Category Biology/Biotechnology

A schematic illustration of the strategy for overcoming cancer drug resistance.

Researchers ‘turn off’ multi-drug resistance capabilities in cancer cells. The ability for cancer cells to develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs – known as multi-drug resistance – remains a leading cause for tumor recurrence and cancer metastasis, but recent findings offer hope that oncologists could one day direct cancer cells to “turn off” their resistance capabilities...

Extracellular asparagine availability drives invasion and metastasis.

A single protein building block commonly found in food may hold a key to preventing the spread of an often-deadly type of breast cancer, according to a new multicenter study published today in the medical journal Nature. Investigators found that by limiting an amino acid called asparagine in laboratory mice with triple-negative breast cancer, they could dramatically reduce the ability of the cancer to travel to distant sites in the body. Among other techniques, the team used dietary restrictions to limit asparagine.

Foods rich in asparagine include dairy, whey, beef, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, asparagus, potatoes, legumes, nuts, seeds, soy and whole grains. Foods low in asparagine include most fruits and vegetables...

Screenshot from video showing blood cells streaming through a “wound” and a clot forming. The red-stained cells are actually white blood cells. A green extracellular glue can be seen at the top of the wound; this is fibrin, which holds the clot together. See the full video at: https://youtu.be/l7k1dGfKG0g Credit: Yumiko Sakurai, Emory/Georgia Tech

System responds to drugs; endothelium promotes clotting. Biomedical engineers have developed a miniature self-sealing model system for studying bleeding and the clotting of wounds. The researchers envision the device as a drug discovery platform and potential diagnostic tool...

Researchers have discovered how a molecular ‘machine’ — that drives inflammation in a range of diseases — turns off in healthy cells. Credit: Kate Schroder, The University of Queensland

A discovery could be the key to stopping damage caused by uncontrolled inflammation in a range of common diseases including liver disease, Alzheimer’s and gout. University of Queensland researchers have uncovered how an inflammation process automatically switches off in healthy cells, and are now investigating ways to stop it manually when it goes awry. UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) researcher Associate Professor Kate Schroder said this inflammation pathway drove many different diseases...