Tag Archives: institute

Finding blood clots before they wreak havoc

There is no fast and easy way to diagnose these clots, which often remain undetected until they break free and cause a stroke or heart attack. However, new technology from MIT may soon change that: A team of engineers has developed a way to detect blood clots using a simple urine test. The noninvasive diagnostic, described in a recent issue of the journal ACS Nano, relies on nanoparticles that detect the presence of thrombin, a key blood-clotting factor…

Database of disease genes shows potential drug therapies

The database was developed by identical twin brothers, Obi Griffith, PhD, and Malachi Griffith, PhD, whose interest in pairing drugs with genes is as much personal as it is scientific. Their mother died of breast cancer 17 years ago, just weeks before their high school graduation. "We wanted to create a comprehensive database that is user-friendly, something along the lines of a Google search engine for disease genes," explained Malachi Griffith, a research instructor in genetics. "As we move toward personalized medicine, there’s a lot of interest in knowing whether drugs can target mutated genes in particular patients or in certain diseases, like breast or lung cancer. …

Immune system discovery could lead to vaccine to prevent mono, some cancers

EBV causes infectious mononucleosis and cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which is the most common cancer in China, as well as opportunistic cancers in people with weakened immune systems. A member of the herpes virus family that remains in the body for life, the virus infects epithelial cells in the throat and immune cells called B cells. The researchers discovered that the virus triggers molecular events that turn off key proteins, making infected cells invisible to the natural killer T (NKT) immune cells that seek and destroy EBV-infected cells. "If you can force these invisible proteins to be expressed, then you can render infected cells visible to NKT cells, and defeat the virus. …

Newly discovered gene regulator could precisely target sickle cell disease

The researchers — led by Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, and Stuart Orkin, MD, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s — reported their findings today in Science. Prior work by Orkin and others has shown that when flipped off, BCL11A causes red blood cells to produce fetal hemoglobin that, in SCD patients, is unaffected by the sickle cell mutation and counteracts the deleterious effects of sickle hemoglobin. BCL11A is thus an attractive target for treating SCD. …

Genes protect themselves against being silenced

As explicated today in the journal Nature, methylation in fact enforces gene silencing, and it is levels of a newly identified form of RNA produced by individual genes that determines whether they are turned off by the addition of a methyl (CH3) group by the enzyme DNA methylase 1 (DNMT1). The study, led by HSCI Principal Faculty member Daniel Tenen, MD, found that during transcription of DNA to RNA, a gene produces a small amount of what the investigators named "extracoding RNA," which stays in the nucleus and binds to DNMT1, blocking its ability to methylate, or silence the gene. The discovery of RNA’s new function has therapeutic potential as an on-off switch for gene expression. "We have demonstrated, at least for one gene in detail, and probably thousands more, that extracoding RNA serves to protect the gene from methylation," said Tenen, who heads laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, where he is director, at the National University of Singapore. …

After almost a century, a question answered; genes protect themselves against being silenced

As explicated today in the journal Nature, methylation in fact enforces gene silencing, and it is levels of a newly identified form of RNA produced by individual genes that determines whether they are turned off by the addition of a methyl (CH3) group by the enzyme DNA methylase 1 (DNMT1). The study, led by HSCI Principal Faculty member Daniel Tenen, MD, found that during transcription of DNA to RNA, a gene produces a small amount of what the investigators named "extracoding RNA," which stays in the nucleus and binds to DNMT1, blocking its ability to methylate, or silence the gene. The discovery of RNA’s new function has therapeutic potential as an on-off switch for gene expression…

High-dose radiation therapy for bladder cancer has comparable tumor control compared to surgery

Cystectomy (partial or whole bladder removal surgery) is often the standard treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer; however, advanced RT techniques that spare the bladder may be an effective alternative for patients who are unsuitable for or unwilling to undergo cystectomy. This research was conducted to determine if some of the drawbacks of RT of the bladder, such as local recurrence and late toxicity risks, could be reduced with a lower dose of RT being delivered to the areas of the bladder outside of the tumor region, and to assess the tumor control and toxicity of RT. …

Novel way discovered to ‘switch on’ tumor suppressors that have been silenced

The research group, led by Professor Daniel Tenen, Director of CSI Singapore, demonstrated for first time that RNA interacts with an enzyme essential for DNA methylation, known as DNA methyl transferase 1 (DNMT1), offering strategies for the treatment of diseases such as cancer. In this study, the researchers focused on a new class of RNAs, which is critical in regulating DNA methylation. …