Cracks in the cellular transport system can be key to a new generation of cancer therapies
Researchers from Warwick Medical School have discovered a critical point of failure in the microscopic transport system that operates inside every cell in the human body. The study, published today in Nature Communications, explains how this tiny 'railway' system is a key target for cancer drugs and, as such, how this new discovery reveals how better drugs might be made. The tracks of this so called 'railway' are tiny tubes, called microtubules, 1000 times thinner than a human hair. The research shows that a narrow seam that runs along the length of the microtubules is the weakest point. If the seam cracks and splits, the microtubule dissolves.
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Researchers discover simple amoeba holds the key to better treatment for Alzheimer's
Scientists have discovered the use of a simple single-celled amoeba to understand the function of human proteins in causing Alzheimer's disease. The new study, published in the Journal of Cell Science by researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Institute of Psychiatry King's College London, reveals how the amoeba will enable a better understanding of the function of these Alzheimer's disease-associated proteins in the cell without the need for testing on animals, with the ultimate aim of developing improved treatments for the degenerative disease.
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Leaving home: Beta cells' way to maturity
Professor Henrik Semb and his group at the Danish Stem Cell Center have gained new insight into the molecular mechanism behind new born beta cells' way to maturity. In depth knowledge about beta cell maturation is one of the fundamental ingredients in the development of future stem cell-based therapies in Diabetes as only correct and complete maturation will provide us with fully functional, glucose-responsive and insulin producing cells.
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Leukemia: mode of action of a targeted treatment clarified
The mechanism of senescence – or premature cell ageing - can have an anticancer effect. This new work, conducted by Hugues de Thé and his team (Paris Diderot University/ Inserm/ CNRS/ AP-HP), was published in Nature Medicine on 12 January 2014. It reveals that targeted treatments for acute promyelocytic leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer, cause a cascade of molecular events leading to cellular senescence and recovery. This action model could be activated in other types of cancers.
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Top Portuguese and Finnish scientists to lead IMI Scientific Committee
Professor Maria Beatriz da Silva Lima of the University of Lisbon in Portugal will be the new Chair of the IMI Scientific Committee, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) announced today. The Vice Chair will be Professor Markus Perola of Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare. The pair were elected by the rest of the 12-strong committee, which is made up of experts in diverse areas of medical research from across Europe.
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Research uncovers key difference between our bodies' fight against viruses and bacteria
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a key difference in the biological mechanisms by which the immune system responds to viral and bacterial pathogens. The study, published in the journal Nature Immunology and led by Professor Uwe Vinkemeier in the University's School of Life Sciences, centred on STAT1, a protein that can bind DNA and hence plays a vital role in regulating genes in the body.
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New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics
Scientists have made an important advance in understanding how a subset of bacterial cells escape being killed by many antibiotics. Cells become "persisters" by entering a state in which they stop replicating and are able to tolerate antibiotics. Unlike antibiotic resistance, which arises because of genetic mutations and is passed on to later generations, this tolerant phase is only temporary, but it may contribute to the later development of resistance. In a new study in the journal Science, researchers from the MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection at Imperial College London have succeeded in visualising persister cells in infected tissues for the first time, and have identified signals that lead to their formation.
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