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

How the malaria parasite increases the risk of blood cancer

2015-08-13
(Press-News.org) A link between malaria and Burkitt's lymphoma was first described more than 50 years ago, but how a parasitic infection could turn immune cells cancerous has remained a mystery. Now, in the August 13 issue of Cell, researchers demonstrate in mice that B cell DNA becomes vulnerable to cancer-causing mutations during prolonged combat against the malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum.

Individuals who are chronically infected with certain pathogens are at increased risk of developing lymphomas, cancers of the antibody-producing B lymphocytes. For example, Burkitt's lymphoma, a common form of childhood cancer, is ten times more frequent in areas of equatorial Africa that are endemic for malaria. How the malaria-causing parasite promotes blood cell cancer was not known.

Davide Robbiani of The Rockefeller University and his colleagues decided to tackle this question by studying malaria infections in mice. They discovered that during prolonged immune responses to malaria, B lymphocytes multiply extensively and show prolonged expression of an enzyme called AID (activation-induced cytidine deaminase). Normally, AID mutates DNA at antibody genes to promote shuffling of DNA, which generates the diversity of antibodies so crucial for combating infections. However, Robbiani's team found that in malaria-infected B lymphocytes, AID instead wreaks widespread havoc, causing DNA rearrangements at other genes, including those involved in the development of cancer.

"Thus AID is a necessary risk: you need AID to make potent antibodies to fight infection, but AID also causes collateral damage, leading to DNA breaks and mutations, thus increasing the odds of cancer," Robbiani says.

Robbiani notes that hepatitis C virus and Helicobacter pylori infections, as well as some autoimmune diseases, are also linked with chronic B lymphocyte activation and an increased risk of lymphoma. Therefore, strategies aimed at reducing unintended DNA damage caused by AID might also help reduce the risk of lymphoma in patients affected by these conditions.

INFORMATION:

This work was supported by the Worldwide Cancer Research (formerly known as Association for International Cancer Research), the Fondazione Ettore e Valeria Rossi, and the National Institutes of Health.

Cell, Robbiani et al.: "Plasmodium Infection Promotes Genomic Instability and AID-Dependent B Cell Lymphoma" http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.019

Cell, the flagship journal of Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that publishes findings of unusual significance in any area of experimental biology, including but not limited to cell biology, molecular biology, neuroscience, immunology, virology and microbiology, cancer, human genetics, systems biology, signaling, and disease mechanisms and therapeutics. For more information, please visit http://www.cell.com/cell. To receive media alerts for Cell or other Cell Press journals, contact press@cell.com.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Low-fat diet results in more fat loss than low-carb diet in humans

Low-fat diet results in more fat loss than low-carb diet in humans
2015-08-13
A study from the US National Institutes of Health presents some of the most precise human data yet on whether cutting carbs or fat has the most benefits for losing body fat. In a paper published August 13 in Cell Metabolism, the researchers show how, contrary to popular claims, restricting dietary fat can lead to greater body fat loss than carb restriction, even though a low-carb diet reduces insulin and increases fat burning. Since 2003, Kevin Hall, PhD--a physicist turned metabolism researcher at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases--has ...

Exercise-induced hormone irisin is not a 'myth'

2015-08-13
Irisin, a hormone linked to the positive benefits of exercise, was recently questioned to exist in humans. Two recent studies pointed to possible flaws in the methods used to identify irisin, with commercially available antibodies. In Cell Metabolism on August 13, the Harvard scientists who discovered irisin address this contentious issue by showing that human irisin circulates in the blood at nanogram levels and increases during exercise. Senior study author Bruce Spiegelman of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School says that the confusion over irisin ...

Newly discovered cells regenerate liver tissue without forming tumors

2015-08-13
The mechanisms that allow the liver to repair and regenerate itself have long been a matter of debate. Now researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a population of liver cells that are better at regenerating liver tissue than ordinary liver cells, or hepatocytes. The study, published August 13 in Cell, is the first to identify these so-called "hybrid hepatocytes," and show that they are able to regenerate liver tissue without giving rise to cancer. While most of the work described in the study was done in mouse models, the researchers ...

Alert to biologists: Ribosomes can translate the 'untranslated region' of messenger RNA

Alert to biologists: Ribosomes can translate the untranslated region of messenger RNA
2015-08-13
In what appears to be an unexpected challenge to a long-accepted fact of biology, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found that ribosomes -- the molecular machines in all cells that build proteins -- can sometimes do so even within the so-called untranslated regions of the ribbons of genetic material known as messenger RNA (mRNA). "This is an exciting find that generates a whole new set of questions for researchers," says Rachel Green, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of molecular biology and genetics at the Johns Hopkins University ...

NIH-developed Epstein-Barr virus vaccine elicits potent neutralizing antibodies in animals

2015-08-13
Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their collaborators have developed an experimental, nanoparticle-based vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that can induce potent neutralizing antibodies in vaccinated mice and nonhuman primates. Microscopic particles, known as nanoparticles, are being investigated as potential delivery vehicles for vaccines. The scientists' findings suggest that using a structure-based vaccine design and self-assembling nanoparticles to deliver a viral ...

NIH study finds cutting dietary fat reduces body fat more than cutting carbs

2015-08-13
In a recent study, restricting dietary fat led to body fat loss at a rate 68 percent higher than cutting the same number of carbohydrate calories when adults with obesity ate strictly controlled diets. Carb restriction lowered production of the fat-regulating hormone insulin and increased fat burning as expected, whereas fat restriction had no observed changes in insulin production or fat burning. The research was conducted at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Results were published ...

New technology could reduce wind energy costs

2015-08-13
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail which could make wind energy cheaper. The method, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A and developed by Mechanical Engineering research student Wenqu Chen, uses ultrasonic waves to measure the load transmitted through a ball bearing in a wind turbine. The stress on wind turbine is recorded and then engineers can forecast its remaining service life. When a bearing is subject to a load, its thickness is reduced by ...

Critically endangered species successfully reproduced using frozen sperm

2015-08-13
Black-footed ferrets, a critically endangered species native to North America, have renewed hope for future survival thanks to successful efforts by a coalition of conservationists, including scientists at Lincoln Park Zoo, to reproduce genetically important offspring using frozen semen from a ferret who has been dead for approximately 20 years. The sire, "Scarface," as he is affectionately called by the team, was one of the last 18 black-footed ferrets to exist in the world in the 1980s. Eight kits, including offspring of Scarface, were born recently, significantly increasing ...

Newly discovered brain network recognizes what's new, what's familiar

Newly discovered brain network recognizes whats new, whats familiar
2015-08-13
One of the more heartbreaking realities of Alzheimer's is the moment when a loved one struggling with the disease no longer fully recognizes a family member or close friend who is caring for them. Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has identified a novel learning and memory brain network that processes incoming information based on whether it's something we've experienced previously or is deemed to be altogether new and unknown, helping us recognize, for instance, whether the face before us is that of a familiar friend or a complete stranger. Forthcoming ...

Multigene panel testing for hereditary breast/ovarian cancer risk assessment

2015-08-13
Multigene testing of women negative for BRCA1 and BRCA2 found some of them harbored other harmful genetic mutations, most commonly moderate-risk breast and ovarian cancer genes and Lynch syndrome genes, which increase ovarian cancer risk, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology. Multigene panel genetic tests are increasingly recommended for patients evaluated for a predisposition to hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC). However, the rapid introduction of these tests has raised concerns because many of the tested genes are low- to moderate-risk genes ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

US vacation renters waste $2 billion worth of food annually

Automatized vocabulary knowledge in predicting speech fluency

Uncovering the relationship between oral function and lifestyle-related diseases

Drone herbicide applications prove effective for common reed control

New report shows China dominates in AI research – and is western world’s leading collaborator on AI

Hot weather causes children to sweat at the same rate as adults, study shows

New CZI AI model could help scientists pinpoint signs of cancer cells

Sugar-coated ‘sticky’ stem cells could unlock surgery-free liver treatments

Children’s social media activity highlights emotional stress of living with long-term health issues

New tool maps hidden roles and risks in ecosystems

New breakthrough method to protect quantum spins from noise

Chemicals from turmeric and rhubarb could help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria lurking in wastewater

Instant cancer diagnosis with light and AI!

New electroenzymatic strategy enables non-natural oxidation reactions

Tunable laser light

Scientists uncover magnetic-field control of ultrafast spin dynamics in 2D ferromagnets

New AI-powered model accurately predicts lung motion with minimal radiation

AI language models show promise in predicting liver cancer treatment outcomes

Tracking insect and bug health in a heartbeat from a digital camera

'Talking fish' not heard by conservation policies, SFU study warns

Thirty years of research shows increased resistance in fungi

Junk food ‘avoids advertising regulation’ with top level UK sports sponsorship

Banking on AI while committed to net zero is ‘magical thinking’, claims report on energy costs of big tech

Ancient river systems reveal Mars was wetter than we thought

Online toolkit to help parents of autistic children improve dental health

The psychological and neurological parallels between sports fandom and religious devotion

Agricultural liming in the US is a large CO2 sink, say researchers

Seaside more likely to make us nostalgic than green places, study finds

Psilocybin delays aging, extends lifespan, Emory study suggests

Buck Institute awarded DARPA contract to pioneer next-gen AI modeling platform

[Press-News.org] How the malaria parasite increases the risk of blood cancer