Their investigation began with only a tiny blood platelet, but quickly they discovered opportunities for growth and expanding the breadth of the research. “We have a lot to gain by looking at platelets and how they influence cancer and healing,” said Dr. Camillo Bulla. …
In a paper featured on the cover of the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Michigan State University researchers provide the first detailed examination of a set of mutations similar to those present in the human cancer gene, said Irina Pushel, MSU undergraduate and co-author. “By systematically evaluating mutations of increasing severity, we now have a model to better predict how we think the protein will react with each mutation,” said Pushel, who co-authored the paper with Liang Zhang, lead author and MSU graduate student, and Bill Henry and David Arnosti, MSU molecular biologists. …
In the current issue of PLoS Genetics, Michigan State University genetic scientists have begun to understand how the rest of the genome interacts with such mutations to cause the differences we see among individuals. "It’s been known for a while that genetic mutations can modify each other’s effects," said Ian Dworkin, MSU associate professor of zoology and co-author of the paper. "And we also know that the subtle differences in an individual’s genome — what scientists call wild type genetic background — also affects how mutations are manifested." Dworkin and Sudarshan Chari, zoology doctoral student and the paper’s lead author, wanted to know how common it was for wild type genetic background to alter the way genetic mutations interact with each other. …
Now it seems each week yields important new discoveries about the deadly skin cancer. "I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and now is by any measure the most exciting time for melanoma research," said Brian Nickoloff, director of the Nicholas V. Perricone, M.D., Division of Dermatology and Cutaneous Sciences at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. …