Category Biology/Biotechnology

Drug Triggers Immune Cells to Attack Prostate Cancer

A drug compound stimulates immune cells to attack prostate tumors, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Shown is a human prostate cancer organoid, a small 3D structure that serves as a model of prostate tumors. When the organoid is grown with prostate cancer patients’ immune cells, which have been treated with the drug, the immune cells attack the cancer. Red shows dead cells. Blue shows DNA.

A single drug compound simultaneously attacks hard-to-treat prostate cancer on several fronts, according to a new study in mice and human cells...

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Dietary Change Starves Cancer Cells, Overcoming Treatment Resistance

Blue green cell microscopic amino
Green staining shows mTORC1 is significantly increased due to disruption in GATOR1 in a mouse model of colon cancer. Credit: Sumeet Solanki, Ph.D.

Laboratory research finds a low-protein diet can enhance standard treatment for colon cancer. A dietary change could be a key to enhancing colon cancer treatment, a new study from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center finds.

Cancer cells need nutrients to survive and grow. One of the most important nutrient sensing molecules in a cell is called mTORC1. Often called a master regulator of cell growth, it allows cells to sense different nutrients and thereby grow and proliferate. When nutrients are limited, cells dial down nutrient sensing cascade and turn off mTORC1.

While mTORC1 is known to be hyperactive in colon cancer, the k...

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New Study identifies Connection between Diabetes Medications, Multiple Sclerosis

A new study found that anti-hyperglycemic medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes resulted in an increased risk of multiple sclerosis for people older than 45, particularly among women.

A new University of Arizona Health Sciences study found that people older than 45yo whose Type 2 diabetes was treated with anti-hyperglycemic medications had an increased risk of multiple sclerosis, particularly among women, while anti-hyperglycemic exposure in people younger than 45 reduced that risk.

“Our findings reinforce the need for a precision medicine approach to preventing MS in these vulnerable populations,” said lead researcher Kathleen Rodgers, PhD, associate director of translational neuroscience at the Center for Innovation in Brain Science.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredicta...

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Powerhouses of the Cells: Mitochondria have a Waste Disposal Mechanism to get rid of Mutated mtDNA

Electron micrograph of nucleoid extraction in a cell and schematic representation of the new mechanism. Copyright: David Pla-Martin

A research team has identified a molecular target that could open up new therapeutic options to treat aging-associated diseases like Parkinson’s. Scientists at the University of Cologne have discovered how cells can eliminate mutated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells. Due to their evolutionary descent from bacteria, they still have genetic material packaged in chromosome-like structures (nucleoids). They convert the chemical energy in our food into a biologically usable form...

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