Curing Death by Curing Aging - January 2010 Archives

Disarming specialized stem cells might combat deadly ovarian cancer (1/31/2010)

Eliminating cancer stem cells (CSCs) within a tumor could hold the key to successful treatments for ovarian cancer, which has been notoriously difficult to detect and treat, according to new findings published this week in the journal Oncogene by Yale School of Medicine researchers. ...> Full Article

Human growth hormone: Not a life extender after all? (1/30/2010)

People profoundly deficient in human growth hormone (HGH) due to a genetic mutation appear to live just as long as people who make normal amounts of the hormone, a new study shows. The findings suggest that HGH may not be the "fountain of youth" that some researchers have suggested. ...> Full Article

Study links reduced fertility to flame retardant exposure (1/29/2010)

A new UC Berkeley study finds that women with higher blood levels of PBDEs, a common type of flame retardant, took longer to get pregnant. The flame retardants are used in foam furniture, electronics, fabrics, carpets, plastics and other common items in the home. ...> Full Article

Rejuvenating the old immune system (1/28/2010)

Thanks to the progress in health care and improved living conditions, we live longer. The price we pay: Our immune system loses functionality with advance age and the susceptibility to infections increases. The members of the research group "Infection immunology" at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany, are investigating this aspect of aging using a mouse model that mimics the susceptibility to infection observed in elderly humans. ...> Full Article

Engineering a new way to study hepatitis C (1/27/2010)

Researchers at MIT and Rockefeller University have successfully grown hepatitis C virus in otherwise healthy liver cells in the laboratory, an advance that could allow scientists to develop and test new treatments for the disease. ...> Full Article

Researcher discovers Ebola's deadly secret (1/26/2010)

Iowa State University researcher Gaya Amarasinghe has led scientists to uncover how the deadly Zaire Ebola virus decoys cells and eventually kills them. He had previously solved the structure of a critical part of an Ebola protein known as VP35, which is involved in host immune suppression. Now he knows how VP35 is able to do it. ...> Full Article

The Cancer Genome Atlas identifies distinct subtypes of deadly brain cancer (1/25/2010)

The most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is not a single disease but appears to be four distinct molecular subtypes, according to a study by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. ...> Full Article

First successful use of expanded umbilical-cord blood units to treat leukemia (1/24/2010)

Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have cleared a major technical hurdle to making umbilical-cord-blood transplants a more widely-used method for treating leukemia and other blood cancers. ...> Full Article

Cancer stem cells suppress immune response against brain tumor (1/23/2010)

Cancer-initiating cells that launch glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type of brain tumor, also suppress an immune system attack on the disease, scientists from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in a paper featured on the cover of the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

How sunlight causes skin cells to turn cancerous (1/22/2010)

A new study by could lead to new drug treatments for skin cancer. The drugs would work by turning on a gene that prevents skin cells from becoming cancerous. ...> Full Article

New finding in cell migration may be key to preventing clots, cancer spread (1/21/2010)

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how cells in the body flatten out as they adhere to internal bodily surfaces, the first step in a wide range of important processes including clot formation, immune defense, wound healing, and the spread of cancer cells. ...> Full Article

3 esophageal cancer cell lines commonly used in research prove to be from other cancers (1/20/2010)

Three frequently used human esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines used for research were confirmed as being from other tumor types, according to a brief communication published online January 14 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Two of the cell lines have been used in 11 US patents and more than 100 published studies. ...> Full Article

Mutations in different cells cooperate to set the stage for cancer (1/19/2010)

Cancer biologists have long known that it takes the cooperation of multiple cancer-causing genes to cause cancer. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have shown that the cooperating mutations can occur in neighboring cells. ...> Full Article

From biological basics to diabetes discovery (1/18/2010)

In two international studies of diabetes and glucose metabolism, researchers have found new genetic markers that affect risk of diabetes and glucose levels. Five of the markers influence directly the risk of diabetes. Just as important, the work helps to build understanding of the biological networks that lie behind glucose metabolism and disorders, such as diabetes. The genome-wide approach used here is a valuable complementary method to find variants that influence disease risk. ...> Full Article

Stress triggers tumor formation, researchers find (1/18/2010)

Stress induces signals that cause cells to develop into tumors, Yale researchers have discovered. The research, published online Jan. 13 in the journal Nature, describes a novel way cancer takes hold in the body and suggests new ways to attack the deadly disease. ...> Full Article

Melanoma stem cells' evasive talents (1/17/2010)

Melanoma, if not detected in its early stages, transforms into a highly deadly, treatment-resistant cancer. Although the immune system initially responds to melanoma and mounts anti-tumor attacks, these assaults are generally ineffective, allowing more advanced melanomas to win the battle and spread beyond the primary site. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital shed light on how melanomas stimulate, yet ultimately evade, a patient's immune system. ...> Full Article

MicroRNA profiling identifies chemoresistance in small cell lung cancer (1/16/2010)

At least three tumor microRNAs appear to predict when first-line chemotherapy will prove ineffective in some patients with small cell lung cancer, according to data presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, held Jan. 11-14, 2010. ...> Full Article

Discovery of enzyme activation process could lead to new heart attack treatments (1/15/2010)

Researchers at the Indiana University and Stanford University schools of medicine have determined how a "chemical chaperone" does its job in the body, which could lead to a new class of drugs to help reduce the muscle damage caused by heart attacks. ...> Full Article

New ways to pressure HIV (1/14/2010)

Two new studies showing that protein bits produced by unusual "reading" of the HIV genome can induce immune responses will appear online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine on Jan. 11. ...> Full Article

'Longevity gene' helps prevent memory decline and dementia (1/13/2010)

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that a "longevity gene" helps to slow age-related decline in brain function in older adults. Drugs that mimic the gene's effect are now under development, the researchers note, and could help protect against Alzheimer's disease. ...> Full Article

Genetic variant associated with aggressive form of prostate cancer (1/13/2010)

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues have identified the first genetic variant associated with aggressive prostate cancer, proving the concept that genetic information may one day be used in combination with other factors to guide treatment decisions. ...> Full Article

Study sheds light on role of stem cells in children's brain tumor (1/12/2010)

New research from scientists at Queen Mary, University of London shows how the most common type of children's brain cancer can arise from stem cells. ...> Full Article

Natural compound blocks hepatitis C infection (1/11/2010)

Researchers have identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection, a finding that may result in the approval of new and less toxic treatments for the disease, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis. ...> Full Article

Unraveling kidney cancer (1/10/2010)

Scientists have searched for mutations in more than 100 kidney cancer samples, the largest number of samples from a single tumor type to be sequenced to date. They looked for mutations in 3,544 genes to investigate the complexity within this cancer type, which is typically associated with mutations in a gene called VHL. Despite this prevalent genetic signature, the team revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity, suggesting that a complex machinery contributes to the development of cancer. ...> Full Article

Insect cells provide the key to alternative swine flu vaccination (1/9/2010)

A new technique for producing vaccines for H1N1, "swine flu," based on insect cells can meet global demand. ...> Full Article

Experimental drug shows promise against brain, prostate cancers (1/8/2010)

An experimental drug currently being tested against breast and lung cancer shows promise in fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in two preclinical studies. ...> Full Article

Scientists identify target that may inhibit HIV infectivity (1/7/2010)

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology have discovered a new agent that might inhibit the infectivity of HIV. The agent, surfen, impairs the action of a factor in semen that greatly enhances the viral infection. Surfen might be used to supplement current HIV microbicides to greatly reduce HIV transmission during sexual contact ...> Full Article

Children more likely to catch swine flu, says new research (1/6/2010)

Young people aged under 18 years are more likely than adults to catch swine flu from an infected person in their household, according to a new study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, the research also shows that young people are no more likely than adults to infect others with the pandemic H1N1 virus. ...> Full Article

Assessing lead time of selected ovarian cancer biomarkers (1/5/2010)

Concentrations of the biomarkers CA125, human epididymis protein 4, and mesothelin began to rise three years before clinical diagnosis of ovarian cancer, according to a new study published online Dec. 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. However, the biomarkers became substantially elevated only in the last year prior to diagnosis. The stage of the cancer at the time of marker elevation is not known. ...> Full Article

Chlorophylls effective against aflatoxin (1/4/2010)

A new study has found that chlorophyll and its derivative chlorophyllin are effective in limiting the absorption of aflatoxin in humans. Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that is a contaminant of grains including corn, peanuts and soybeans; it is known to cause liver cancer -- and can work in concert with other health concerns, such as hepatitis. ...> Full Article

Study casts doubt on provocative tuberculosis theory (1/3/2010)

A new study is casting doubt on a provocative theory that explains why tuberculosis can lie dormant in some patients for many years. ...> Full Article

Small molecules found to protect cells in multiple models of Parkinson's disease (1/2/2010)

Several structurally similar small molecules appear capable of protecting cells from alpha-synuclein toxicity, a hallmark of Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity, and slowed movements. There is currently no cure for the disease, and current Parkinson's therapies only address disease symptoms, not the disease's cellular cause. ...> Full Article

Enzyme necessary for development of healthy immune system (1/1/2010)

Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. ...> Full Article