A study by Newcastle University in Britain, indicates that green tea may protect the brain from diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. The research, published in the journal Phytomedicine, also suggests that the ancient Chinese remedy that has been popularized throughout the world may also have an important role in protecting the body against cancer.
In the study, scientists investigated whether the beneficial properties of green tea, which had already been proven in newly prepared and undigested tea, were still active once the tea was digested. (more…)
Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Image credit: University of California
A protein that is crucial for regulating the self-renewal of normal prostate stem cells, which are needed to repair injured cells or restore normal cells killed by hormone-withdrawal therapy for cancer, also aids the transformation of healthy cells into prostate cancer cells, researchers at UCLA have found.
The findings, by scientists with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, may have important implications for controlling cancer growth and progression.
Results from the three-year study, done in primary cells and in animal models, were published Dec. 2 in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell.
The protein, called Bmi-1, is often up-regulated, or turned on, in prostate cancer. It has been associated with higher-grade cancers and is predictive of poor prognosis, according to previous studies. However, its functional roles in prostate stem cell maintenance and prostate cancer have been unclear, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.(more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a protein known to regulate cellular metabolism is also necessary for normal cell division in blood-forming stem cells. Loss of the protein results in an abnormal number of chromosomes and a high rate of cell death.
The finding demonstrates that stem cells are metabolically different from other blood-forming cells, which can divide without the protein, Lkb1. This metabolic difference could someday be used to better control the behavior of blood-forming stem cells used in disease treatments, said Sean Morrison, director of the U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology, which is based at the Life Sciences Institute.(more…)
*Study recognized for significance and importance in the world’s most common genetic disease*
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A University of Missouri researcher believes his latest work moves scientists closer to a cure for cystic fibrosis, one of the world’s most common fatal genetic diseases. (more…)
*Discovery gives insight into the way cells protect their own genetic material*
In a groundbreaking study, U of T researchers including Professors Daniel Durocher, Anne‐Claude Gingras and Frank Sicheri have uncovered a protein called OTUB1 that blocks DNA damage in the cell—a discovery that may lead to the development of strategies to improve some cancer therapies.
Health benefits of walnuts have been known since time immemorial. Hippocrates and Avicenna mentioned them in the treatment of various diseases. In addition, the ancients thought that they stimulate mental activity. Anna Protsenko, a nutritionist, told MedPulse.ru.
“Walnuts contain a great deal of minerals,” the expert explains. “They include iron, copper, cobalt, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and iodine. Many of them are antioxidants.
