Tag Archives: protein

In Lab, Pannexin1 Restores Tight Binding of Cells Lost in Cancer

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2012Health, Science3d petri dish, 3d system, accelerating effect, actin, biomechanical role, brain tumor, brian bao, brown university, c6, cancerous cell, carbenoxolone, charles lai, christian naus, drug, glioma, gross multicellular behavior, jeffrey morgan, mechanical integrity, molecule atp, pannexin1, probenecid, protein, rat, receptor, scaffold free, Technology, tissue, tumor cell

*By studying tumor cell behavior in a novel “scaffold-free” 3-D system, researchers have determined that the protein Pannexin1 may play an important biomechanical role in binding tissues together, an effect that is lost in cancerous cells.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — First there is the tumor and then there’s the horrible question of whether the cancerous cells will spread. Scientists increasingly believe that the structural properties of the tumor itself, such as how tightly the tumor cells are packed together, play a decisive role in the progression of the disease. In a new study, researchers show that the protein Pannexin1, known to have tumor-suppressive properties, plays an important role in keeping the cells within a tissue closely packed together, an effect that may be lost with cancer.

“In healthy tissues, the recently discovered protein Pannexin1 may be playing an important role in upholding the mechanical integrity of the tissue,” said first author and Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Brian Bao. “When we develop cancer, we lose Pannexin1 and we lose this integrity.” (more…)

They Know The Drool

By Guest PostJanuary 30, 2012Health, Scienceactin, biomarkers, breast, cervical, clinical spit test, disease, epithelial cells, frank ondrey, heart disease, john carlis, life threatening cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, metastatic breast cancer, motions of cells, myosin, nelson rhodus, oral cancer, oral lesions, ovarian cancer, protein, proteomics, saliva, study of proteins, testing spit, timothy griffin, tissue cells, united states, university of minnesota

*The search for biomarkers of disease in spit*

It’s a researcher’s dream: a simple, noninvasive test to detect life-threatening cancer, heart disease, or other maladies while they’re still treatable.

A team of University of Minnesota researchers is in hot pursuit of that goal, using one of the simplest means imaginable: testing spit. They’ve discovered that conditions such as breast and oral cancer leak certain proteins into saliva, and if detected, such proteins can be “biomarkers” for the disease. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Researchers Discover a Rotational Motion of Cells that Plays a Critical Role in Their Normal Development

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2012Science3d gel, acini, actomyosin, alexandre bruni cardoso, berkeley lab, breast cancer, breast feeding, camo, cell biology, cellular motion, coherent angular motion, component, counterclockwise, cytoskeleton, ecm, embryogenesis, evolutionary phenomena, extracellular matrix, function, hidetoshi mori, human epithelial cell, kandice tanner, laminin, mammary cell, mammary gland, microenvironment, mina bissell, multicellular organism, phenotypic reversion, protein, rana mroue, rotation, spherical structure, tissue polarity

In a study that holds major implications for breast cancer research as well as basic cell biology, scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a rotational motion that plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures in the mammary gland known as acini. This rotation, which the researchers call “CAMo,” for coherent angular motion, is necessary for the cells to form spheres. Without CAMo, the cells do not form spheres, which can lead to random motion, loss of structure and malignancy.

”What is most exciting to me about this stunning discovery is that it may finally give us a handle by which to discover the physical laws of cellular motion as they apply to biology,” says Mina Bissell, a leading authority on breast cancer and Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division. (more…)

Clearing a Potential Road Block to Bisabolane

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2012Scienceabies grandis, abies grandis α bisabolene synthase, advanced biofuels, agbis, andy degiovanni, berkeley lab, biofuel, biosynthetic alternative, bisabolane, ca, chemical compounds, cofactors, d2 diesel fuel, emeryville, enzyme, evolutionary heritage, flavorings, fragrances, grand fir, green energy, inhibitors, jay keasling, jose pereira, masood hadi, microbes, microbial based production, pamela peralta yahya, paul adams, precursor, protein, protein crystal structure, renewable alternative, resolution, ryan mcandrew, synthases in plants, terpene class, terpenoid synthases, three dimensional crystal structure, trucking industry, united states, x ray crystallography

*Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Identify Key Enzyme Structure*

The recent discovery that bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds used in fragrances and flavorings, holds high promise as a biosynthetic alternative to D2 diesel fuel has generated keen interest in the green energy community and the trucking industry. Now a second team of researchers with the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has determined the three-dimensional crystal structure of a protein that is key to boosting the microbial-based production of bisabolane as an advanced biofuel.

The JBEI research team, led by bioengineers Paul Adams and Jay Keasling, solved the protein crystal structure of an enzyme in the Grand fir (Abies grandis) that synthesizes bisabolene, the immediate terpene precursor to bisabolane. The performance of this enzyme – the Abies grandis α-bisabolene synthase (AgBIS) – when engineered into microbes, has resulted in a bottleneck that hampers the conversion by the microbes of simple sugars into bisabolene. (more…)

Targeting Protein Critical To Cell Division Stops Cancer Cells From Proliferating And Kills Them

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2011Scienceanti cancer therapies, apoptosis, biology and metabolism, cancers, cell death, cell division, chemotherapy, chromosome transmission, combination therapy, computational analyses, daughter cells, DNA, drug taxol, dynamic structure, formation of a tumor, function, genetic screen, jorge torres, kinesin like protein, malignant cells, mitosis, mitotic spindle, molecular motor, normal cells, novel strategy, protein, spindle function, stard9, toxic

Suppressing a newly identified protein involved in regulating cell division could be a novel strategy for fighting certain cancers because it stops the malignant cells from dividing and causes them to die quickly, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

During the five-year study, designed to seek new targets for anti-cancer therapies, researchers discovered that depleting the protein, called STARD9, also helped the commonly used chemotherapy drug Taxol work more effectively against certain cancers. (more…)

Scientists Uncover Mechanism That Regulates Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Metabolism

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2011Scienceadenosine triphosphate, atp, body cells, california institute for regenerative medicine, carbon dioxide, carla koehler, cell differentiation, cell functions, chicken or the egg question, cytoplasm, electron transport chain, energy, energy generation by mitochondria in pluripotent stem cells, glycolysis, glycolytic and biosynthesis pathways, human pluripotent stem cells, inactive mitochondria, jin zhang, kim irwin, mature cells in children and adults, metabolic activities, method of generating energy, michael teitell, mitochondria, oxidative phosphorylation, protein, respiration, stem cells, sugar fermentation, ucp2, uncoupling protein 2, visual appearance

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can develop into any cell type in the body, rely heavily on glycolysis, or sugar fermentation, to drive their metabolic activities.

In contrast, mature cells in children and adults depend more on cell mitochondria to convert sugar and oxygen into carbon dioxide and water during a high energy–producing process called oxidative phosphorylation. (more…)

You Are What You Eat: Low-Fat Diet with Fish Oil Slows Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibody, cancer cell growth, cell cycle progression, composition of cell membranes, corn oil, evaluated blood samples, fish oil supplement diet, fish oil supplements, growth of prostate cancer cells, jonsson comprehensive cancer center, ki 67, low fat diet, malignant cell proliferation, omega 6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, progression of prostate cancer, proliferation, prostate, prostate tissue, prostatectomy, protein, rate of prostate cancer cell division, targeted organ, test tube, william aronson

Men who ate a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks before having their prostate removed had slower cancer-cell growth in their prostate tissue than men who ate a traditional, high-fat Western diet, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The researchers also found a change in the composition of cell membranes in both healthy cells and cancer cells in the prostates of men on the low-fat, fish oil–supplement diet. The membranes had heightened levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study’s first author and a researcher with the Jonsson Cancer Center. (more…)

Suggested Explanation for Glowing Seas–Including Currently Glowing California Seas

By Guest PostOctober 20, 2011Environment, Scienceabundance of protons, bioluminescence, blue flashes, california waters, channels in membranes, coastal california waters, dinoflagellates, electrical events, electrical impulses, Environment, j woodland hastings, luciferase, marine environments, mechanical stimulation, organism, potential mechanism for bioluminescence, produce toxins, protein, scintillons, unicellular plankton, vacuole, voltage gated proton channels

*Potential mechanism for dazzling blue flashes of light in oceans identified*

It has long been known that spectacular blue flashes–a type of bioluminescence–that are visible at night in some marine environments (currently including coastal California waters) are caused by tiny, unicellular plankton known as dinoflagellates. However, a new study has, for the first time, detailed the potential mechanism for this bioluminescence.

The study, which was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, is reported by Susan Smith of Emory School of Medicine, Thomas DeCoursey of Rush University Medical Center and colleagues in the Oct. 17, 2011 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (more…)