Tag Archives: process

Study finds mechanism for increased activity of oncogene in certain cancers

Many research teams have found activation and increased signaling of a protein known as Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in different kinds of cancers, and it is associated with poor prognosis, said senior author Jennifer Grandis, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Otolaryngology, Pitt School of Medicine, and director of the Head and Neck Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), partner with UPMC CancerCenter. In adult tissues, STAT3 triggers the production of other proteins that promote the growth and survival of cancer cells. "Until now, the question of why STAT3 could be hyperactivated has gone unanswered," Dr…

What does compassion sound like?

Rochester researchers believe they are the first to systematically pinpoint and catalogue compassionate words and actions in doctor-patient conversations. By breaking down the dialogue and studying the context, scientists hope to create a behavioral taxonomy that will guide medical training and education. "In health care, we believe in being compassionate but the reality is that many of us have a preference for technical and biomedical issues over establishing emotional ties," said senior investigator Ronald Epstein, M.D., professor of Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Oncology, and Nursing and director of the UR Center for Communication and Disparities Research. Epstein is a national and international keynote speaker and investigator on mindfulness and communication in medical education. …

New function of two molecules involved in metastasis

Transcription factors are proteins that regulate gene expression. They activate or deactivate a gene’s function. Researchers at IMIM have studied the function of one of these transcription factors, Snail1, in mouse cells during the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). Sandra Peiró, a researcher from the IMIM Research Group on Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Tumor Progression explains: "EMT is a process consisting of converting epithelial cells, the ones covering the internal and external surfaces of the body, into what are known as mesenchymal cells. …

New discovery on early immune system development

The immune system is complex and a number of genetic diseases are attributed to defects in the cells that form its origins. The study from Lund and Oxford University presents unique findings on the formation of these cells. We know that the first blood stem cells are formed in the aorta region and then travel to the liver, which is the body’s major blood-forming organ during the fetal stage…

Researchers study epigenetic mechanisms of tumor metastasis for improved cancer therapy

The term epigenetics refers to the external modifications to DNA that turn genes "on" or "off." These modifications do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells read genes. The researchers propose that epigenetic and other changes mediate the development of cancer progenitor cells. These cells represent the early stage of cancer cell development and can grow rapidly to become full-fledged cancer. …

Researchers apply brainpower to understanding neural stem cell differentiation

The researchers donned their thinking caps to explain how neural stem and progenitor cells differentiate into neurons and related cells called glia. Neurons transmit information through electrical and chemical signals; glia surround, support and protect neurons in the brain and throughout the nervous system. Glia do everything from holding neurons in place to supplying them with nutrients and oxygen to protecting them from pathogens. …

Grafted limb cells acquire molecular ‘fingerprint’ of new location

The findings provide a better understanding of how grafted tissue changes its identity to match the host tissue environment during the process of limb regeneration and bring scientists closer to establishing regenerative therapies for humans. The results also challenge the conventional assumption in regeneration biology that cellular properties are predetermined. By examining cells from blastema tissue in salamanders — amphibians that can regrow lost limbs — the researchers learned that grafted tissue does not spur growth of structures consistent with the region of the limb it came from, but rather it transforms into the cell signature of the limb region it’s been grafted onto. …