Tag Archives: sciences

Long-sought drug candidate can halt tumor growth, scientists demonstrate

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) tried a similar strategy when they attempted to disrupt the function of MYC, a cancer regulator thought to be “undruggable.” The researchers found that a credit card-like molecule they developed somehow moves in and disrupts the critical interactions between MYC and its binding partner. The research, published the week of August 11 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also shows the drug candidate can stop tumor growth in animal models. …

Model of viral lifecycle could help in finding a cure for hepatitis B

In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Sangeeta Bhatia of MIT and Charles Rice of Rockefeller University describe using microfabricated cell cultures to sustain hepatitis B virus in human liver cells, allowing them to study immune responses and drug treatments. …

Mechanism promoting multiple DNA mutations described by scientists

However, recent studies have shown that cancer development frequently involves the formation of multiple mutations that arise simultaneously and in close proximity to each other. These groups of clustered mutations are frequently found in regions where chromosomal rearrangements take place. The discovery, published in the journal Cell Reports, may one day lead to new cancer therapies, according to a University of Iowa biologist and her colleagues, and a group of researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences led by Senior Associate Scientist Dmitry Gordenin. The formation of clustered mutations may result from the process of DNA repair. …