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

Research into fruit fly cells could lead to cancer insights

2014-01-02
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Eleanor Gaskarth
e.f.gaskarth@exeter.ac.uk
44-782-730-9332
University of Exeter
Research into fruit fly cells could lead to cancer insights New research by scientists at the University of Exeter has shown that cells demonstrate remarkable flexibility and versatility when it comes to how they divide - a finding with potential links to the underlying causes of many cancers.

The study, published today in Developmental Cell, describes a number of routes to the formation of a microtubule spindle – the tracks along which DNA moves when a cell divides in order to make two genetically identical cells.

In order to understand the phenomenon, the authors, including Biosciences researchers Dr. James Wakefield, PhD student Daniel Hayward and Experimental Officer in Image Analysis, Dr. Jeremy Metz, combined highly detailed microscopy and image analysis with genetic and protein manipulation of fruit fly embryos.

The innovative research not only describes how the cell can use each pathway in a complementary way, but also that removal of one pathway leads to the cell increasing its use of the others. The researchers also identified that a central molecular complex – Augmin – was needed for all of these routes.

The authors were the first to identify that each of four pathways of spindle formation could occur in fruit fly embryos.

It was previously thought that, in order for chromosomes – packages containing DNA – to line up and be correctly separated, microtubules have to extend from specific microtubule-organising centres in the cell, called centrosomes. However, this study found that microtubules could additionally develop from the chromosomes themselves, or at arbitrary sites throughout the main body of the cell, if the centrosomes were missing.

All of these routes to spindle formation appeared to be dependent on Augmin - a protein complex responsible for amplifying the number of microtubules in the cell.

Dr. Wakefield said of the project "We have all these different spindle formation pathways working in humans. Because the cell is flexible in which pathway it uses to make the spindle, individuals who are genetically compromised in one pathway may well grow and develop normally. But it will mean they have fewer routes to spindle formation, theoretically predisposing them to errors in cell division as they age."

The group are currently investigating cancer links in light of these findings.

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Alcohol, tobacco, drug use far higher in severely mentally ill

2014-01-02
Alcohol, tobacco, drug use far higher in severely mentally ill In the largest ever assessment of substance use among people with severe psychiatric illness, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Southern ...

Tripling tobacco taxes worldwide would avoid 200 million tobacco deaths

2014-01-02
Tripling tobacco taxes worldwide would avoid 200 million tobacco deaths Controlling tobacco marketing is also key to helping people quit smoking TORONTO, Jan. 2, 2014—Tripling taxes on cigarettes around the world would reduce the number of smokers by one-third ...

US global share of research spending declines

2014-01-02
US global share of research spending declines New analysis shows Asia gaining, due to increased support from both government, industry ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The United States' global share of biomedical research spending fell from 51 percent in 2007 ...

Drivers engaged in other tasks about 10 percent of the time

2014-01-02
Drivers engaged in other tasks about 10 percent of the time NIH, Virginia Tech study shows crash risks greatest for teens Drivers eat, reach for the phone, text, or otherwise take their eyes off the road about 10 percent of the time ...

High blood pressure potentially more dangerous for women than men

2014-01-02
High blood pressure potentially more dangerous for women than men WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Jan. 2, 2014 – Doctors may need to treat high blood pressure in women earlier and more aggressively than they do in men, according to scientists at Wake Forest ...

To grow or to defend: How plants decide

2014-01-01
To grow or to defend: How plants decide Crop breeding for semi-dwarfed plants could also improve disease resistance Scientists have discovered how plants use steroid hormones to choose growth over defence when their survival depends on it. The findings ...

Insight into likelihood of retinal detachment following open globe injury

2014-01-01
Insight into likelihood of retinal detachment following open globe injury Findings published in Jan. issue of Ophthalmology BOSTON (Jan. 1, 2014) – Ocular trauma causing open globe injury, or a breach in the wall of the eye, remains an important ...

New molecular targets identified in some hard-to-treat melanomas provide potential treatment option

2013-12-31
New molecular targets identified in some hard-to-treat melanomas provide potential treatment option December 30, 2013 New York, NY / Los Angeles, CA: Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the charitable initiative supporting ground-breaking research ...

Sleep to protect your brain

2013-12-31
Sleep to protect your brain A new study from Uppsala University, Sweden, shows that one night of sleep deprivation increases morning blood concentrations of NSE and S-100B in healthy young men. These molecules are typically found in the brain. Thus, ...

Researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world

2013-12-31
Researchers use Hubble Telescope to reveal cloudy weather on alien world Weather forecasters on exoplanet GJ 1214b would have an easy job. Today's forecast: cloudy. Tomorrow: overcast. Extended outlook: more clouds. A team of scientists led by researchers in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

Montana State geologist’s Antarctic research focuses on accumulations of rare earth elements

Groundbreaking cancer therapy clinical trial with US Department of Energy’s accelerator-produced actinium-225 set to begin this summer

Tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be avoided each year if cholesterol-lowering drugs were used according to guidelines

Leading cancer and metabolic disease expert Michael Karin joins Sanford Burnham Prebys

Low-intensity brain stimulation may restore neuron health in Alzheimer's disease

Four-day school week may not be best for students, review finds

[Press-News.org] Research into fruit fly cells could lead to cancer insights