Potential basis for the treatment and prevention of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson’s disease affects neurons in the Substantia nigra brain region – their mitochondrial activity ceases and the cells die. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics show that supplying D-lactate or glycolate, two products of the gene DJ-1, can stop and even counteract this process: Adding the substances to cultured HeLa cells and to cells of the nematode C. elegans restored the activity of mitochondria and prevented the degeneration of neurons. They also showed that the two substances rescued the toxic effects of the weed killer Paraquat. Cells that had been treated with this herbicide, which is known to cause a Parkinson's like harm of mitochondria, recovered after the addition of the two substances.
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Is Europe putting cancer research at risk?
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading pan-European association representing medical oncology professionals, has expressed concern that the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation [1] could make cancer research impossible and add a significant burden to both doctors and cancer patients. The proposed wording of the regulation [2] stipulates 'explicit and specific patient consent', meaning that researchers would have to approach patients every single time research is planned in order to consult their data or use tissue samples stored for research purposes.
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Scientists map one of most important proteins in life - and cancer
Scientists reveal the structure of one of the most important and complicated proteins in cell division - a fundamental process in life and the development of cancer - in research published in Nature. Images of the gigantic protein in unprecedented detail will transform scientists' understanding of exactly how cells copy their chromosomes and divide, and could reveal binding sites for future cancer drugs. A team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge produced the first detailed images of the anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C).
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Taking B vitamins won't prevent Alzheimer's disease
Taking B vitamins doesn't slow mental decline as we age, nor is it likely to prevent Alzheimer's disease, conclude Oxford University researchers who have assembled all the best clinical trial data involving 22,000 people to offer a final answer on this debate. High levels in the blood of a compound called homocysteine have been found in people with Alzheimer's disease, and people with higher levels of homocysteine have been shown to be at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Taking folic acid and vitamin B-12 are known to lower levels of homocysteine in the body, so this gave rise to the 'homocysteine hypothesis' that taking B vitamins could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
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New research reveals how cannabis compound could slow tumour growth
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have shown how the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis could reduce tumour growth in cancer patients. Research reveals the existence of previously unknown signaling platforms which are responsible for the drug's success in shrinking tumours. It is hoped that the findings could help develop a synthetic equivalent with anti-cancer properties. The research was co-led with the Universidad Complutense de Madridin, Spain. The team used samples of human cancer cells to induce tumours in mice. They then targeted the tumours with doses of the cannabis compound THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). They found that two cell receptors in particular were responsible for the drug's anti-tumour effects.
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Safer, cheaper building blocks for future anti-HIV and cancer drugs
A team of researchers from KU Leuven, in Belgium, has developed an economical, reliable and heavy metal-free chemical reaction that yields fully functional 1,2,3-triazoles. Triazoles are chemical compounds that can be used as building blocks for more complex chemical compounds, including pharmaceutical drugs. Leveraging the compound's surprisingly stable structure, drug developers have successfully used 1,2,3-triazoles as building blocks in various anti-HIV, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial drugs. But efforts to synthesize the compound have been hampered by one serious hurdle: they depend on harmful heavy metals to work, and this severely limits their biological applications.
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MRC Technology and AstraZeneca renew collaboration to identify novel targets for discovery research
MRC Technology, a technology transfer organisation, and AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company, announced today the renewal of their strategic collaboration which focuses on the identification and selection of novel drug targets with the potential to become potent and selective therapeutics for the treatment of serious disease in the areas of oncology, inflammation and diabetes. The strategic collaboration enables MRC Technology scientists to access compounds from the AstraZeneca compound library, for screening against nominated drug targets at MRC Technology.
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