Health News

Fragmenting ions and radiation sensitizers

A new study using mass spectrometry is helping piece together what happens when DNA that has been sensitized by the oncology drug 5-fluorouracil is subjected to the ionising radiation used in radiotherapy. The anti-cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) acts as a radiosensitizer: it is rapidly taken up into the DNA of cancer cells, making the cells […]

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Can pomegranate juice protect the infant brain?

When it comes to protecting the newborn brain, taking steps to mitigate risk before birth may be critical. Some newborns, such as those with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), are at heightened risk. Being able to intervene before birth to aid in protecting the newborn brain may prevent the often-devastating effects of brain injury. In ongoing […]

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Pluripotency: ‘Butterfly effect’ discovered: Single change at telomeres controls the ability of cells to generate a complete organism

Pluripotent cells can give rise to all cells of the body, a power that researchers are eager to control because it opens the door to regenerative medicine and organ culture for transplants. But pluripotency is still a black box for science, controlled by unknown genetic (expression of genes) and epigenetic signals (biochemical marks that control […]

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Finding a cause of neurodevelopmental disorders: Scientists uncover a mechanism linking a protein mutation with abnormal nervous system development

Neurodevelopmental disorders arising from rare genetic mutations can cause atypical cognitive function, intellectual disability, and developmental delays, yet it is unclear why and how this happens. Scientists suspected a mutation in a complex of proteins could be the culprit for a group of rare genetic disorders and, now, Salk Institute researchers have identified the molecular […]

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Brain region linked to altered social interactions in autism model

Although psychiatric disorders can be linked to particular genes, the brain regions and mechanisms underlying particular disorders are not well-understood. Mutations or deletions of the SHANK3 gene are strongly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a related rare disorder called Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Mice with SHANK3 mutations also display some of the traits associated with […]

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Crunching the numbers of cancer metastasis

In metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original tumor and take root in another region of the body by entering the blood stream. In order to spread, metastatic cells cross over the endothelium — a barrier of endothelial cells lining the circulatory system that controls the passing of materials into and out of the […]

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Molecular chatter makes for a ‘hot tumor’

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has deciphered a complex molecular conversation between cancer and immune cells that is key to orchestrating the successful invasion of tumors by T cells that kill cancer cells. “We show that two key chemokines, CCL5 and CXCL9, are universally implicated in T cell infiltration across all solid tumors,” said George […]

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Protein that hinders advancement of prostate cancer identified

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that blocking a specific protein, may be a promising strategy to prevent the spread of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Under the direction of BUSM’s Gerald V. Denis PhD, researchers have long studied a family of three closely related proteins, called BET bromodomain proteins, composed of […]

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New ways to generate stem cells more efficiently

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are among the most important tools in modern biomedical research, leading to new and promising possibilities in precision medicine. To create them requires transforming a cell of one type, such as skin, into something of a blank slate, so it has the potential to become virtually any other kind of […]