Tag Archives: story-source

Club cells are ‘bad guys’ during flu infection

Seasonal flu is caused by influenza virus, which can infect a variety of cell types in the lung. Infected cells are typically destroyed by the virus itself or by immune cells that attack infected cells…

Wasp venom used in new therapy for breast cancer

Despite there currently being a wide variety of compounds against cancer, they all have serious side effects. Furthermore, tumours are capable of becoming resistant, limiting this type of treatment. …

Protein ZEB1 promotes breast tumor resistance to radiation therapy — ScienceDaily

One protein with the even more out-there name of ZEB1 (zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1), is now thought to keep breast cancer cells from being successfully treated with radiation therapy, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. …

Clearing cells to prevent cervical cancer

The findings come from a study that looked at squamocolumnar junction cells, or SCJ cells. These cells reside in the cervical canal and have been implicated as the origins of cervical cancer…

Chinese herbal extract may help kill off pancreatic cancer cells

GRP78, a protein that protects cells from dying, is more abundant in cancer cells and tissue than in normal organs and is thought to play a role in helping pancreatic cancer cells survive and thrive. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found triptolide, an extract of the Chinese herb thunder god vine (Tirpterygium wilforii), suppresses GRP78, eventually leading to pancreatic cancer cell death. For mammals to use the proteins in our bodies, a process called protein folding must occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of cells. If proteins are not folded fast enough, unfolded proteins begin to build up and the cell becomes stressed…

Even mild traumatic brain injury may cause brain damage

For the study, 44 people with a mild traumatic brain injury and nine people with a moderate traumatic brain injury were compared to 33 people with no brain injury. All of the participants took tests of their thinking and memory skills. At the same time, they had diffusion tensor imaging scans, a type of MRI scan that is more sensitive than traditional MRI for detecting damage to brain cells and helps map fiber tracts that connect brain regions. The people with brain injuries had their scans an average of six days after the injury. …

Saving the heart in breast cancer treatment — ScienceDaily

Breast cancer patients who are positive for the HER2 gene may be at increased risk for heart damage during chemotherapy, according to a new study published in ecancermedicalscience. Patients with the HER2 gene are often treated with trastuzumab or lapatinib, which interfere with its cancer-causing signals…