Tag Archives: king

Resistant against the flu

Whether it is H1N1, H5N1 or H7N9: The flu virus influenza A exists in many different types as its two coating proteins haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) can be combined in various ways. Theoretically, more than 100 different pairings are possible. Additionally, the coating proteins themselves can undergo changes. This variability is one of the reasons why the flu vaccination has to be renewed every year…

Fundamental differences found between human cancers, genetically engineered mouse models

These genetically engineered mouse models (which usually either overexpress a cancer-causing gene — or "oncogene" — or carry a deletion for a "tumor suppressor" gene) have been extensively used to understand human cancer biology in studies of drug resistance, early detection, metastasis, and cancer prevention, as well as for the preclinical development of novel targeted therapeutics. Cancer is a multistep process that involves a complex interplay between genetic and epigenetic alterations. Epigenetic modifications mediate changes in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. …

Cancer-promoting protein is vital to safe division of tumor cells

In a paper published in Molecular Cell, Zhimin Lu, Ph.D., professor of Neuro-Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues report how a tumor-specific protein flips a crucial switch in an irregular mechanism for mitosis that allows cancer cells to safely divide. "Our research shows that tumor cells rely heavily on a distinct mechanism for orderly cell division that’s driven by oncogene-induced pyruvate kinase M2," Lu said. After a cell begins division by replicating all of its chromosomes, mitosis separates them into two identical sets of chromosomes for both cells. After mitosis, cytokinesis completes cell divison. …

Researchers uncover why combination drug treatment ineffective in cancer clinical trials

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Michael Sawyer and his colleagues, including first author Vijaya Damaraju, recently published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal, Clinical Cancer Research. In the ’80s and ’90s, cancer research focused on finding out which proteins "drove" cancers. New drugs targeting these proteins worked well by themselves, and some in the field believed combining the new drugs with the older chemotherapy drugs would work better than either drug by itself. …

Scientists accelerate aging in stem cells to study age-related diseases like Parkinson’s

"With current techniques, we would typically have to grow pluripotent stem cell-derived cells for 60 or more years in order to model a late-onset disease," says senior study author Lorenz Studer of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. "Now, with progerin-induced aging, we can accelerate this process down to a period of a few days or weeks. This should greatly simplify the study of many late-onset diseases that are of such great burden to our aging society." Modeling a specific patient’s disease in a dish is possible with iPSC approaches, which involve taking skin cells from patients and reprogramming them to embryonic-like stem cells capable of turning into other disease-relevant cell types like neurons or blood cells. But iPSC-derived cells are immature and often take months to become functional, similar to the slow development of the human embryo. …

Drug induces morphologic, molecular, clinical remissions in myelofibrosis

"These are early results but they are promising, says the study’s lead author, Ayalew Tefferi, M.D. a hematologist at Mayo Clinic. "Some patients in our clinical trial taking imetelstat obtained dramatic responses and there have been some complete responses which is almost unheard of for drug therapy in this disease." Myelofibrosis is a chronic myeloid cancer in which bone marrow cells that produce blood cells develop and function abnormally. The result is the formation of scar tissue in the bone marrow (fibrosis), severe anemia that often requires transfusion, weakness, fatigue and an enlarged spleen and liver…

Social stigmas may contribute to African-American college students’ hesitation to breast-feed

"We need to start early with our breast-feeding education and exposure because women decide before they have children whether or not they will breast-feed," Urmeka Jefferson, assistant professor at the Sinclair School of Nursing, said. "We need to figure out how to encourage positive breast-feeding attitudes among young Black women and make them aware that breast-feeding is the normal, natural infant-feeding method." Jefferson surveyed African-American college students about their attitudes and exposure to breast-feeding and their intent to breast-feed future children. She found the majority of students knew the benefits of breast-feeding and had some level of previous exposure, such as friends or parents who had breast-fed their infants…

New vaccination guideline for immunocompromised patients

The new guideline aims to aid primary care physicians and specialists who treat immunocompromised patients (people with compromised immune systems, such as those with cancer, HIV infection and Crohn’s disease), and those who live with immunocompromised patients. "The guideline provides ‘one-stop shopping’ for clinicians caring for children and adults with compromised immune systems and includes recommendations and evidence for all vaccinations, from influenza to chicken pox," said Dr. Rubin…