Curing Death by Curing Aging - June 2009 Archives

Second gene linked to familial testicular cancer (6/30/2009)

Specific variations or mutations in a particular can gene raise a man's risk of familial, or inherited, testicular germ-cell cancer, the most common form of this disease, according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. This is only the second gene to be identified that affects the risk of familial testicular cancer, and the first gene in a key biochemical pathway. The study appears in the July 2009 Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

Risk of cancer (6/30/2009)

Scientists discover novel mechanism that increases the risk of common colorectal cancer ...> Full Article

Environmental cues control reproductive timing and longevity, University of Minnesota study shows (6/30/2009)

When humans and animals delay reproduction because food or other resources are scarce, they may live longer to increase the impact of reproduction, according to a new study by University of Minnesota researchers. ...> Full Article

New piece found in colorectal cancer puzzle (6/29/2009)

Prostasin, a relatively unknown protease enzyme expressed in most epithelial cells, may play a role in the genesis of colorectal cancer. Researchers writing in the open-access journal BMC Cancer have associated a reduction in the expression of inhibitors of the enzyme with malignant cellular behavior. ...> Full Article

Study pinpoints novel cancer gene and biomarker (6/28/2009)

Research underscores need to combine genomics and basic biology in cancer gene hunt ...> Full Article

New gene discovery links obesity to the brain (6/28/2009)

A variation in a gene that is active in the central nervous system is associated with increased risk for obesity, according to an international study in which Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University played a major role. The research adds to evidence that genes influence appetite and that the brain plays a key role in obesity. ...> Full Article

MicroRNAs help control HIV life cycle (6/27/2009)

Cellular defense mechanism may play role in hiding virus from immune system ...> Full Article

On malaria struggle, baboons and humans have similar stories to tell (6/27/2009)

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Controversial cancer stem cells offer new direction for treatment (6/26/2009)

In a review in Science, a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher sorts out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, which seem capable of resisting many modern treatments. ...> Full Article

Scientists block Ebola infection in cell-culture experiments (6/26/2009)

Accomplishment could lead to first therapy for deadly disease ...> Full Article

Researchers to reveal aging's origins on global stage (6/26/2009)

Four of the biologists who described the underlying causes of aging will soon share their findings with an international audience during a symposium at the upcoming World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, taking place from July 5-9, 2009, in Paris, France. ...> Full Article

Carb synthesis sheds light on promising tuberculosis drug target (6/26/2009)

A fundamental question about how sugar units are strung together into long carbohydrate chains has also pinpointed a promising way to target new medicines against tuberculosis. ...> Full Article

Potent metastasis inhibitor identified (6/25/2009)

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have isolated a potent metastasis inhibitor produced by tumor cells, one that could potentially be harnessed as a cancer treatment. The protein, prosaposin, reduced metastases by 80 percent in a mouse model and significantly prolonged survival, the researchers report in PNAS. Currently, there are no approved therapies for inhibiting or treating metastases. ...> Full Article

Dramatic outcomes in prostate cancer study (6/25/2009)

Two Mayo Clinic patients whose prostate cancer had been considered inoperable are now cancer free thanks in part to an experimental drug therapy that was used in combination with standardized hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The men were participating in a clinical trial of an immunotherapeutic agent called MDX-010 or ipilimumab. ...> Full Article

Research uncovers clues to virus-cancer link (6/24/2009)

In a series of recently published articles, a research team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has uncovered clues to the development of cancers in AIDS patients. ...> Full Article

Green tea may affect prostate cancer progression (6/24/2009)

According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression. ...> Full Article

Smallpox - The Death of a Disease (6/24/2009)

For over 3000 years, hundreds of millions of people have died or been left scarred by the incurable disease smallpox. In 1967, Dr. D.A. Henderson led the worldwide campaign to eliminate it from the face of the Earth -- and succeeded in just one decade. "Smallpox -- the death of a disease: The inside story of eradicating a worldwide killer" recounts what some consider "the greatest scientific and humanitarian achievement of the past century." ...> Full Article

Caucasians are at higher risk of developing Ewing's sarcoma than other races (6/23/2009)

The largest analysis of its kind has found that Caucasians are much more likely than people in other racial/ethnic groups to develop a rare bone and soft tissue cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. ...> Full Article

Tumor suppressor gene in flies may provide insights for human brain tumors (6/23/2009)

In the fruit fly's developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor. Researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore have found a tumor-suppressing protein in the fly's brain, with a counterpart in mammals, that can apparently prevent brain tumors from forming. ...> Full Article

Aerobically unfit young adults on road to diabetes in middle age (6/20/2009)

Most healthy 25 year olds don't stay up at night worrying whether they are going to develop diabetes in middle age. But many should be concerned. Researchers at Northwestern have found young adults with low aerobic fitness levels are two to three times more likely to develop diabetes in 20 years than those who are fit. The study also shows that young women and young African-Americans are less fit, placing more of them at risk for diabetes. ...> Full Article

Discovery of the cell's water gate may lead to new cancer drugs (6/20/2009)

The flow of water into and out from the cell may play a crucial role in several types of cancer. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now found the gate that regulates the flow of water into yeast cells. The discovery, which will be published in the journal PLoS Biology, raises hopes of developing a drug that inhibits the spread and growth of tumors. ...> Full Article

Researchers pioneer an advanced sepsis detection and management system (6/20/2009)

An interdiscipinary team of clinicians and informatics experts from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and computer scientists from Vanderbilt's Institute for Software Integrated Systems have developed and begun testing what they believe is the first real-time system for sepsis detection. ...> Full Article

Novel light-sensitive compounds show promise for cancer therapy (6/19/2009)

Chemists at UC Santa Cruz have developed novel compounds that show promise for photodynamic cancer therapy, which uses light-activated drugs to kill tumor cells. The new compounds, called dye-sensitized ruthenium nitrosyls, are absorbed by cancer cells and respond to specific wavelengths of light by releasing nitric oxide, which triggers cell death. ...> Full Article

Rare disorder gives modelers first glimpse at immune system development (6/19/2009)

Children born without thymus glands have given Duke University Medical Center researchers a rare opportunity to watch as a new immune system develops its population of infection-fighting T-cells. Researchers led by Thomas Kepler, Ph.D., division chief of computational biology, tracked three young patients after thymus tissue transplantation to measure the growth of a T-cell population -- with all of its diversity -- and learn about regulation mechanisms. ...> Full Article

Test detects molecular marker of aging in humans (6/18/2009)

A team of UNC researchers has proven that a key protein called p16INK4a is present in human blood, and is strongly correlated both with chronological age and with certain behaviors such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, which are known to accelerate the aging process. ...> Full Article

Cancer researchers develop model that may help identify cancer stem cells (6/18/2009)

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, on a quest to find lung cancer stem cells, have developed a unique model to allow further investigation into the cells that many believe may be at the root of all lung cancers. ...> Full Article

Stress puts double whammy on reproductive system, fertility (6/18/2009)

Stress is known to decrease fertility and sexual behavior, but researchers thought this was because stress hormones lower levels of a brain hormone called gonadotropin releasing hormone, or GnRH. UC Berkeley biologists now show that stress hormones also boost levels of a hormone that suppresses GnRH -- a double whammy. The scientists hope it will be possible to block this hormone, called gonadotropin inhibiting hormone, or GnIH, and restore fertility. ...> Full Article

RNA snippet suppresses spread of aggressive breast cancer (6/17/2009)

Low levels of a tiny RNA fragment in cells are associated with metastatic breast cancer in humans and increases the aggressive spread of breast cancer in mice, according to researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Measuring levels of this so-called microRNA in cancer cells may more accurately predict the likelihood of metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body that accounts for 90 percent of cancer-related deaths. ...> Full Article

Huntington's disease deciphered (6/16/2009)

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how the mutated Huntington gene acts on the nervous system to create the devastation of Huntington's disease. ...> Full Article

New skin cancer patch: Possible alternative to surgery (6/16/2009)

A new study shows that a radioactive skin patch can safely and successfully treat basal cell carcinoma, one of the most common types of skin cancers, according to researchers at the SNM's 56th Annual Meeting. ...> Full Article

Waste disposal protein is mechanism behind cancer tumor suppression (6/16/2009)

Team at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers University focuses on cell self digestion pathway ...> Full Article

Effective over-the-counter prostate cancer test kit likely in next few years (6/15/2009)

An over-the-counter prostate cancer test kit could be coming to a pharmacy near you, thanks to the collaborative work of a University of Central Florida chemist and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando researchers. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify DNA mutation that occurs at beginning point of T-cell lymphoma (6/15/2009)

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a key mechanism that causes chromosomes within blood cells to break -- an occurrence that marks the first step in the development of human lymphoma. ...> Full Article

A red-wine polyphenol called resveratrol demonstrates significant health benefits (6/14/2009)

Resveratrol shows therapeutic potential for cancer chemoprevention as well as cardioprotection. Resveratrol may aid in the prevention of age-related disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Low doses of resveratrol improve cell survival as a component of cardio- and neuro-protection, while high doses increase cell death. ...> Full Article

Research finds single gene controls growth of some cancers (6/14/2009)

Research led by Ashok Aiyar, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, showing that a single gene can control growth in cancers related to the Epstein-Barr virus and that existing therapeutics can inactivate it, will be published in the June 12, 2009, online issue of PLoS Pathogens. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy technique thwarts cancer by cutting off tumor blood supply (6/14/2009)

University of Florida researchers have come up with a new gene therapy method in mice implanted with human colorectal cancer cells to disrupt cancer growth by using a synthetic protein to induce blood clotting, cutting off a tumor's blood and nutrient supply. ...> Full Article

A new 'idol' grabs the spotlight (6/14/2009)

UCLA study discovers enzyme that controls 'bad' cholesterol ...> Full Article

Researchers find how a common genetic mutation makes cancer radiation resistant (6/13/2009)

Many cancerous tumors possess a genetic mutation that disables a tumor suppressor called PTEN. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown why inactivation of PTEN allows tumors to resist radiation therapy. ...> Full Article

Stress makes your hair go gray (6/13/2009)

Those pesky graying hairs that tend to crop up with age really are signs of stress, reveals a new report in the June 12 issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication. ...> Full Article

Lost molecule is lethal for liver cancer cells in mice (6/13/2009)

MicroRNA kills tumor cells, lets healthy cells live ...> Full Article

MicroRNA replacement therapy may stop cancer in its tracks (6/12/2009)

A new study suggests that delivering small RNAs, known as microRNAs, to cancer cells could help to stop the disease in its tracks. microRNAs control gene expression and are commonly lost in cancerous tumors. Researchers have shown that replacement of a single microRNA in mice with an extremely aggressive form of liver cancer can be enough to halt their disease, according to a report in the June 12 issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. ...> Full Article

Team finds key target of aging regulator (6/12/2009)

Researchers at the Wistar Institute have defined a key target of an evolutionarily conserved protein that regulates the process of aging. The study provides fundamental knowledge about key mechanisms of aging that could point toward new anti-aging strategies and cancer therapies. ...> Full Article

Cancer: The cost of being smarter than chimps? (6/12/2009)

A study suggests that humans cognitively superior brains means more instances of cancer compared to chimpanzees. ...> Full Article

Vaporized viral vector shows promise in anti-cancer gene therapy (6/11/2009)

A new lung cancer therapy employing a vaporized viral vector to deliver a cancer-inhibiting molecule directly to lung tissue shows early promise in mouse trials, according to researchers at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Korea. ...> Full Article

Donor stem cell transplantation associated with survival benefit for patients with leukemia (6/11/2009)

An analysis of previous studies indicates that allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT -- stem cells from a compatible donor) is associated with significant overall and relapse-free survival benefit among adult patients with intermediate- and poor-risk but not good-risk acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission, compared with nonallogeneic SCT therapies, according to an article in the June 10 issue of JAMA. ...> Full Article

Hormone therapy may confer more aggressive properties to prostate tumors (6/11/2009)

Hormone therapy is often given to patients with advanced prostate cancer. While it is true that the treatment prevents growth of the tumor, it also changes its properties. Some of these changes may result in the tumor becoming more aggressive and more liable to form metastases. This is one of the conclusion of a thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. ...> Full Article

Bisphenol A exposure in pregnant mice permanently changes DNA of offspring (6/11/2009)

Exposure during pregnancy to the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, found in many common plastic household items, is known to cause a fertility defect in the mother's offspring in animal studies, and now researchers have found how the defect occurs. The results of the new study will be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. ...> Full Article

Stopping diabetes damage with vitamin C (6/10/2009)

Researchers at the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center have found a way to stop the damage caused by type 1 diabetes with the combination of insulin and a common vitamin found in most medicine cabinets. ...> Full Article

Gene activity reveals dynamic stroma microenvironment in prostate cancer (6/10/2009)

As stroma -- the supportive framework of the prostate gland -- react to prostate cancer, changes in the expression of genes occur that induce the formation of new structures such as blood vessels, nerves and parts of nerves, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research. ...> Full Article

New antibiotics could come from a DNA binding compound that kills bacteria in 2 minutes (6/10/2009)

A synthetic DNA binding compound has proved surprisingly effective at binding to the DNA of bacteria and killing all the bacteria it touched within two minutes. ...> Full Article

Link unraveled between chromosomal instability and centrosome defects in cancer cells (6/9/2009)

In a new study, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists disprove a century-old theory about why cancer cells often have too many or too few chromosomes, and show that the actual reason may hold the key to a novel approach to cancer therapy. ...> Full Article

Recruitment of reproductive features into other cell types may underlie extended lifespan in animals (6/9/2009)

Mutations extending lifespan induce expression of germline genes in somatic cells ...> Full Article

Researchers test nanoparticle to treat cardiovascular disease in mice (6/8/2009)

Scientists and engineers at UC Santa Barbara and other researchers have developed a nanoparticle that can attack plaque -- a major cause of cardiovascular disease. The new development is described in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. ...> Full Article

New arenavirus discovered as cause of hemorrhagic fever outbreak in South Africa and Zambia (6/8/2009)

First Old World arenavirus associated with hemorrhagic fever identified in nearly four decades ...> Full Article

Study demonstrates new way to boost immune memory (6/8/2009)

Cancer vaccine efficacy enhanced using anti-diabetic drug metformin ...> Full Article

Scientists uncover mode of action of enzyme linked with several types of cancer (6/8/2009)

Scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer of the University of Montreal have discovered a key mechanism used by cells to efficiently distribute chromosomes to new cells during cell multiplication. ...> Full Article

Study gives clues to how adrenal cancer forms (6/7/2009)

Dysfunctional telomeres -- the shoelace tips of chromosomes -- can trigger cancer mutations, U-M researchers find ...> Full Article

'Shock and kill' research gives new hope for HIV-1 eradication (6/7/2009)

Latent HIV genes can be "smoked out" of human cells. The so-called "shock and kill" technique, described in a preclinical study in BioMed Central's open-access journal Retrovirology, might represent a new milestone along the way to the discovery of a cure for HIV/AIDS. ...> Full Article

Promising antimicrobial attacks virus, stimulates immune system (6/7/2009)

A promising antimicrobial agent already known to kill bacteria can also kill viruses and stimulate the innate immune system, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. ...> Full Article

Improved DNA stool test could detect digestive cancers in multiple organs (6/6/2009)

Mayo Clinic researchers have demonstrated that a noninvasive screening test can detect not only colorectal cancer but also the common cancers above the colon -- including pancreas, stomach, biliary and esophageal cancers. This is one of more than 100 Mayo Clinic studies being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2009 in Chicago, May 30 through June 4. ...> Full Article

'Shunt' makes mice super fat burners (6/6/2009)

By inserting a molecular shunt into the livers of mice, researchers have shown they can make the animals burn more fat. That so-called glycoxylate shunt consists of two metabolic enzymes normally found in bacteria and plants, but not in mammals, according to the report in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. ...> Full Article

Researchers link pathway to breast cancer stem cells (6/6/2009)

A gene well known to stop or suppress cancer plays a role in cancer stem cells, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The researchers found that several pathways linked to the gene, called PTEN, also affected the growth of breast cancer stem cells. ...> Full Article

Liver disease: Better monitoring, better prognosis (6/5/2009)

The latest research in liver disease being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2009 has important implications for tracking disease development in patients and for current and future transplant recipients. Researchers are making great strides in diagnosing and treating liver disease. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover genetic risk factor for testicular cancer (6/5/2009)

Gene is associated with a three-fold increase in risk ...> Full Article

Researchers identify gene that regulates tumors in neuroblastoma (6/4/2009)

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified a gene that may play a key role in regulating tumor progression in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer usually found in young children. Scientists hope the finding could lead to an effective therapy to inhibit the expression of this gene. ...> Full Article

Vaccine shows therapeutic promise against advanced melanoma (6/4/2009)

First-of-its kind therapy to show benefit in lethal disease ...> Full Article

Stem cell protein offers a new cancer target (6/4/2009)

A study led by Children's Hospital Boston stem cell researcher George Daley, M.D., Ph.D., shows that a protein that keeps embryonic stem cells in their stem-like state, called LIN28, is also important in cancer. It offers a new target to attack, especially in resistant and hard-to-treat cases. ...> Full Article

New device detects heart disease using less than one drop of blood (6/3/2009)

Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit card-sized device created by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston. In a research report published online in the FASEB Journal, they describe how this device can measure and collect a type of cells needed to build vascular tissue, called endothelial progenitor cells, using only 200 microliters of blood. ...> Full Article

Most common brain cancer may originate in neural stem cells (6/3/2009)

Findings in mice suggest greater hope for targeting brain cancer, but also greater caution in pursuing stem cell treatments for degenerative diseases ...> Full Article

Cancer researchers first to link intestinal inflammation with systemic chromosome damage (6/3/2009)

UCLA scientists have linked for the first time intestinal inflammation with systemic chromosome damage in mice, a finding that may lead to the early identification and treatment of human inflammatory disorders, some of which increase risk for several types of cancer. ...> Full Article

Study shows drug combination improves outcome for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (6/2/2009)

A new, international study found that the combination of two drugs delays disease progression for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Results from the Phase III "ATLAS" trial were presented today by Dr. Vincent Miller of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. ...> Full Article

New malaria agent found in chimpanzees close to that commonly observed in humans (6/2/2009)

Researchers based in Gabon and France report the discovery of a new malaria agent infecting chimpanzees in Central Africa. This new species, named Plasmodium gaboni, is a close relative of the most virulent human agent P. falciparum; it is described in an article published May 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. ...> Full Article

New broad-spectrum vaccine to prevent cervical cancer induces strong responses in animals (6/1/2009)

Mice and rabbits immunized with a multimeric-L2 protein vaccine had robust antibody responses and were protected from infection when exposed to human papillomavirus type 16 four months after vaccination, according to a new study published in the May 26 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ...> Full Article

New glucose-regulating protein linked with diabetes discovered (6/1/2009)

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and collaborators at Harvard Medical School have linked a specialized protein in human muscles to the process that clears glucose out of the bloodstream, shedding light on what goes wrong in type 2 diabetes on a cellular level. ...> Full Article

First comprehensive guidelines for managing medullary thyroid carcinoma. (6/1/2009)

New guidelines designed to standardize and optimize the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma, an uncommon and challenging form of thyroid cancer, have been developed by the American Thyroid Association and published online ahead of print in Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. The guidelines are available free online. ...> Full Article