Tag Archives: work

Cell division discovery could offer fresh insight into cancer

Scientists have explained a key part of the process of cell division, by which cells are able to keep our organs functioning properly. They discovered a set of proteins that stabilise the sequence of events in which cells duplicate their DNA and then separate into two new cells, each identical to the original. Flaws in this delicate, complex operation can lead to cancer. The findings help explain a fundamental process in all living things, in which cells must continually divide to keep the organism alive and well…

Small molecule shows promise as anti-cancer therapy

In a study described in the January 13 issue of Cancer Cell, Marikki Laiho, M.D., Ph.D., and her colleagues say their work focused on the ability of a chemical dubbed BMH-21 to sabotage the transcription pathway RNA Polymerase pathway (POL I), shutting down the ability of mutant cancer genes to communicate with cells and replicate. Laiho’s research linked the pathway to p53 gene activity. P53 is a tumor suppressor gene, a protein that regulates cell growth, and it is the most frequently mutated suppressor gene in cancer…

New horizons in radiotherapy?

This work, which sheds new light on the behavior of matter at the atomic scale and which could have important benefits in medicine, is published in the journal Nature. The radiotherapy currently used in nearly half of cancer treatments irradiates biological tissue using a radiation with a wide energy spectrum in order to destroy the cancerous cells. The work of the international team headed by two CNRS researchers from the Laboratoire de Chimie Physique — Matière et Rayonnement (CNRS/UPMC) should make it possible to improve the precision and quality of treatment by more finely targeting the range of energy used. …

Fresh faced: Looking younger for longer

Publishing in The FASEB Journal, the authors describe how in laboratory tests, they compared the protection offered against either UVA radiation or free radical stress by several antioxidants, some of which are found in foods or cosmetics. While UVB radiation easily causes sunburn, UVA radiation penetrates deeper, damaging our DNA by generating free radicals which degrades the collagen that gives skin its elastic quality…

Survival protein a potential new target for many cancers

The discovery offers hope for treating many types of cancer that are driven to grow and spread through the actions of a cancer-causing protein called MYC. Up to 70 per cent of human cancers, including many leukemias and lymphomas, have unusually high levels of MYC, which causes cancerous changes in cells by forcing them into abnormally rapid growth…