Scientists announce new advance with potential for future cancer targeting
Teams from UK and Germany publish research in Nature Cell Biology
2010-11-18
(Press-News.org) New research that provides potential for exciting new approaches to targeting diseases such as cancer has been announced by an international team of academics.
They have also announced the potential for more targeted treatments following their identification of proteins that play a vital role in the life of a human cell.
The research teams from Germany and the UK have published their work in the Advance Online Publication on Nature Cell Biology's website.
The teams are from the Centre for Molecular Biology at the University of Heidelberg and from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Leicester. Their work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK and the Association for International Cancer Research.
Professor Elmar Schiebel, who led the study from the University of Heidelberg, said: "Our study describes novel and important insights into a key process involved in cell division. This work suggests novel approaches to the targeted treatment of cancer. "
Professor Andrew Fry, who led the University of Leicester team, added:
"This is an exciting new development that offers potential for finding news ways of inhibiting unregulated cell division which is a characteristic of cancer and we are already working with colleagues in Newcastle and London to develop this research."
The scientists investigated the processes involved in cell division which led to their identification of a new potential breakthrough. Professor Fry explains: "When cells divide they must accurately separate their genetic material on a scaffolding structure called the mitotic spindle. As cells divide in two, the mitotic spindle scaffold has two poles, or ends, to which the genetic material, carried on chromosomes, must separate.
"The poles of the spindle are generated by a pair of structures called centrosomes, which are normally held in close proximity in cells, but which at the start of cell division move to opposite ends of the cell. Failure of centrosome separation blocks division of cells and can ultimately lead to cell death.
"Our research has identified new proteins that control centrosome separation as well as assessing the relative contributions of these together with previously described regulators. Importantly, this work suggests exciting new approaches to the targeted treatment of diseases characterized by deregulated cell division, such as cancer, as inhibitors of centrosome separation have the potential to prevent uncontrolled cell proliferation.
"Moreover, combining drugs against different regulators may reduce cytotoxic side-effects by allowing reduced concentrations of each inhibitor to be used in patients.
"In order to undertake proof of principle experiments, we are now in the process of developing inhibitors against these novel centrosome separation regulators in collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Research in London and the Northern Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle."
###
Note to newsdesk
For more information, contact:
Professor Andrew M. Fry
Department of Biochemistry
University of Leicester
Tel. +44 116 229 7069
Email: amf5@le.ac.uk
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biochemistry/staff/fry
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-11-18
Research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) shows that children with severe congenital heart defects have twice the risk of anxiety at 18 months of age compared to healthy children. Children with mild and moderate heart defects, on the other hand, did not show an increased risk of anxiety.
- These findings suggest that children with severe forms of congenital heart defects are prone to emotional problems at a very young age. The increased risk of anxiety could be related to the number of medical procedures and hospital admissions that characterise the ...
2010-11-18
Amsterdam, November 17th, 2010¬ -- Black holes, or the remnants of hyper-or supernova explosions, have intrigued scientists since the concept was first introduced in 1967. Astronomers have only ever been able to observe gamma-ray bursts, considered the births of young black holes, at far distance. Researchers have now found compelling evidence for the birth of a black hole in the so-called local Universe--representing the youngest black hole ever discovered in our cosmic neighborhood. The results of this research have been published in the most recent issue of the Elsevier ...
2010-11-18
Nov. 16, 2010 — The numerous technical and operational breakdowns that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and spill from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico suggest the lack of a suitable approach for managing the inherent risks, uncertainties, and dangers associated with deepwater drilling operations and a failure to learn from previous "near misses," says an interim report of preliminary findings from a committee of the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. The events also suggest insufficient checks and balances for critical ...
2010-11-18
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — One of biggest factors promoting the diversity of coastal ocean life is how fast the water flows, according to new research by ecologists at Brown University. Experiments and observation in Palau, Alaska, and Maine showed that the faster the flow, the greater the number of invertebrate species that live on rocks under the water.
The findings, published the week of Nov. 15 in the journal Ecology Letters, could help improve management of delicate and complex coastal ecosystems, said James Palardy, a former Brown doctoral student and ...
2010-11-18
Scientists at the University of Southampton have developed a new kind of underwater sonar device that can detect objects through bubble clouds that would effectively blind standard sonar.
Just as ultrasound is used in medical imaging, conventional sonar 'sees' with sound. It uses differences between emitted sound pulses and their echoes to detect and identify targets. These include submerged structures such as reefs and wrecks, and objects, including submarines and fish shoals.
However, standard sonar does not cope well with bubble clouds resulting from breaking waves ...
2010-11-18
Cells in the brain called pericytes that have not been high on the list of targets for treating diseases like Alzheimer's may play a more crucial role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases than has been realized.
The findings, published Nov. 4 in Neuron, cast the pericyte in a surprising new role as a key player shaping blood flow in the brain and protecting sensitive brain tissue from harmful substances. By manipulating pericyte levels, scientists were able to re-create in the brains of mice an array of abnormalities that mirror in striking fashion the brain ...
2010-11-18
Medical websites like WebMD provide consumers with more access than ever before to comprehensive health and medical information, but the sites' utility becomes limited if users use unclear or unorthodox language to describe conditions in a site search. However, a group of Georgia Tech researchers have created a machine-learning model that enables the sites to "learn" dialect and other medical vernacular, thereby improving their performance for users who use such language themselves.
Called "diaTM" (short for "dialect topic modeling"), the system learns by comparing multiple ...
2010-11-18
CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found a potential genetic target for heart disease, which could lead to therapies to prevent the development of the nation's No. 1 killer in its initial stages.
These findings will be presented for the first time at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Chicago Nov. 17.
The study, led by WenFeng Cai, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow under the direction of Litsa Kranias, PhD, AHA distinguished scientist and Hanna Chair in Cardiology in the department of pharmacology and cell biophysics, ...
2010-11-18
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Medications do not have a chance to fight health problems if they are taken improperly or not taken at all. Non-adherence to medications costs thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year in the United States alone, according to the New England Healthcare Institute. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have developed an intervention strategy that is three times more effective than previously studied techniques at improving adherence in patients.
Cynthia Russell, associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, found that patients ...
2010-11-18
Results of a Toronto Western Hospital study show that patients suffering back pain get quicker diagnosis and treatment when a Nurse Practitioner conducts the first examination. Traditionally, patients face long and anxiety-ridden wait times - up to 52 weeks – before an initial examination by a spine surgeon. Results from the year long TWH study showed wait times for patients examined by a Nurse Practitioner were significantly shorter, ranging from 10 to 21 weeks.
"Waiting times for specialty consultations in public healthcare systems worldwide are lengthy and impose undue ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Scientists announce new advance with potential for future cancer targeting
Teams from UK and Germany publish research in Nature Cell Biology
