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

Discoveries in mitochondria open new field of cancer research

Enzymes found in mitochondria hold implications for many age-related diseases

2011-06-21
(Press-News.org) Richmond, Va. (June 20, 2011) – Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have revealed novel mechanisms in mitochondria that have implications for cancer as well as many other age-related diseases such as Parkinson's disease, heart disease and hypertension. This discovery has pioneered the formation of a whole new field within epigenetics research ripe with possibilities of developing future gene therapies to treat cancer and age-associated diseases.

Shirley M. Taylor, Ph.D., researcher at VCU Massey Cancer Center and associate professor in the VCU Department of Microbiology and Immunology at VCU School of Medicine, was a graduate student when her research helped establish the field of epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to the process that controls which genes get expressed in the nucleus of a cell, ultimately determining that cell's biological characteristics. Now decades later, Taylor and her colleagues have further expanded the field of epigenetics into a new area of research they created by discovering enzymes in mitochondria that were previously known to exist only in nuclei.

In mammals, all cells have two distinct genomes, which include all of an organism's hereditary information. One set exists in the nucleus while the other exists in the mitochondrion, the energy generator of the cell.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Taylor's study found two DNA modifications in the mitochondrial genome: methylated cytosine, known to function in the nucleus by "silencing" the expression of certain genes; and hydroxymethyl cytosine, which removes the silencing mark imposed by the cytosine methylation.

Together, these modifications act like a genetic on/off switch in a process known as DNA methylation. Taylor's team also showed that the enzyme responsible for DNA methylation was present in mammalian mitochondria. The presence of these DNA modifications leads the researchers to believe that a system of gene control similar to what occurs in the nucleus is present in mitochondria, functioning to ensure the correct levels of proteins needed for proper energy generation.

"In diseases such as cancer, epigenetic control is lost," says Taylor. "Genes that should be switched on are switched off and vice versa, leading to uncontrolled growth. Our research indicates that errors in gene expression could be unfolding in mitochondria, possibly contributing to loss of mitochondrial function typical of cancer and a host of other age-related diseases."

Taylor's team is currently working to force into mitochondria more of the enzyme responsible for forming the silencing mark, and to identify enzymes responsible for removing it. This should allow the researchers to observe whether these marks impact mitochondrial ability to generate energy. The researchers are also comparing the amount of DNA methylation in diseased cells versus healthy cells to determine whether mitochondrial gene expression plays a role in various diseases.

"Many diseases that afflict the elderly seem to have defects in mitochondrial function," says Taylor. "We are working to determine whether epigenetic control is a factor contributing to these defects. If so, drugs known to impact gene expression in the nucleus may be useful in reversing damage caused by improper gene expression in mitochondria."

INFORMATION:

Taylor collaborated on this study with Richard G. Moran, Ph.D., associate director for basic research at VCU Massey Cancer Center and professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at VCU School of Medicine. Other collaborators include doctoral students Lisa S. Shock, Prashant V. Thakkar and Erica J. Peterson from the VCU Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The study was partially funded by the National Cancer Institute and by a pilot project award from Massey.

The full manuscript is available online at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/02/08/1012311108.full.pdf+html.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Northern Illinois University scientists find simple way to produce graphene

Northern Illinois University scientists find simple way to produce graphene
2011-06-21
DeKalb, Ill. – Scientists at Northern Illinois University say they have discovered a simple method for producing high yields of graphene, a highly touted carbon nanostructure that some believe could replace silicon as the technological fabric of the future. The focus of intense scientific research in recent years, graphene is a two-dimensional material, comprised of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is the strongest material ever measured and has other remarkable qualities, including high electron mobility, a property that elevates its ...

Genius of Einstein, Fourier key to new humanlike computer vision

Genius of Einstein, Fourier key to new humanlike computer vision
2011-06-21
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Two new techniques for computer-vision technology mimic how humans perceive three-dimensional shapes by instantly recognizing objects no matter how they are twisted or bent, an advance that could help machines see more like people. The techniques, called heat mapping and heat distribution, apply mathematical methods to enable machines to perceive three-dimensional objects, said Karthik Ramani, Purdue University's Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering. "Humans can easily perceive 3-D shapes, but it's not so easy for a computer," ...

Bacteria develop restraint for survival in a rock-paper-scissors community

2011-06-21
It is a common perception that bigger, stronger, faster organisms have a distinct advantage for long-term survival when competing with other organisms in a given community. But new research from the University of Washington shows that in some structured communities, organisms increase their chances of survival if they evolve some level of restraint that allows competitors to survive as well, a sort of "survival of the weakest." The phenomenon was observed in a community of three "nontransitive" competitors, meaning their relationship to each other is circular as in ...

Picower: 1 skull + 2 brains = 4 objects in mind

2011-06-21
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In the 1983 movie "A Man with Two Brains," Steve Martin kept his second brain in a jar. In reality, he had two brains inside his own skull — as we all do, one on the left and one on the right hemisphere. When it comes to seeing the world around us, each of our two brains works independently and each has its own bottleneck for working memory. Normally, it takes years or decades after a brand new discovery about the brain for any practical implications to emerge. But this study by MIT neuroscientists could be put to immediate use in designing more effective ...

Increase in survival when AED used less than 10 seconds after CPR pause

2011-06-21
TORONTO, Ont., June 20, 2011--Every second counts when performing CPR. A new study has found the number of people who survive after suffering a cardiac arrest outside a hospital drops significantly if the pause between stopping CPR and using a defibrillator to administer an electric shock is longer than 20 seconds. The number of people who survive rises significantly if the pause is less than 10 seconds. "If your pre-shock pause is over 20 seconds, the chances of surviving to reach a hospital, be treated and be discharged are 53 per cent less than if the pause is ...

Energy drinks linked to substance use in musicians, study shows

2011-06-21
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Frequent use of energy drinks is associated with binge drinking, alcohol-related social problems and misuse of prescription drugs among musicians, according to researchers at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions. In survey results published in the Journal of Caffeine Research this spring, UB research scientists Kathleen E. Miller and Brian M. Quigley examined substance use by 226 Western New York professional and amateur musicians aged 18-45. In the sample, 94 percent were caffeine users and 57 percent reported use of energy ...

Thunderstorms in Beatriz show strengthening toward hurricane status

Thunderstorms in Beatriz show strengthening toward hurricane status
2011-06-21
Tropical Storm Beatriz developed from a low pressure area that NASA was watching last week. Beatriz is now expected to reach hurricane force and hit western coastal Mexico today and tomorrow. NASA satellite imagery today revealed powerful thunderstorms bubbling within, indicating further strengthening is occurring. Beatriz formed from the low pressure area System 92E that NASA and JAXA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was watching last week. The low pressure area was coming together on Friday, June 17 and had some isolated areas of heavy rainfall. Those areas ...

Fastest sea-level rise in 2 millennia linked to increasing global temperatures

Fastest sea-level rise in 2 millennia linked to increasing global temperatures
2011-06-21
The rate of sea level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years--and has shown a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. The findings are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was conducted by Andrew Kemp, Yale University; Benjamin Horton, University of Pennsylvania; Jeffrey Donnelly, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Michael Mann, Pennsylvania State University; ...

Husband's employment status threatens marriage, but wife's does not, study finds

2011-06-21
A new study of employment and divorce suggest that while social pressure discouraging women from working outside the home has weakened, pressure on husbands to be breadwinners largely remains. The research, led by Liana Sayer of Ohio State University and forthcoming in the American Journal of Sociology, was designed to show how employment status influences both men's and women's decisions to end a marriage. According to the study, a woman's employment status has no effect on the likelihood that her husband will opt to leave the marriage. An employed woman is more ...

Researchers find process of cervical ripening differs between term and preterm birth

2011-06-21
DALLAS – June 21, 2011 – Cervical ripening that instigates preterm labor is distinct from what happens at the onset of normal term labor, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The findings challenge the conventional premise that premature cervical ripening and remodeling is likely just an accelerated version of the term labor process, and that normal term ripening is caused primarily by activation of inflammatory responses. Cervical remodeling is the process by which the cervix is transformed to open sufficiently during the birth process. "Premature ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Major review highlights latest evidence on real-time test for blood – clotting in childbirth emergencies

Inspired by bacteria’s defense strategies

Research spotlight: Combination therapy shows promise for overcoming treatment resistance in glioblastoma

University of Houston co-leads $25 million NIH-funded grant to study the delay of nearsightedness in children

NRG Oncology PREDICT-RT study completes patient accrual, tests individualized concurrent therapy and radiation for high-risk prostate cancer

Taking aim at nearsightedness in kids before it’s diagnosed

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

US faces rising death toll from wildfire smoke, study finds

Scenario projections of COVID-19 burden in the US, 2024-2025

Disparities by race and ethnicity in percutaneous coronary intervention

Glioblastoma cells “unstick” from their neighbors to become more deadly

Oral bacterial and fungal microbiome and subsequent risk for pancreatic cancer

New light on toxicity of Bluefin tuna

Menopause drug reduces hot flashes by more than 70%, international clinical trial finds

FGF21 muscle hormone associated with slow ALS progression and extended survival

Hitting the right note: The healing power of music therapy in the cardiac ICU

Cardiovascular disease risk rises in Mexico, despite improved cholesterol control

Flexible optical touch sensor simultaneously pinpoints pressure strength and location

Achalasia diagnosis simplified to AI plus X-ray

PolyU scholars pioneer smart and sustainable personal cooling technologies to address global extreme heat

NIH grant aims for childhood vaccine against HIV

Menstrual cycle and long COVID: A relation confirmed

WMO report on global water resources: 2024 was characterized by both extreme drought and intense rainfall

New findings explain how a mutation in a cancer-related gen causes pulmonary fibrosis

Thermal trigger

[Press-News.org] Discoveries in mitochondria open new field of cancer research
Enzymes found in mitochondria hold implications for many age-related diseases