Parkin is a well-known player in Parkinson’s disease – mutations in the protein, in fact, are the most common cause of familial Parkinson’s. The protein functions in mitochondrial quality control, tagging damaged mitochondria with ubiquitin for destruction by the autophagosome – a process that goes by the name mitophagy.
Mention “vasculature” and “cancer drug” in the same sentence, and most people with think anti-angiogenesis. Which, with blockbusters like Avastin (bevacizumab, Roche AG) on the market and dozens of angiogenesis inhibitors in development, is not surprising.
In work that sheds new light on both immune function and the body’s response to injuries, researchers have shown that platelets play a role in the trafficking of T cells into lymph nodes.
Researchers at the Broad Institute have published an open access database, the Cancer Therapeutics Response Portal, which contains data on the effects of almost 200 small molecules on about 250 cancer cell lines.
In recent years, culturing methods have enabled researchers to generate model tissues that are far more life-like than the single sheets of single cell types that were once the only game in town for cell culture research.
Nanotechnology is usually a great illustration of the old adage that as far as the media are concerned, there are two kinds of science stories: “Gee whiz” stories and “Oh crap” stories.
Nanotechnology is usually a great illustration of the old adage that as far as the media are concerned, there are two kinds of science stories: “Gee whiz” stories and “Oh crap” stories.
Researchers have discovered that Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are able to directly activate pain receptors in the skin – and in doing so, suppress the immune system.
"There is standard-of-care treatment for heart failure," Amanda Christini told BioWorld Today. "But the natural history of Class 3 and 4 heart failure is 50 to 75 percent mortality within a year with optimal medical treatment."
