Category Biology/Biotechnology

A first-of-its-kind (anti-PD-1) immunotherapy was approved today by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as first-line treatment for metastatic melanoma — allowing greater access to this therapy for patients without having to previously receive other prior treatments.

Co-developed by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer member Dr. Antoni Ribas, the drug pembrolizumab has signaled a paradigm shift in the way melanoma is treated. The protein works by blocking the immune system’s brakes, thereby allowing its T cells to recognize and attack cancer cells.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) originally received accelerated approval by the FDA in 2014 for metastatic melanoma...

Transient and stable DNA methylation during memory acquisition and maintenance.

Their study confirms that the formation of memories is accompanied by an altered activity of specific genes. In addition, they found unprecedented evidence that supports the hypothesis DNA methylation may be the molecular basis of long-term memory.

The scientists stimulated long-term memory in mice, by training the animals to recognise a specific test environment. Based on tissue samples, they could discern to what extent this learning task triggered changes in the activity of the genes in the mice’s brain cells. Their focus was on epigenetic modifications. Gene regulation can happen through methylation. Changes in the histones that are packaging the DNA may also occur.

Hennion: “Research on epigenetic change...

3D model of the protein complex mTORC1. Credit: University of Basel, Biozentrum

For a long time it has been known protein TOR – Target of Rapamycin – controls cell growth and is involved in the development of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Researchers have now examined the structure of mammalian TOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in more detail.

About 25 years ago, Prof. Michael Hall discovered the protein “Target of Rapamycin” (TOR) at the Biozentrum. It is one of the most studied proteins of the protein kinase family, an important family of regulatory proteins that control many cellular processes. TOR, in mammals called mTOR, is very important for cellular signalling and is implicated in various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration...