Tag Archives: national

New insights into DNA repair process may spur better cancer therapies

The insights, reported online the week of Sept. 30, 2013, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, build on earlier work by the research team and identify new prospects for developing cancer therapies. The researchers have focused on a complex series of events that cells routinely undertake to repair DNA damaged by sun exposure, smoking and even normal metabolism. If not correctly repaired, DNA breakages can result in cellular damage leading to cancer. …

Malignant brain tumours can be transformed into benign forms

The research team of Prof. Bożena Kamińska from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw developed — so far only in animal model — a method of converting malignant gliomas (brain tumours) into benign forms. Since the cells of benign gliomas are subdued and sometimes even eliminated by the host’s immune system, the prospects for survival of sick animals significantly increase…

Proteins that deliver leucine to prostate cancer cells are therapeutic targets

To investigate the function of LATs in prostate cancer, Qian Wang, Ph.D., of the Origins of Cancer Laboratory, Centenary Institute, Sydney, Australia, and colleagues studied LAT3 expression in tissue samples from prostate cancer patients, analyzed the function of LATs in cancer cells in vitro, used microarray data to determine which genes and pathways are associated with LAT function, and assessed the role of LAT1 and LAT3 in tumor formation, growth, and metastasis in mice. The researchers found that LAT3 was expressed at all stages of prostate cancer and that inhibition of LAT proteins inhibits nutrient signaling pathways and over 100 metastasis-related genes, including E2F transcription factors, resulting in cell cycle inhibition. In mice injected with prostate cancer cells, tumor formation, metastasis, and cell cycle progression were all inhibited when the LAT1 or LAT3 gene was knocked out. The authors conclude that "Targeting LAT transporters, thereby inhibiting leucine uptake, may offer a new therapeutic opportunity for metastatic CRPC, affecting tumor growth and metastasis through inhibition of M-phase cell cycle and mTORC1 signaling pathways." Wang et al…

Molecular structure reveals how HIV infects cells

"These structural details should help us understand more precisely how HIV infects cells, and how we can do better at blocking that process with next-generation drugs," said Beili Wu, PhD, professor at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wu was the senior investigator for the study, which was published in Science Express on September 12, 2013. The study, which focused on the CCR5 receptor, was supported by both US and Chinese research funding agencies. "International collaborations like this one are increasingly needed to solve big problems in science," said study co-author Raymond C…

Clinical tool classifies spots on lung scans of smokers

The findings are expected to have immediate clinical impact worldwide among health professionals who currently diagnose and treat individuals at risk for or who are diagnosed with lung cancer, and provide new evidence for developing and improving lung-cancer screening programs. A total of 12,029 lung cancer nodules observed on CTs of 2,961 current and former smokers were examined in the population-based study. The results, to be published in the Sept. 5th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), will have an immediate impact on clinical practice, says co-principal investigator Dr. …

Balancing act: Cell senescence, aging related to epigenetic changes

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found that epigenetic factors play a role in senescence. Epigenetic factors act on the structures in which genes reside, called chromatin. They found that senescent cells appear to undergo changes in their chromatin and find similar changes in cells that are prematurely aging. Their observations take place deep within cells — inside the chromatin of a cell’s nucleus. …

Dialing back Treg cell function boosts cancer-fighting immune activity

The new research, performed in animals, is not ready for clinical use in humans. However, the approach, making use of a key protein to control immune function, lends itself to further study using candidate drugs that employ the same mechanisms…

Sugar helps scientists find and assess prostate tumors

The technology uses a compound called pyruvate, which is created when glucose breaks down in the body and which normally supplies energy to cells. In cancer, however, pyruvate is more frequently converted to a different compound, known as lactate. …

Targeting aggressive prostate cancer: How non-coding RNAs fuel cancer growth

"Androgen-deprivation therapy will often put cancer in remission, but tumors come back, even without testosterone," said contributor Christopher Evans, professor and chair of the Department of Urology at the UC Davis School of Medicine. "We found that these long non-coding RNAs were activating the androgen receptor. …

‘Molecular flashlight’ illuminates brain tumors in mice

The researchers altered the amino acid sequence of a cystine knot peptide — or knottin — derived from the seeds of the squirting cucumber, a plant native to Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia. Peptides are short chains of amino acids that are integral to cellular processes; knottin peptides are notable for their stability and resistance to breakdown. The team used their invention as a "molecular flashlight" to distinguish tumors from surrounding healthy tissue. After injecting their bioengineered knottin into the bloodstreams of mice with medulloblastomas, the researchers found that the peptide stuck tightly to the tumors and could be detected using a high-sensitivity digital camera. …