cancer tagged posts

This image is a mouse intestinal organoid, or “mini-gut,” used to study epithelial cell barrier function in ongoing inflammatory bowel disease and cancer studies. Photo courtesy of Coy Allen. Credit: Virginia Tech

Could inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer be prevented by changing the shape of a single protein? There is an intimate link between uncontrolled inflammation in the gut associated with inflammatory bowel disease and the eventual development of colon cancer. This uncontrolled inflammation is associated with changes in bacteria populations in the gut, which can invade the mucosal tissue after damage to the protective cellular barrier lining the tissue.
But Virginia Tech researchers found that modifying the shape of IRAK-M, a protein that controls inflammation, can significa...

Multiplexed image analysis with HySP is faster and less expensive than other methods. Image courtesy of Francesco Cutrale.

A new image analysis technique makes it easier for scientists to quickly find and track important biological molecules including tell-tale signs of disease. Called “Hyper-Spectral Phasor” analysis, or HySP, it could even be useful for diagnosing and monitoring diseases by using cell phone images. It is much faster and far less expensive than current techniques. Through the new imaging technology, researchers use fluorescent imaging to locate proteins and other molecules in cells and tissues. It works by tagging the molecules with dyes that glow under certain kinds of light – the same principle behind so-called “black light” images.

Fluorescent imaging can help scientis...

Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. Credit: NIH

An international team discovered how a shift to increased fat utilization is required for the development and growth of lymphatic vessels for metastasis. This discovery paves the way towards developing therapeutics to limit lymphatic vessel growth in cancer by targeting fat utilization. Formation of new lymphatic vessels, ie lymphangiogenesis, is a poorly understood process, which currently lacks clinically approved drugs to prevent their growth during disease.

The study began with a simple observation: lymphatics use more fatty acids compared to blood vessels. This is the first description of the nutrient utilization of lymphatic vessels...

A schematic showing how a human monoclonal antibody containing a loop structure (CDR-H3) inspired by antibodies found naturally in camels can bind to matrix metalloproteinase 14, which has been shown to play a significant role in several types of cancer.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have camels and llamas to thank for their development of a new cancer treatment that is highly selective in blocking the action of faulty matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs are a group of 26 closely related proteinases (enzymes that break down other proteins) that are essential in tissue regeneration and other normal cellular processes. However, when a tumor grows, certain MMPs are over-produced, allowing cancer cells to spread to other parts of the body.

Assistant professor Xin Ge...