Category Health/Medical

Fluorescent image of liver cells and chemical structure of glutamine. Credit: Kristina Schoonjans/EPFL

Scientists at EPFL have found a way to starve liver cancer cells by blocking a protein that is required for glutamine breakdown – while leaving normal cells intact. The discovery opens new ways to treat liver cancer. Primary liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with current treatments being very limited. Liver cancer cells are particularly addicted to the amino acid glutamine, which fuels their proliferation.

EPFL scientists have now found that a liver protein called “liver receptor homolog 1″ (LRH-1) is responsible for the digestion of glutamine into smaller molecules, which are avidly consumed by liver cancer cells...

Sustained release of melatonin: A novel approach in elevating efficacy of tamoxifen in breast cancer treatment

Tiny bubbles filled with the sleep hormone melatonin can make breast cancer treatment more effective, which means people need a lower dose, giving them less severe side effects. The bubbles, called nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), made tamoxifen stronger and help it kill cancer cells. The authors of the study, from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, say using NLCs packed with melatonin could also help avoid the cancer cells growing resistant to the treatment, so it will remain effective.

More than 224,000 people were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 in the US alone...

The biosensor chip — consisting of a double stranded DNA probe embedded onto a graphene transistor — electronically detects DNA SNPs. Credit: Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego

Researchers say the technology could one day be used in various medical applications such as blood-based tests for early cancer screening, monitoring disease biomarkers and real-time detection of viral and microbial sequences. “We are at the forefront of developing a fast and inexpensive digital method to detect gene mutations at high resolution–on the scale of a single nucleotide change in a nucleic acid sequence,” said Ratnesh Lal, professor of bioengineering, mechanical engineering and materials science in the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego.

The technology, which is at a proof-of-concept sta...

Glioblastoma (histology slide). Credit: Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

Blocking enzyme PRMT5 in tumor cells could be a promising new strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma (GB), the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer. The researchers show that knocking down PRMT5 (protein arginine methyltransferase 5) might force the cells into senescence and slow or stop tumor growth. PRMT5 regulates gene transcription and other cell processes by transferring methyl groups and modifying chromatin. Overexpression of the enzyme in GB is associated with more aggressive disease.

The researchers showed PRMT5 inhibits the activity of a major tumor-suppressor gene called PTEN...