Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center have created a new platinum-based, anti-cancer agent able to overcome acquired drug resistance by first modifying the way it is absorbed into cancer cells and then attacking the DNA of those cancer cells.
The findings may help researchers design a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that selectively target cancer cells, reduce resistance and side effects and expand the range of tumors that can be treated by p
Belgian chemists have developed “self-exploding” microcapsules that could one day precisely release drugs and vaccines inside the human body weeks or even months after injection. The study, by researchers at Ghent University and the Universit? Catholique de Louvain, is scheduled to appear in the Jan. 9, 2006, print issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal Biomacromolecules.
Unlike some other microcapsules, which release their drug cargo only when exposed to ultrasonic w
University of Pittsburgh researchers demonstrate that loss of this enzyme’s activity in mouse cells leads to dramatic chromosomal instability
The DNA in our cells is constantly being bombarded by environmental, chemical and cellular insults. Fortunately, our cells contain many enzymes devoted strictly to detecting and repairing any damage caused by these insults. In fact, failure of these enzymes to make needed repairs to genes can lead to the accumulation of mutations and,
Autonomous data-recording devices equipped with hydrophones, deployed in remote waters off Alaska, have been used to track seasonal occurrences of blue, fin, humpback, North Pacific right, bowhead, and sperm whales
Why whales emit their characteristic calls remains largely a biological mystery, but listening for the distinctive underwater sounds provides a valuable way to track the movements of endangered large whales. Autonomous data-recording devices equipped with hydrophones
New tracking method may help endangered pachyderms
By analyzing chemicals in tail hair from elephants that wore radio collars, researchers tracked the diet and movements of elephants in Kenya – a method aimed at reducing human-elephant conflicts and determining where to establish sanctuaries to protect the endangered creatures.
“This is a new method to understand elephant behavior and help ensure their survival,” says geochemist Thure Cerling, the study’s principal a
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine have shown that switching off a molecule that helps regulate dendritic cells, specialized white blood cells that activate the immune system, could help the host fight HIV infection.
Increasing evidence suggests the host’s immune system plays an important, but insufficient, role in limiting HIV infection. Most attempts to stimulate an immune response to HIV have been disappointing.
Exploiting the potential of dendr
Substances produced in the body that act like those found in the cannabis plant help preserve bone density, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Based on this finding, a prototype for a new drug to prevent osteoporosis (loss of bone density) without any psychoactive side effects has already been developed.
An article describing this research appears this week in the prestigious American journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of t
In the January 1 issue of Genes & Development, Dr. Mary Ellen Perry and colleagues validate the p53 inhibitor, Mdm2, as a promising target for cancer therapies.
The p53 tumor suppressor plays a critical role in cancer formation, and many anticancer strategies aim to activate p53 in order to curb tumor formation. Mdm2 is a key inhibitor of p53 and therefore an attractive target to modulate p53 activity in cells. However, conflicting evidence exists regarding whether or not p53-mediate
Scientists working at the WiCell Research Institute, a private laboratory affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have developed a precisely defined stem cell culture system free of animal cells and used it to derived two new human embryonic stem cell
The new work, which is reported today (Jan. 1, 2006) in the journal Nature Biotechnology, helps move stem cells a small step closer to clinical reality by completely ridding the culture medium in which they are grown
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found two genes that are essential for the proper development of muscle.
Their findings are in the latest online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.
The genes are among a recently discovered group of genes known as microRNAs (miRNAs), which were first discovered in worms 12 years ago. Only in the past few years have they become recognized as essential gene regulators in many multicellular organisms, incl
An article published in the January 2006 issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics examines the remains and depiction of dwarfs in ancient Egypt, concluding that they were assimilated into daily life and their disorder was not seen as a physical handicap. The journal is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/ajmg.
The ancient Egyptians left an immense legacy about their culture and daily life through inscriptions and representations o
The world’s deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, sneaks past the human immune system with the help of a wardrobe of invisibility cloaks. If a person’s immune cells learn to recognize one of the parasite’s many camouflage proteins, the surviving invaders can swap disguises and slip away again to cause more damage. Malaria kills an estimated 2.7 million people annually worldwide, 75 percent of them children in Africa.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) i
It is possible to produce bioethanol and other valuable chemicals, such as bioplastics, by utilising the metabolism of cells
Biofuel from agricultural waste utilising yeast cells
VTT has developed yeast-based methods for efficient production of biofuel from agricultural waste. In addition to bioethanol, several other valuable chemicals, such as bioplastics, xylitol, pigments and medicines, can be produced by utilising the metabolism of cells. The engineering of the
In a study to be published in the January 2006 issue of Nature Biotechnology, researchers led by a team of scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have devised a novel strategy that uses stem cell-based gene therapy and RNA interference to genetically reverse sickle cell disease (SCD) in human cells. This research is the first to demonstrate a way to genetically correct this debilitating blood disease using RNA interference technology.
To prevent the production of
A new gene therapy technique that has shown promise in skin disease and hemophilia might one day be useful for treating muscular dystrophy, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine.
In the study, scheduled to be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Jan. 2, the researchers used gene therapy to introduce a healthy copy of the gene dystrophin into mice with a condition that mimics muscular dys
Despite the prevailing belief that adult brain cells don’t grow, a researcher at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory reports in the Dec. 27 issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology that structural remodeling of neurons does in fact occur in mature brains.
This finding means that it may one day be possible to grow new cells to replace ones damaged by disease or spinal cord injury, such as the one that paralyzed the late actor Christopher Reeve.
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