Curing Death by Curing Aging - January 2009 Archives

Physics, math provide clues to unraveling cancer (1/31/2009)

U-M researchers use mathematical modeling to bring new understanding to cancer biology ...> Full Article

Brain structure assists in immune response (1/31/2009)

For the first time, a team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have imaged in real time the body's immune response to a parasitic infection in the brain. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover how cancer cells survive a chemotherapy drug (1/31/2009)

New techniques enabled Weizmann Institute scientists to assess the actions of thousands of proteins in cancer cells and identify those that help some survive a chemotherapy treatment. ...> Full Article

Natural brain substance blocks weight gain in mice researchers discover (1/31/2009)

Mice with increased levels of a natural brain chemical don't gain weight when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. ...> Full Article

Unmasked and vulnerable (1/30/2009)

World-first clinical trial shows mask-wearing significantly boosts flu protection ...> Full Article

Study identifies how ebola virus avoids the immune system (1/30/2009)

Researchers have likely found one reason why the Ebola virus is such a powerful, deadly, and effective virus. Using a cell culture model for Ebola virus infection, they have discovered that the virus disables a cellular protein called tetherin that normally can block the spread of virus from cell to cell. ...> Full Article

Roadkill study could speed detection of kidney cancer (1/29/2009)

Large-scale data mining of gene networks in fruit flies has led researchers to a sensitive and specific diagnostic biomarker for human renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer. The biomarker known as SPOP is produced by 99 percent of clear cell renal cell carcinomas but not by normal kidney tissue. It could serve as a diagnostic tool, lead to new drug targets and potentially help detect kidney cancers sooner. ...> Full Article

Gene may lead to early onset of brain tumor (1/29/2009)

People with a particular gene variant may be more likely to develop brain tumors, and at an earlier age, than people without the gene, according to a study published in the Jan. 27, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ...> Full Article

New institute targets brain tumor removal (1/29/2009)

The Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute is a leader in the fight against brain and spinal tumors when it comes to clinical trial and treatment options. The Institute offers a multidisciplinary approach that involves state-of-the art technologies, a dynamic research program, and a wide range of treatment options in a supportive, compassionate environment. ...> Full Article

DNA component can stimulate and suppress the immune response (1/28/2009)

A component of DNA that can both stimulate and suppress the immune system, depending on the dosage, may hold hope for treating cancer and infection, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify a cell type that limits stroke damage (1/28/2009)

A research team including Serge Rivest of University Laval's Faculty of Medicine has demonstrated the existence of a type of cells that limits brain damage after a stroke. The study was recently published in the online version of Nature Medicine. ...> Full Article

HPV18 DNA levels are not prognostic for precancerous cervical lesions (1/28/2009)

Perhaps surprisingly, the number of copies of the carcinogenic human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) relative to cellular DNA is not associated with the likelihood of progression to advanced precancerous lesions of the cervix, according to a study in the Jan. 27 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

Frequent sex and masturbation in 20s and 30s linked to higher prostate cancer risk (1/27/2009)

But study also shows that risks diminish with age, particularly in a man's 50s ...> Full Article

How chemotherapy drugs block blood vessel growth, slow cancer spread (1/27/2009)

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how a whole class of commonly used chemotherapy drugs can block cancer growth. Their findings, reported online this week at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, suggest that a subgroup of cancer patients might particularly benefit from these drugs. ...> Full Article

Scientists unlock possible aging secret in genetically altered fruit fly (1/27/2009)

Brown University researchers Stephen Helfand, Nicola Neretti and others have identified a cellular mechanism in mutated "Indy" fruit flies that appears to reduce significantly the production of free radicals, which are blamed for contributing to the aging process. The research builds on Helfand's earlier work. ...> Full Article

Researchers make breakthrough against poxviruses (1/26/2009)

A major breakthrough by structural biologists at Oklahoma State University may be the first step towards a pharmaceutical medication for smallpox and the emerging human monkeypox. ...> Full Article

Cancer-causing gene discovery suggests new therapies (1/26/2009)

Scientists have discovered a novel way by which a much-studied cancer-promoting gene accelerates the disease. The finding suggests a new strategy to halt cancer's progress. ...> Full Article

Eating less may not extend life (1/26/2009)

Caloric restriction only benefits obese mice, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition. The results suggest that caloric restriction may not be a universally beneficial anti-aging strategy, as commonly believed. ...> Full Article

Researchers genetically link Lou Gehrig's disease in humans to dog disease (1/25/2009)

Researchers from the University of Missouri and the Broad Institute have found that the genetic mutation responsible for degenerative myelopathy (DM) in dogs is the same mutation that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the human disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. As a result of the discovery, researchers can now use dogs with DM as animal models to help identify therapeutic interventions for curing the human disease, ALS. ...> Full Article

Study links smoking with most male cancer deaths (1/25/2009)

The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths -- beyond lung cancer deaths -- has been strengthened by a recent study from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting that increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives than previously estimated. ...> Full Article

Implants mimic infection to rally immune system against tumors (1/24/2009)

Subcutaneous antigen-laden disks successfully marshal T cells against deadly melanoma ...> Full Article

Researcher decodes the language of memory cells (1/24/2009)

When an infection attacks, the body's immune system sounds the alert, kills the invading germs and remembers the pathogen to protect against contracting the same type of infection again. Exactly how immunological memory develops is a mystery just beginning to be unveiled by Emma Teixeiro, Ph.D., in an article published in the Jan. 23 issue of the journal Science. ...> Full Article

Measles virus may be effective prostate cancer treatment (1/24/2009)

Measles virus vaccine derivatives may prove to be an effective treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer ...> Full Article

Mayo Clinic researchers find experimental therapy turns on tumor suppressor gene in cancer cells (1/24/2009)

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that the experimental drug they are testing to treat a deadly form of thyroid cancer turns on a powerful tumor suppressor capable of halting cell growth. Few other cancer drugs have this property, they say. ...> Full Article

Inflammation contributes to colon cancer (1/24/2009)

Researchers led by Drs. Lillian Maggio-Price and Brian Iritani at the University of Washington found that mice that lack the immune inhibitory molecule Smad3 are acutely sensitive to both bacterially-induced inflammation and cancer. They report these findings in the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. ...> Full Article

Slices of living brain tissue are helping scientists identify new stroke therapies (1/24/2009)

Slices of living human brain tissue are helping scientists learn which drugs can block the waves of death that engulf and engorge brain cells following a stroke. ...> Full Article

MRSA's 'weak point' visualized by scientists (1/24/2009)

An enzyme that lives in MRSA and helps the dangerous bacterium to grow and spread infection through the human body has been visualised for the first time, according to a study out today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ...> Full Article

Blocked protein prevents Lupus in mouse model (1/23/2009)

Mice from a strain that ordinarily develops systemic lupus erythematosus, but bred with a deficiency in receptor for the protein Interleukin 21, stayed healthy and exhibited none of the symptoms of the disease, researchers at the Jackson Laboratory and National Institutes of Health report. ...> Full Article

Engineered virus targets and kills apparent cancer stem cells in neuroblastoma (1/23/2009)

Treatment blocked deadly nerve cancer in study led by Cincinnati Children's ...> Full Article

Researchers work out structure of TIGAR, a possible cancer flag (1/23/2009)

Brown University researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of TIGAR, an enzyme whose presence in the body can warn doctors that cancer may follow. ...> Full Article

An angry heart can lead to sudden death, Yale researchers find (1/23/2009)

Before flying off the handle the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, consider the latest research from Yale School of Medicine researchers that links changes brought on by anger or other strong emotions to future arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrests, which are blamed for 400,000 deaths annually. ...> Full Article

Important advance in the treatment of cancer and viral infections (1/22/2009)

Montreal-based scientists uncover a new anti-cancer, anti-infection response control mechanism ...> Full Article

Less severe first heart attacks linked to heart disease death reductions (1/22/2009)

The severity of first heart attacks dropped significantly over 15 years among 10,285 hospitalized Americans which may help to explain the decline in death from coronary heart disease. Prevention efforts as well as improvements in hospital care appear to have contributed to the decline in severity. ...> Full Article

Study of human tissue reveals potential colon cancer biomarker (1/22/2009)

University of Cincinnati scientists have identified a new biomarker that could help predict a person's risk of developing colon cancer and how aggressive it may become. ...> Full Article

Researchers find essential proteins for critical stage of malaria (1/21/2009)

Researchers have identified the molecular components that enable the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium to infect the salivary glands of the Anopheles mosquito -- a critical stage for spreading malaria to humans. The findings are published Jan. 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. ...> Full Article

Possible new hope for crops battling parasitic infection (1/21/2009)

Scientists from Ghent University and VIB (the Flemisch Institute for Biotechnology) have demonstrated how nematodes, also known as roundworms, manipulate the transport of the plant hormone auxin in order to force the plant to produce food for them. Their findings, published Jan. 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, could open up new possibilities for the development of nematode-resistant plants. ...> Full Article

Dartmouth researchers identify potential cancer target (1/21/2009)

Dartmouth Medical School researchers have found two proteins that work in concert to ensure proper chromosome segregation during cell division. Their study is in the January 2009 issue of the journal Nature Cell Biology. ...> Full Article

The heart disease mutation carried by 60 million (1/21/2009)

The worst luck in the world? Muscle protein gene mutation in one in 100 ...> Full Article

New family of antibacterial agents uncovered (1/21/2009)

In this week's JBC, researchers have found a potential new antibiotic agent in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra. ...> Full Article

Scientists find novel use for old compound in cancer treatment (1/20/2009)

Once-discarded drug proves effective in pediatric neuroblastoma models ...> Full Article

Research team develops new technique to tap full potential of antibody libraries (1/20/2009)

Results should open numerous pharmaceutical possibilities ...> Full Article

Researchers discover a protein that amplifies cell death (1/19/2009)

A potentially new way to kill cancer cells ...> Full Article

Glitches in DNA repair genes predict prognosis in pancreatic cancer (1/18/2009)

Variations in mismatch repair genes can help predict treatment response and prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center presented today in advance of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. ...> Full Article

Mobile phone use not associated with melanoma of the eye (1/18/2009)

Mobile phone use is not associated with the risk of melanoma of the eye, researchers report in the Jan. 13 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

Findings turn events in early TB infection on their head, may lead to new therapy (1/18/2009)

Masses of immune cells that form as a hallmark of tuberculosis have long been thought to be the body's way of trying to protect itself by literally walling off the bacteria. But a new study in the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Cell offers evidence that the TB bacteria actually sends signals that encourage the growth of those organized granuloma structures, and for good reason. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify new protein that triggers breast cancer (1/17/2009)

Canadian researchers have identified a new protein in the progression of breast cancer. According to a recent study from the Universite de Montreal and the University of Alberta, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the protein ARF1 plays a critical role in cancer cell growth and the spread of tumors. Targeting this protein with drug therapy may provide hope to women with breast cancer. ...> Full Article

Hepatitis C may increase pancreatic cancer risk (1/17/2009)

A new study shows that infection with hepatitis C virus increases a person's risk for a highly fatal cancer of the biliary tree, the bile carrying pathway between the liver and pancreas. ...> Full Article

Most heart attack patients' cholesterol levels did not indicate cardiac risk (1/16/2009)

A new national study has shown that nearly 75 percent of patients hospitalized for a heart attack had cholesterol levels that would indicate they were not at high risk for a cardiovascular event, according to current national cholesterol guidelines. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify another potential biomarker (1/16/2009)

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have demonstrated that a recently discovered class of molecule called microRNA (miRNAs), regulate the gene expression changes in airway cells that occur with smoking and lung cancer. These findings, which appear in the on-line early edition of journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may lead to a new, relatively noninvasive biomarker for smoking-related lung diseases. ...> Full Article

Human beta cells can be easily induced to replicate, according to study in Diabetes (1/16/2009)

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have successfully induced human insulin-producing cells, known as beta cells, to replicate robustly in a living animal, as well as in the lab. The discovery not only could improve models and methods for studying diabetes, but also opens up new possibilities for treating the condition. ...> Full Article

Study supports role of circadian clock in response to chemotherapy (1/16/2009)

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has suggested that treatment is most effective at certain times of day because that is when a particular enzyme system -- one that can reverse the actions of chemotherapeutic drugs -- is at its lowest levels in the body. ...> Full Article

Nearly a century later, new findings support Warburg theory of cancer (1/15/2009)

Pioneering German biochemist Otto H. Warburg's landmark theory about the origin of cancer has inspired debate and controversy for nearly 80 years. New research into mouse brain tumors has finally detailed the elusive biochemical basis for his theory. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy eliminates brain tumors through selective recruitment of immune cells (1/15/2009)

Scientists seeking to harness the power of the immune system to eradicate brain tumors face two major hurdles: recruiting key immune cells called dendritic cells into areas of the brain where they are not naturally found and helping them recognize tumor cells as targets for attack. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, have identified a sequence of molecular events that accomplish both objectives. Their findings, based on laboratory and animal studies, appear in the Jan. 13 issue of PLoS Medicine. ...> Full Article

Rhode Island Hospital first in US to treat kidney tumor with new device using electrical pulses (1/15/2009)

On Thursday, Jan. 8, Rhode Island Hospital treated an inoperable kidney tumor using a new technology known as NanoKnife. Damian Dupuy, M.D., director of ablation services at Rhode Island Hospital and a national pioneer in ablation treatment, performed the procedure -- the first time it has been used on a kidney tumor in the United States. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover structure of key Ebola protein (1/14/2009)

An ISU team has recently solved the structure from a key part of the Ebola protein known as VP35. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify potential new weapon in battle against HIV infection (1/14/2009)

Researchers have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV: blood types. An international team of researchers have discovered that certain blood types are more predisposed to contracting HIV, while others are more effective at fending it off. ...> Full Article

Disabling enzyme allows mice to gorge without becoming obese, new study finds (1/14/2009)

UC Berkeley researchers discover that a key enzyme in fat tissue plays a major role in regulating fat metabolism. Mice that have had this enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet and losing a hormone that suppresses appetite. ...> Full Article

Primary-care physicians can fill gap in colorectal cancer screening (1/13/2009)

The number of people who need colonoscopies to screen for colorectal cancer is outpacing the number of endoscopists available to perform them, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. Properly trained primary-care physicians -- internists, family medicine physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists and general practitioners -- can perform the test as safely and effectively as endoscopists, according to a study published in the Jan. 12 issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. ...> Full Article

Novel prostate cancer vaccine taking aim at cancer cell 'sweet spot' (1/13/2009)

Molecules of sugar sitting on the surface of cancer cells are keys to the development of a new vaccine aimed at both treating and stopping the spread of certain types of cancers called carcinomas, which include prostate, breast, ovarian and lung, among others. ...> Full Article

A good night's sleep protects against parasites (1/13/2009)

Animal species that sleep for longer do not suffer as much from parasite infestation and have a greater concentration of immune cells in their blood according to a study published in the open-access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. ...> Full Article

Gene abnormality found to predict childhood leukemia relapse (1/12/2009)

Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although the researchers caution that further research is needed to determine how changes in the gene, called IKZF1 or IKAROS, lead to leukemia relapse, the findings are likely to provide the basis for future diagnostic tests to assess the risk of treatment failure. By identifying this genetic marker in ALL patients, physicians should be better able to assign patients to appropriate therapies. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover gene that increases susceptibility to Crohn's disease (1/12/2009)

'Broken' bacterial sensor doesn't detect harmful bacteria in the digestive system ...> Full Article

Maslinic acid provides a natural defense against colon cancer (1/12/2009)

Scientists have found that the compound, present in olive skin's leaf and wax, inhibits the growth of HT29 colon-cancer cells. It may provide a useful new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of colon carcinoma. Low concentrations of maslinic acid are to be found in plants with medicinal properties, but its concentration in the waxy skin of olives may be as high as 80 percent. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover new genes that fuse in cancer (1/12/2009)

New technology for detecting gene fusions opens field in cancer research ...> Full Article

Chemopreventive agents in black raspberries identified (1/11/2009)

A study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, identifies components of black raspberries with chemopreventive potential. ...> Full Article

Hormone therapy associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk (1/11/2009)

The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

Why bladder cancer is deadlier for some (1/11/2009)

Bladder cancer is much more likely to be deadly for women and African-Americans, but the reasons long believed to explain the phenomenon account for only part of the differences for such patients compared to their white and male counterparts, according to results published in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Cancer. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover 'on switch' for cell death signaling mechanism (1/10/2009)

Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have determined the structure of the interactions between proteins that form the heart of the death inducing signaling complex, which is responsible for triggering apoptosis, or programmed cell death. ...> Full Article

Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread (1/10/2009)

A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death. In doing so, the scientists may have answered one of the biggest mysteries in cancer research. ...> Full Article

Traditional risk assessment tools do not accurately predict coronary heart disease (1/10/2009)

The Framingham and National Cholesterol Education Program tools do not accurately predict coronary heart disease, according to a study performed at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. ...> Full Article

New insight into aggressive childhood cancer (1/9/2009)

A new study reveals critical molecular mechanisms associated with the development and progression of human neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in young children. The research, published by Cell Press in the Jan. 6 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, may lead to development of future strategies for treatment of this aggressive and unpredictable cancer. ...> Full Article

Protein's essential role in repairing damaged cells revealed (1/9/2009)

University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a key protein in cells plays a critical role in not one, but two processes affecting the development of cancer. ...> Full Article

Avian flu becoming more resistant to antiviral drugs (1/9/2009)

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested. ...> Full Article

Cell biologists identify new tumor suppressor for lung cancer (1/7/2009)

Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati have identified a new tumor suppressor that may help scientists develop more targeted drug therapies to combat lung cancer. ...> Full Article

New hope for cancer comes straight from the heart (1/7/2009)

Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer. This finding emerged through a search for existing drugs that might slow or stop cancer progression. ...> Full Article

Scientists can now differentiate between healthy cells and cancer cells (1/6/2009)

A new study by McMaster University researchers has provided insight into how scientists might develop therapies and drugs that more carefully target cancer, while sparing normal healthy cells. ...> Full Article

'Relocation' plan of metastatic cancer cells uncovered (1/6/2009)

Few things are as tiresome as house hunting and moving. Unfortunately, metastatic cancer cells have the relocation process down pat. Tripping nimbly from one abode to another, these migrating cancer cells often prove far more deadly than the original tumor. Although little has been known about how these rogue cells choose where to put down roots, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have now learned just how nefarious they are. ...> Full Article

Genetic variation may lead to early cardiovascular disease (1/5/2009)

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center have identified a variation in a particular gene that increases susceptibility to early coronary artery disease. For years, scientists have known that the devastating, early-onset form of the disease was inherited, but they knew little about the gene(s) responsible until now. The results are published Jan. 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. ...> Full Article

Scientists closing the zap on dengue fever (1/4/2009)

A mosquito-borne virus that each year harms up to 100 million people and kills more than 20,000 is a step closer to being controlled after a breakthrough by University of Queensland scientists. ...> Full Article

Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive (1/4/2009)

Ovarian cancer recurrence tied to gene's role in promoting autophagy ...> Full Article

Toxicity mechanism identified for Parkinson's disease (1/4/2009)

Alpha-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies, the clumps of aggregated proteins that form in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. The alpha-synuclein gene is mutated or triplicated in some cases of inherited Parkinson's. A process called chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) plays an important role in recycling of specific proteins in brain cells. Alpha-synuclein disrupts a key survival circuit in brain cells by interfering with CMA and the recycling of the protein MEF2D. ...> Full Article

Molecular imaging enables earlier, individualized treatment of thyroid cancer (1/3/2009)

Physicians now able to accurately distinguish cancerous lymph nodes from healthy tissue in cancer patients, according to article in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine ...> Full Article

Arousal frequency in heart failure found to be a unique sleep problem (1/3/2009)

Findings show that factors other than central sleep apnea may contribute to poor sleep quality in heart-failure patients ...> Full Article

Few DNA repair genes maintain association with cancer in field synopsis (1/2/2009)

Variants of numerous DNA repair genes initially appeared to be statistically significantly associated with cancer risk in epidemiological studies. When the data from individual studies are pooled, however, few DNA repair gene variants appear truly associated with increased cancer risk, according to a field synopsis published in the Dec. 30 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal (1/2/2009)

By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" -- a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease -- researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus. ...> Full Article

Researchers engineer pancreatic cell transplants to evade immune response (1/2/2009)

Discovery moves diabetes type 1 cure closer to clinical application ...> Full Article

A new light on the anti-tumor mechanisms of Scutellaria barbata (1/2/2009)

A research group in China investigated the growth inhibitory and apoptoticeffects of Scutellaria barbata D.Don (S. barbata) and determined the underlying mechanism of its anti-tumor activity in mouse liver cancer cell line H22. They found that extracts from S. barbata can effectively inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of H22 cells involving loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome C, and activation of caspase-3. ...> Full Article

Grape-seed extract kills laboratory leukemia cells, proving value of natural compounds (1/1/2009)

An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract. ...> Full Article

In lung cancer, silencing one crucial gene disrupts normal functioning of genome (1/1/2009)

While examining patterns of DNA modification in lung cancer, a team of international researchers has discovered what they say is a surprising new mechanism. They say that "silencing" of a single gene in lung cancer led to a general impairment in genome-wide changes in cells, contributing to cancer development and progression. ...> Full Article

Scientists pull protein's tail to curtail cancer (1/1/2009)

When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells' membranes and foiling cancer growth. ...> Full Article

Why prostate cancer patients fail hormone deprivation therapy (1/1/2009)

Johns Hopkins scientists identify receptor type that makes cancer cells resistant to therapy, more aggressive ...> Full Article

Lung cancer cells activate inflammation to induce metastasis (1/1/2009)

A research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a protein produced by cancerous lung epithelial cells that enhances metastasis by stimulating the activity of inflammatory cells. ...> Full Article