Feature Channels: Cell Biology

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Adult stem cells collected directly from human fat are more stable than other cells – such as fibroblasts from the skin – and have the potential for use in anti-aging treatments, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. They made the discovery after developing a new model to study chronological aging of these cells.

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Researchers in Germany have discovered that a tumor suppressor protein thought to prevent acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can actually promote a particularly deadly form of the disease. The study, “RUNX1 cooperates with FLT3-ITD to induce leukemia,” which will be published online February 17 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggests that targeting this protein could be an effective treatment for certain AML patients.

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For the first time, NIH-funded researchers have used stem cells to grow intestinal tissues with a functioning nervous system. The advance creates new opportunities for studying intestinal diseases, nutritional health, and diabetes. It also brings researchers one step closer to growing patient-specific human intestines for transplant.

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UAB will partner with Proton International to bring proton therapy, one of the most technically advanced forms of cancer-killing radiation, to Alabama. Proton therapy delivers a more precise dose of radiation to a tumor and can avoid damage to healthy surrounding tissue better than conventional X-ray radiation.

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A component of an enzyme family linked to DNA repair, stress responses, and cancer also plays a role in enhancing or inhibiting major cellular activities under physiological conditions, new research shows.

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Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered that macrophages, a common type of cell in the vertebrate immune system, can transmit messages between non-immune cells. Their paper, published online Feb. 16 in the journal Science, is the first reported instance of macrophages relaying messages over a long distance between non-immune cells.

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Winter is in full swing, and many of us have fantasized about curling up in a warm cave and slumbering until the warmth of spring arrives, just like a bear. Bears have the ability to sleep away the harsh winter months when food is scarce. They can spend five to seven months in hibernation. During this time, bears do not eat, drink, excrete or exercise. Despite the length of inactivity, bears do not experience bone loss, muscle loss, heart complications or blood clots like humans do during extended bouts of inactivity.

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Harvard Medical School researchers have successfully “listened in” on the crosstalk between gut microbes and the immune system.

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Mount Sinai researchers have created a novel model that shows the step-by-step progression from normal blood cells to leukemia and its precursor diseases, creating replicas of the stages of the disease to test the efficacy of therapeutic interventions at each stage, according to a study to be published in Cell Stem Cell. This research marked the first time scientists have been able to transplant leukemia from humans to a test tube and then into mice for study, a landmark feat that will allow for valuable research to help find therapies for blood cancer patients in the future.

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Genomic testing of biopsies from patients with deadly, treatment-resistant cancerous blood syndromes called histiocytoses allowed doctors to identify genes fueling the ailments and use targeted molecular drugs to successfully treat them. Researchers report their data in Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight (JCI Insight). They recommend the regular use of comprehensive genomic profiling at diagnosis to positively impact clinical care,

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Researchers show that GARP2 accelerates retinal degeneration in mice, and they have also made an important step toward creating a standardized OTC nomenclature between mice and humans for a measurement of retinal degeneration.

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Two Kennesaw State University scientists have received a total of $737,364 in National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants for developmental biology research into autism and birth defects.

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The latest study on hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s disease shows no relationship between taking the drugs and whether you may develop the disease years later. Some previous studies have shown that hormone therapy may increase the risk of the disease, while others have shown that it may reduce the risk. The new study was published in the February 15, 2017, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Women with early-stage breast cancer who had an intermediate risk recurrence score (RS) from a 21-gene expression assay had similar outcomes, regardless of whether they received chemotherapy, a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer finds.

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Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have identified a route by which fat also can deliver a form of small RNAs called microRNAs that helps to regulate other organs. This mechanism may offer the potential to develop an entirely new therapeutic approach.

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A recent Yale study may have found a new way to fight brain cancer.

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Research published today in Nature from scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah shows how epithelial cells naturally turn over, maintaining constant numbers between cell division and cell death.

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In a study recently published online in the journal Molecular Metabolism, Chakraborty and his colleagues have shown that deleting the gene for this protein, known as IP6K1, protects animal models from both obesity and diabetes.

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Less aggressive cancers are known to have an intact genome—the complete set of genes in a cell—while the genome of more aggressive cancers tends to have a great deal of abnormalities. Now, a new multi-year study of DNA patterns in tumor cells suggests that these aberrant genetic signatures are not random but reflect selective forces in tumor evolution.

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Investigating the lower bound of energy required for life helps us understand ecological constraints on other planetary bodies in our solar system as well as our own. In a new study, researchers analyze cellular processes across species and sizes of bacteria, to zoom in on life's minimal energy requirements.

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Using super-resolution microscopy, an international research team led by Assistant Professor Pakorn (Tony) Kanchanawong from the Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore (MBI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at NUS, as well as Dr Cristina Bertocchi, Research Fellow at MBI, has revealed, for the first time, how cadherin-based cell-cell contacts are organised.

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A team of 18 University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center researchers has developed a new tool to analyze an often overlooked aspect of cancer genetics — an alteration that results in the loss or gain in a copy of a gene. This change, known as somatic copy-number alterations, may be key to disease progression and might offer new therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer and other malignancies.

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Calcium in the mitochondria -- the energy factory of cells -- may be one of the keys to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Researchers at Temple University have now identified how an imbalance of calcium ions in the mitochondria may contribute to cell death and, specifically, neurodegeneration in brain cells during Alzheimer's and dementia. The findings could eventually point to new therapies for preventing or delaying these diseases. The team will present its work during the 61st Meeting of the Biophysical Society.

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Currently, the predominant theory behind Alzheimer’s disease is the “amyloid hypothesis,” which states that abnormally increased levels of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides outside of brain cells produce a variety of low molecular weight Aβ aggregates that are toxic to the nervous system. These Aβ aggregates interact directly with target cells and lead to cell death. During the Biophysical Society’s meeting, being held Feb. 11-15, 2017, Antonio De Maio will present his work hunting for the specific mechanisms behind Aβ-induced toxicity to cells, or cytoxicity.

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The 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded the for discoveries of mechanisms of autophagy, a cellular process much like recycling, where new cellular components are generated from old and damaged ones. Though a relatively simple process conceptually, autophagy plays an important role in many physiological processes and genes essential to the process could be a key component for treating diseases. Now, researchers have reported the first bacterial creation and functional analysis of a protein essential to initiate autophagy: a human homologous gene of Beclin-1. The researchers will present their findings during the Biophysical Society meeting, Feb. 11-15, 2017.

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The National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine issued a report Tuesday focused on human genome editing. It lays out principles and recommendations for governments grappling with how to handle rapid advances in human genome-editing technology as it applies to human health and disease. Two University of Wisconsin–Madison experts served on the 22-member international committee that compiled the report.

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Mayo Clinic and University of Washington researchers have discovered a new culture method that unlocks the natural fighter function of immune T cells when they are passing through the bloodstream. This allows T cell armies to be raised directly from blood that naturally recognize and target proteins that are present on most human cancers. The results are published in the Feb. 14 issue of Oncotarget.

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Research from the University of Notre Dame brings scientists one step closer to developing new forms of biorobotics and novel treatment approaches for several muscle-related health problems such as muscular degenerative disorders, arrhythmia and limb loss.

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The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently published an updated clinical guideline that underscores the safety and effectiveness of palliative radiation therapy (RT) for treating painful bone metastases.

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These findings could provide new insight and understanding of congenital heart defects.

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The protein which helps the sperm and egg fuse together in sexual reproduction are part of a larger family of proteins that helps other cells bind together to create larger organs, and which also allows viruses like Zika and Dengue to invade healthy cells.

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Many genetic mutations have been linked to Type 2 diabetes, but no clear genetic signature has emerged. Now, new results may explain how multiple genetic flaws can lead to the same disease: They seem to change the way certain cells in the pancreas “read” their genes.

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Nicotine -- the primary compound found within tobacco smoke -- is known to change the grouping of some subtypes of nicotine receptors, but the mechanisms for nicotine addiction remain unclear. This inspired a group of University of Kentucky researchers to explore the role nicotine plays in the assembly of nicotine receptors within the brain. During the Biophysical Society meeting, Feb. 11-15, 2017, Faruk Moonschi will present the group’s work, which centers on a fluorescence-based “single molecule” technique they developed.

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A new report from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research chronicles the embryonic origins of planaria, providing new insight into the animal's remarkable regenerative abilities.

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Scientists have discovered a new “mastermind fusion gene” may be associated with a rare cancer-causing tumor – pheochromocytomas (“pheo”) and paragangliomas, according to a study published Feb. 13 in Cancer Cell, by researchers at the Uniformed Services University (USU) and the National Cancer Institutes’ The Cancer Genome Atlas. This breakthrough discovery could lead to more precise treatment as well as a better understanding of cancer itself.

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Loss of the protein Importin 11 predicts relapse and metastasis in patients following prostate removal

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Researchers have developed a non-invasive imaging technique that accurately detects skin cancer without surgical biopsy. Multiphoton microscopy of mitochondria accurately identified melanomas and basal cell carcinomas by detecting abnormal clusters of mitochondria in both types of skin cancer.

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NDSU students have many opportunities to practice skills they will use in their professional lives. The NDSU Graduate School hosted a Three Minute Thesis Competition to challenge graduate students to effectively communicate complex research to a general audience.

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Casting one of the largest genomic nets to date for the rare tumors of the autonomic nervous system known as pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PCC/PGL) captured several new mutations driving the disease that could serve as potential drug targets, researchers from Penn Medicine and other institutions reported this week in Cancer Cell.

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Researchers have witnessed - for the first time - cancer cells being targeted and destroyed from the inside, by an organo-metal compound discovered by the University of Warwick.

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The cellular skeleton protein actin can bind cells together, and also play a number of roles in cancer’s invasion into new tissues in the body.

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Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a cell in the retina that may cause myopia when it dysfunctions. The dysfunction may be linked to the amount of time a child spends indoors and away from natural light.

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A team from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center describes this week in the journal Nature a series of preclinical experiments using patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDXs) and mouse models that point to potential treatments for patients with a rapidly-progressing and resistant subgroup of tumor cells.

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Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) today published a seminal review of the rapidly evolving field of precision oncology, which allows doctors to recommend therapies based on a genetic understanding of a person’s cancer. Appearing in the special cancer-focused February 9 issue of Cell, the article — “Implementing Genome-Driven Oncology” — presents a critically self-reflective but solutions-focused perspective on this approach to cancer treatment.

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Rearranging the genome is a risky endeavor, and human cells reserve it for special occasions, like making egg and sperm cells.

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A single blood test and basic information about a patient’s medical status can indicate which patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are likely to benefit from a stem cell transplant, according to new research by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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Research led by scientists at UC San Francisco and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has used brain “organoids” — tiny 3D models of human organs that scientists grow in a dish to study disease — to identify root causes of Miller-Dieker Syndrome (MDS), a rare genetic disorder that causes fatal brain malformations

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The rise of MRSA infections is limiting the treatment options for physicians and surgeons. Now, an international team of researchers, led by Elizabeth Loboa, dean of the University of Missouri College of Engineering, has used silver ion-coated scaffolds, or biomaterials that are created to hold stem cells, which slow the spread of or kill MRSA while regenerating new bone. Scientists feel that the biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds could be the first step in the fight against MRSA in patients.

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A new therapeutic agent tested in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) produced anti-inflammatory activity and prevented loss of cells in the optic nerve, according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Noveome Biotherapeutics.

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A research report published in Clinical Epigenetics, suggests that epigenetic mechanism based drugs could become one of the treatment armamentarium of future anti-diabetic agents.