PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Childhood cancer cells drain immune system's batteries

2015-08-01
(Press-News.org) Cancer cells in neuroblastoma contain a molecule that breaks down a key energy source for the body's immune cells, leaving them too physically drained to fight the disease, according to new research published in the journal Cancer Research today (Saturday).

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that the cells in neuroblastoma - a rare type of childhood cancer that affects nerve cells - produce a molecule that breaks down arginine, one of the building blocks of proteins and an essential energy source for immune cells.

This molecule - called 'arginase' - creates a huge dip in the level of arginine found in the area around the tumour. As soon as the body's immune cells get close to the cancer, the sudden lack of their favourite energy source makes them lethargic and ineffective.

Neuroblastoma cells have a molecule on their surface that marks them out as different from healthy cells. This had led to hopes that the immune system might be trained to recognise and destroy them. But this new research may explain why early attempts to harness the immune system in this way have so far been unsuccessful.

Dr Francis Mussai, study author at the University of Birmingham, said: "We've known for a while that harnessing the power of the immune system could be an effective way to treat neuroblastoma. But we didn't know why the immune cells were having such difficulty recognising and destroying the tumour.

"Armed with this new knowledge about the role of arginine, we may be able to activate the immune system to attack cancer cells."

Dr Carmela De Santo, co-study author at the University of Birmingham, said: "Now the challenge is to develop new drugs which stop neuroblastoma from using arginine, and may make immune therapy more effective."

Around 90 cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed each year in the UK, mostly in children under five years old.

Eleanor Barrie, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "These findings could have huge implications for treating neuroblastoma. Better understanding the role of arginine could help us to boost the body's immune cells and we hope this could lead to more effective treatments.

"We recently launched Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens as part of our commitment to bringing forward the day when no young lives are lost to cancer. Our target is to find more cures and kinder treatments for children with the disease so that, in the future, every child with cancer can go on to live a long and healthy life."

INFORMATION:

For media enquiries please contact Greg Jones on 020 3469 8311 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059

Notes to Editors: Mussai, F., et al, Neuroblastoma arginase activity creates an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impairs autologous and engineered immunity. Cancer Research, 2015. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-3443

For more information on Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens, please visit the website - cruk.org/kidsandteens

For more information on neuroblastoma, please visit - http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/rare-cancers/rare-cancers-name/neuroblastoma

About Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives. Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated. Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years. Today, 2 in 4 people survive cancer. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so that 3 in 4 people will survive cancer within the next 20 years. Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses. Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit http://www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New design brings world's first solar battery to performance milestone

New design brings worlds first solar battery to performance milestone
2015-08-01
COLUMBUS, Ohio--After debuting the world's first solar air battery last fall, researchers at The Ohio State University have now reached a new milestone. In the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they report that their patent-pending design--which combines a solar cell and a battery into a single device--now achieves a 20 percent energy savings over traditional lithium-iodine batteries. The 20 percent comes from sunlight, which is captured by a unique solar panel on top of the battery, explained Yiying Wu, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio State. The ...

There may be a complex market living in your gut

2015-08-01
CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Conventional theories used by economists for the past 150 years to explain how societies buy, sell, and trade goods and services may be able to unlock mysteries about the behavior of microbial life on earth, according to a study by researchers from Claremont Graduate University, Boston University, and Columbia University. The findings, published July 29 in the open access journal PLOS ONE, provide new insight into the behavior of the planet's oldest and tiniest life forms, and also create a new framework for examining larger questions about biological ...

Agrarian settlements drive severe tropical deforestation across the Amazon

2015-07-31
Resettlement projects in the Amazon are driving severe tropical deforestation - according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Câmara dos Deputados (the Brazilian Lower House). Widely hailed as a socially responsible and 'innocuous' strategy of land redistribution, agrarian reform settlements have been created throughout the Brazilian Amazon since the early 1970s at an unprecedented scale. But a study published today in PLOS ONE reveals that these farmer resettlement projects are far from environmentally friendly or socio-economically beneficial. ...

How bees naturally vaccinate their babies

How bees naturally vaccinate their babies
2015-07-31
Tempe, Ariz. -- When it comes to vaccinating their babies, bees don't have a choice -- they naturally immunize their offspring against specific diseases found in their environments. And now for the first time, scientists have discovered how they do it. Researchers from Arizona State University, University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä and Norwegian University of Life Sciences made the discovery after studying a bee blood protein called vitellogenin. The scientists found that this protein plays a critical, but previously unknown role in providing bee babies ...

Gold-diamond nanodevice for hyperlocalized cancer therapy

2015-07-31
Precise targeting biological molecules, such as cancer cells, for treatment is a challenge, due to their sheer size. Now ,Taiwanese scientists have proposed an advanced solution, based on a novel combination of previously used techniques, which can potentially be applied to thermal cancer therapy. Pei-Chang Tsai from the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, at the Academia Sinica, Taipei, and colleagues just published in EPJ QT an improved sensing technique for nanometre-scale heating and temperature sensing. Using a chemical method to attach gold nanorods to the ...

Gout medications might be useful in treating alcohol-induced liver disease

2015-07-31
New research in mice shows that two commonly used gout medications, which target uric acid and adenosine triphosphate, may offer protection from alcohol-induced liver disease and inflammation. These findings suggest that clinical trials in humans with alcoholic liver disease should be considered. The report appears in the August 2015 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. "This study should ultimately help patients with alcoholic liver disease to prevent and/or treat acute episodes of alcoholic hepatitis, a potentially lethal condition," said Gyongyi Szabo, M.D., ...

Sugar in your cuppa ... not just about a sweet tooth!

2015-07-31
New research by scientists at the University of York has given tea and coffee drinkers new information about why their favourite drinks taste as they do. The study led by Dr Seishi Shimizu, of the York Structural Biology Laboratory in the University's Department of Chemistry, shows that sugar has an important effect in reducing the bitterness of tea and coffee, not just by masking it but by influencing the fundamental chemistry. The research published in Food and Function reveals new insights into the way in which caffeine, sugar and water interact at the molecular ...

Findings in research on photoaging could reverse negative impact of ultraviolet radiation

2015-07-31
While all human organs undergo normal, chronological aging, human skin undergoes an additional type of aging because of its direct contact with the environment. The environmental factor that ages human skin more than any other is UV radiation (UVR) from the sun, a process is called photoaging. Unlike chronological aging, which occurs exclusively with the passage of time, photoaging occurs when skin is repeatedly exposed to UV radiation from the sun. Over time, the sun's ultraviolet (UV) light damages the fibers in the skin called elastin. When these fibers break down, ...

Self-assembling, biomimetic membranes may aid water filtration

2015-07-31
A synthetic membrane that self assembles and is easily produced may lead to better gas separation, water purification, drug delivery and DNA recognition, according to an international team of researchers. This biomimetic membrane is composed of lipids -- fat molecules -- and protein-appended molecules that form water channels that transfer water at the rate of natural membranes, and self-assembles into 2-dimensional structures with parallel channels. "Nature does things very efficiently and transport proteins are amazing machines present in biological membranes," said ...

Perfectionism linked to burnout at work, school and sports, research finds

2015-07-31
Concerns about perfectionism can sabotage success at work, school or on the playing field, leading to stress, burnout and potential health problems, according to new research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. In the first meta-analysis of the relationship between perfectionism and burnout, researchers analyzed the findings from 43 previous studies conducted over the past 20 years. It turns out perfectionism isn't all bad. One aspect of perfectionism called "perfectionistic strivings" involves the setting of high personal standards and ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

Study flips treatment paradigm in bilateral Wilms tumor, shows resistance to chemotherapy may point toward favorable outcomes

Doctors received approximately $12.1 billion from drug and device makers between 2013-2022

Discovery suggests new strategy against follicular lymphoma

Making the future too bright: how wishful thinking can point us in the wrong direction

[Press-News.org] Childhood cancer cells drain immune system's batteries