cancer tagged posts

Scientists have discovered how a mutated gene can affect the three-dimensional interactions of genes in the cell, leading to various forms of cancer. Inside the cell, DNA is tightly wrapped around proteins and packed in a complex, 3D structure that we call “chromatin.” Chromatin not only protects our genetic material from damage, but also organizes the entire genome by regulating the expression of genes in three dimensions, unwinding them to be presented to the cell’s gene-expression machinery and then winding them back in.

Inside the 3D chromatin structure there are certain regions called “topologically associating domains” or TADs...

A tumor cell that has acquired high metastatic potential during chemotherapy lights up with high FRET biosensor readout, whereas the cells that are sensitive to chemotherapy (and hence, low potential) stays dark.

Researchers engineered sensors to detect and measure the metastatic potential of single cancer cells. Metastasis is attributed as the leading cause of death in people with cancer.
Cancer would not be so devastating if it did not metastasize,” said Pradipta Ghosh, MD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, director of the Center for Network Medicine and senior study author.

“Although there are many ways to detect metastasis once it has occurred, there has been nothing available to ‘see’ or ‘measure’ the potentia...

As soon as the calcium level exceeds a particular threshold over a longer period of time, an implant inserted under the skin triggers the production of melanin. This causes a mole to form. (Simulated montage) Credit: ETH Zurich

Researchers have developed an early warning system for the 4 most common types of cancer. Should a tumor develop, a visible mole will appear on the skin. Alongside cardiovascular disease, cancer has become the top cause of death in industrialised countries. Many of those affected are diagnosed only after the tumour has developed extensively. This often reduces the chance of recovery significantly: the cure rate for prostate cancer is 32% and only 11% for colon cancer...

Healthy cells (left image) display four centrioles, a normal number (in yellow). On the contrary, breast cancer cells (triple negative) have extra centrioles (here 16, right image). Credit: Gaëlle Marteil, IGC.

A research team led by Monica Bettencourt Dias, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC, Portugal), discovered important features of cancer cells that may help clinicians fighting cancer. The researchers observed that the number and size of tiny structures that exist inside cells, called centrioles, are increased in the most aggressive sub-types of cancer. This study will be published in Nature Communications* on the 28th of March.

Cancer is a very diverse disease with some tumours being more aggressive and more resistant to chemotherapy than others...