Tag Archives: form

How a molecular Superman protects genome from damage

It’s a familiar scenario, played out hundreds of times in the movies. But the dramatic scene is reenacted in real life every time a cell divides. In order for division to occur, our genetic material must be faithfully replicated by a highly complicated machine, whose parts are tiny enough to navigate among the strands of the double helix. The problem is that our DNA is constantly in use, with other molecular machines continually plucking at its strands to gain access to critical genes. …

A diet for the cell: Keeping DNA fit with fewer calories

Cells harbour genetic material in the form of DNA, which contains all the information required for the cell to function. Every time a cell divides this information has to be precisely copied so that the newly made cell receives a perfect replica in order that it, too, can function properly. …

New blood test determines whether you have or are likely to get cancer

“The test could allow earlier cancer detection, so helping to save peoples’ lives,” said Diana Anderson, a researcher involved in the work from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. To develop this test, Anderson and colleagues took blood samples from a group of people that included healthy individuals, cancer patients and people believed to be at a higher risk than normal to develop cancer…

Study shines new light on genetic alterations of aggressive breast cancer subtype — ScienceDaily

The study, led by Dr. Xiaosong Wang, assistant professor of medicine — hematology and oncology and of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor, published today in Nature Communications and focused on the more aggressive molecular subtype of the estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer known as luminal B breast cancer. …

Self-assembling anti-cancer molecules created in minutes: Like a self-assembling ‘Lego Death Star’

The chemists, led by Professor Peter Scott at the University of Warwick, UK, have been able to produce molecules that have a similar structure to peptides which are naturally produced in the body to fight cancer and infection. Published in Nature Chemistry, the molecules produced in the research have proved effective against colon cancer cells in laboratory tests, in collaboration with Roger Phillips at the Institute for Cancer Therapeutics, Bradford, UK…

‘Molecular scaffolding’ found that maintains skin structure, organization

A study by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Biology, shows how interactions between skin stem cells — the cells responsible for the constant renewal of skin — maintain the architecture of this organ. "We knew that these junctions were important in skin stem cells but the cellular components involved in their structure and function were not yet understood," says Mirna Pérez-Moreno, head of the Epithelial Cellular Biology Group that led the study. Using skin cells derived from mice, researchers have discovered that one of the key elements in the formation and stabilisation of these junctions are microtubules, tubular structures that are part of all cells and that serve as pillars to maintain their form and function. "We have seen for the first time that skin stem-cell microtubules connect with cell-cell junctions to form velcro-like structures that hold the cells together," says Marta Shahbazi, a researcher on Pérez-Moreno’s team and the first author of the study…

Researchers detail possible resistance mechanisms of colorectal cancer to bevacizumab (avastin)

"Think of it like damming a river. Bevacizumab can block the main flow, but then once a tumor’s need builds up behind this dam, water starts to flow around the blockage in the form of streams and tributaries. That’s like these other growth factors — eventually a tumor becomes able to use these tributaries of VEGF-C, VEGF-D and placental growth factor to supply itself with the ‘water’ it needs," says Christopher Lieu, MD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and assistant professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine…