction. …

Regulation of cancer stem cell growth, survival

In this paper, the authors show evidence indicating the presence of autocrine/paracrine EPO in the conditioned medium of cultured breast cancer cells and a functional role of an EPO-EPOR autocrine/paracrine loop in regulating tumor cell invasion and migration, and the stem-ness of breast cancer cells. The data support a novel paradigm wherein autocrine/paracrine EPO may regulate tumorigenesis of breast cancer via stimulating a small percentage of stem-like cancer cells or tumor-initiating cells. This mode of EPO action may explain why some studies reported in literature failed to demonstrate a pro-proliferative and pro-survival role of EPO in cancer cells when whole-populations of cancer cells were analyzed in these studies. source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106160121.htm

Novel non-invasive therapy prevents breast cancer formation in mice

The therapy emerged from a sophisticated effort to reverse-engineer gene networks to identify genes that drive cancer. The same strategy could lead to many new therapies that disable cancer-causing genes no current drugs can stop, and it also can be used to find therapies for other diseases…

New compound could reverse loss of muscle mass in cancer, other diseases

"Age-related loss of muscle mass is a major contributing factor to falls, broken bones, and the loss of mobility," says co-corresponding author David Glass of Novartis, Cambridge, MA, one of the compound’s developers, along with first author Estelle Trifilieff, also of Novartis. "This study illustrates that we may have a powerful tool to prevent muscle wasting and promote growth." The new compound (BYM338) acts to prevent muscle wasting by blocking a receptor that engages a cellular signaling system that exists to put the brakes on muscle development when appropriate. But sometimes those brakes are activated inappropriately, or are stuck on. "Our goal was to release the brakes," says Glass…

First cancer operation room with navigator is created

The system, presented at Gregorio Marañón Hospital, permits real-time interaction with the body of the patient (with its different tissues and cancer) as well as the radiotherapy applicator used to radiate the area affected by the tumor. This innovation will be used in the surgery of cancers treated with intraoperative radiotherapy in the hope of achieving greater precision in the radiation of potentially cancerous tissues after the removal of the tumor. The installation of this new equipment has entailed a complete remodeling of the operating room. …

Computer-controlled table could direct radiotherapy to tumors while sparing vital organs

Sophisticated computer modelling could be used to slowly move the table — known as a couch — and a radiation source in three dimensions to direct radiation precisely to the patient’s tumor, researchers have suggested. At the moment, a radiotherapy table can be angled during treatment, but there is no way to synchronise its rotation with a moving radiation beam. But with some modifications, an upgraded system could move both the patient and the beam while reducing the radiation dose of healthy tissue…

Spontaneous fusion with macrophages empowers cancer cells to spread

The researchers, Alain Silk, Ph.D., Melissa Wong, Ph.D., and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland followed the work of German pathologist Otto Aichel, who suggested in 1911 that a cancer cell under attack by a white blood cell might spontaneously fuse with that cell to produce a hybrid cell with chromosomal abnormalities that could lead to cancer. Although Aichel’s theory was dismissed by his contemporaries, recent discoveries about the broader role of cell fusion in tissue homeostasis and regeneration have revived scientific interest in his ideas. Today there is strong evidence of fusion between cancer and normal cells in human cancer, but it has not been apparent whether cell fusion could provide cancer cells with a selective advantage that enhances cancer progression…

Malignant cells adopt different pathway for genome duplication

For one of our cells to give birth to two daughter cells, it must first replicate its DNA which consists of around 6.4 billion pairs of nucleotides. The double-stranded DNA opens up like a zipper, producing a ‘replication fork’ upon which a group of enzymes move about. Present in different regions in the DNA, the forks move with the progression of the replication. Cell proliferation is controlled in particular by specific genes known as proto-oncogenes…