Researchers for the first time have shown that members of a family of enzymes known as cathepsins – which are implicated in many disease processes – may attack one another instead of the bodily proteins they normally degrade. Dubbed "cathepsin cannibalism," the phenomenon may help explain problems with drugs that have been developed to inhibit the effects of these powerful proteases. Cathepsins are involved in disease processes as varied as cancer metastasis, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and arthritis. Because cathepsins have harmful effects ...

Aberrant regulation of cell growth pathways is required for normal cells to become cancerous, and in many types of cancer, cell growth is driven by a group of enzymes known as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). The RTK epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in over 30% of breast cancers; however, drugs that target RTKs, known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have not been effective in treating breast cancer. Researchers believe that the cancer cells escape TKIs by circumventing the RTKs and utilizing other enzymes that are not TKI-sensitive. In the ...

Please credit CMAJ, not the Canadian Medical Association. CMAJ is an independent medical journal; views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of its owner, the CMA. END ...

ORLANDO, Fla., August 13, 2012 – To survive, tumors need blood supply to provide them with nutrients and oxygen. To get that supply, cancer cells stimulate new blood vessel growth—a process called tumor angiogenesis. Many attempts have been made to inhibit this process as a means to choke off tumors. But tumor angiogenesis can be sloppy, resulting in immature and malformed blood vessels. Since anti-cancer drugs are carried to tumors by the bloodstream, abnormal blood vessel development also hampers delivery. What if, rather than putting a stop to angiogenesis, we could ...

New class of proteins allows breast cancer cells to evade Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Aberrant regulation of cell growth pathways is required for normal cells to become cancerous, and in many types of cancer, cell growth is driven by a group of enzymes known as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). The RTK epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in over 30% of breast cancers; however, drugs that target RTKs, known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have not been effective in treating breast cancer. Researchers believe that the cancer cells escape TKIs by ...

Lung cancer is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and the most common cause of death from this disease worldwide. Despite the progress in the molecular biology of lung cancer achieved in recent years, the mechanisms used by tumor cells to grow and spread throughout the body are not yet completely understood. This lack of information is responsible for the limited range of available therapeutic possibilities and their undesirable side effects. The Tumour Suppression Group of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Manuel Serrano, has deciphered ...

Scientists have found a way to replace up to 50 per cent of chocolate's fat content with fruit juice. University of Warwick chemists have taken out much of the cocoa butter and milk fats that go into chocolate bars, substituting them with tiny droplets of juice measuring under 30 microns in diameter. They infused orange and cranberry juice into milk, dark and white chocolate using what is known as a Pickering emulsion. Crucially, the clever chemistry does not take away the chocolatey 'mouth-feel' given by the fatty ingredients. This is because the new technique maintains ...

Using state-of-the-art technology scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a new class of polymers that are resistant to bacterial attachment. These new materials could lead to a significant reduction in hospital infections and medical device failures. Medical device associated infections can lead to systemic infections or device failure, costing the NHS £1bn a year. Affecting many commonly used devices including urinary and venous catheters — bacteria form communities known as biofilms. This 'strength in numbers approach' protects them against the bodies' ...

Sperm swim, lung cells sweep mucus away, and the cells in the female Fallopian tube move eggs from the ovary to the uterus. Underlying these phenomena are flagella – slender, hair-like structures extending from the surface of the cells, that bend, beat or wave rhythmically. In the latest issue of the journal Developmental Cell*, scientists from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have dissected how sperm cells of the fruit fly build their flagella. These findings pave the way to further understand the molecules and processes that may trigger a variety ...

Leaving your TV show midway because you had to leave your home will no longer happen as you can now 'pull' the programme on your TV screen onto your tablet and continue watching it seamlessly. You can also watch the same TV show or movie together with your family and friends, no matter which part of the world they are in. Not only that but you'll be able to discuss the show, whether you are on your personal tablet or smart phone, through a channel of your choice, be it video chat, voice or text. The world's first 'pick up and throw back' video feature allows your video ...

A population-based case-control study of the rare but devastating neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has shown that the risk of such disease is increased among smokers, as has been shown previously. However, surprisingly, the risk of ALS was found to be markedly lower among consumers of alcohol than among abstainers. Forum reviewers thought that this was a well-done and important paper, as it is a population-based analysis, with almost 500 cases of ALS, a very large number of cases for this rare disease. They were especially struck by the magnitude ...

CLEMSON — Clemson researchers are taking common materials to uncommon places by transforming easily obtainable and affordable materials into fiber. Their findings are published in Nature Photonics, the world's top journal focused on light-based technologies. "We have used a highly purified version of beach sand (silica) for fiber for the last 40 years," said John Ballato, director of the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies at Clemson University. "As a matter of fact, the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the development of silica ...

(Boston) - Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have been part of a multicenter observational study called TRACS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Cardiac Study) to help determine the health significance of a particular gene mutation which is commonly found in Black Americans. The gene, transthyretin (TTR) and the mutation V122I, is seen in about four percent of African Americans or roughly 1.5 million people. The mutation is strongly associated with a condition called cardiac amyloidosis - a disorder where the abnormally mutated TTR protein deposits in ...

Competitiveness amongst NBA teams is more constant throughout seasons than during the ACB basketball league (Spain), which also falls after every Olympic Games. According to a study from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the differences could be attributed to economic and organisational reasons: in the NBA there is just one division, there is a salary cap and the weakest teams have access to good players. The National Basketball Association (NBA) of North America and the Association of Basketball Clubs (ACB) of Spain are the best and most competitive basketball ...

Tel Aviv University researchers recently uncovered a seal, measuring 15 millimetres (about a half-inch) in diameter, which depicts a human figure next to a lion at the archaeological site of Beth Shemesh, located between the Biblical cities of Zorah and Eshtaol, where Samson was born, flourished, and finally buried, according to the book of Judges. The scene engraved on the seal, the time period, and the location of the discovery all point to a probable reference to the story of Samson, the legendary heroic figure whose adventures famously included a victory in hand-to-paw ...

WASHINGTON, August 13, 2012─On August 13, AERA filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The association is joined by seven other scientific societies in urging the Court to consider an overwhelming body of scientific evidence relevant to the case. "AERA has a fundamental interest in the accurate presentation of social science research on these important questions of law. Quite simply, we have a responsibility to enable the Court to make its determinations based on the best scientific evidence available," ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 13, 2012—Even after being frozen for 18 years, human embryos can be thawed, grown in the laboratory, and successfully induced to produce human embryonic stem (ES) cells, which represent a valuable resource for drug screening and medical research. Prolonged embryonic cryopreservation as an alternative source of ES cells is the focus of an article in BioResearch Open Access, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the BioResearch Open Access website. Kamthorn Pruksananonda ...

The second of two studies on latrepirdine, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates new potential for the compound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, and other neurodegenerative conditions. An international team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine scientists found that latrepiridine, known commercially as Dimebon, reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice. Latrepirdine was initially sold as an antihistamine in Russia, following its approval for use there in 1983. In the 1990s, ...

PHILADELPHIA -- A popular class of diabetes drugs increases patients' risk of bladder cancer, according to a new study published online this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs – which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States -- are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications for ...

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine may have discovered why certain drugs to treat schizophrenia are ineffective in some patients. Published online in Nature Neuroscience, the research will pave the way for a new class of drugs to help treat this devastating mental illness, which impacts one percent of the world's population, 30 percent of whom do not respond to currently available treatments. A team of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to discover what epigenetic factors, or external factors that influence gene expression, are involved in ...

Scientists have identified new genetic alterations underlying a high-risk subtype of the most common childhood cancer that could be effectively targeted with existing leukemia therapies. The study focused on a subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) known as Philadelphia chromosome-like ALL (Ph-like ALL). This subgroup accounts for as much as 15 percent of childhood ALL that is associated with a high risk of relapse and a poor outcome. The genetic changes driving the disease were previously unknown for about half of all patients with Ph-like ALL. The work identified ...

The average temperatures of the atmosphere are rising; the average temperatures of the oceans, too. Not only living organisms react sensititvely to these changes. The transitional zones between shallow shelf seas and the deep sea at continental slopes store a huge amount of methane hydrates in the sea bed. These specific, ice-like compounds only forms at low temperatures and under high pressure. When the water temperature directly above the sea bed rises, some of the methane hydrates could dissolve and release the previously bound methane. "This scenario incorporates two ...

In a new study, UT Dallas researchers outline how they used fluorescent molecules to "tag" DNA and monitor a process called DNA looping, a natural biological mechanism involved in rearranging genetic material in some types of cells. The UT Dallas "tag and track" method not only sheds light on how DNA loops form, but also might be adapted to screen drugs for effectiveness against certain viruses that shuffle genetic material, such as HIV. Until now, scientists primarily had "snapshots" of the initial and final stages of DNA loop formation, with only limited information ...

When companies combine different pricing structures – such as asking for effort or information in combination with or instead of money – consumers perceive a greater risk in the decision to buy. That's according to University of Cincinnati research to be presented at the Aug. 15-17 Behavioral Pricing Conference in Detroit, Mich., by doctoral marketing student John Dinsmore. His paper is titled "Mental Accounting, General Evaluability Theory and the Framing Losses Posed by Partitioned Monetary and Nonmonetary Prices." According to Dinsmore, shoppers routinely arrive ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 13, 2012 – The ingredient 2,3-pentanedione (PD), used to impart the flavor and aroma of butter in microwave popcorn, is a respiratory hazard that can also alter gene expression in the brain of rats. Manufacturers started using PD when another butter flavoring, diacetyl, was found to cause bronchiolitis obliterans, a life-threatening and nonreversible lung disease in workers who inhaled the substance. New research on PD with implications for "popcorn workers' lung" is published in The American Journal of Pathology and indicates that acute PD exposure ...