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Burnham Researchers Turn Cancer Friend into Cancer Foe
October 08, 2008Burnham Institute for Medical Research today announced that scientists have created a peptide that binds to Bcl-2, a protein that protects cancer cells from programmed cell death, and converts it into a cancer cell killer. The research, which was published as the featured article in the October 7 edition of Cancer Cell, may lead to new cancer treatments.
The Bcl-2 protein has long been implicated in protecting cancer cells from apoptosis (programmed cell death), the process that usually keeps cancer cells in check. This peptide (called NuBCP-9) and its enantiomer (mirror-image molecule) work on Bcl-2 like a molecular switch, converting it into a pro-apoptotic protein, and inducing cell death in cancer cells.
"Our results provide insight into Bcl-2 conversion and identify a new direction for Bcl-2-based drug leads and cancer drug development," said Xiao-kun Zhang, Ph.D., who co-authored the paper with Arnold Satterthwait, Ph.D. and others.
The NuBCP-9 peptide was created from Nur77, a potent pro-apoptotic protein. Nur77 often moves from the nucleus to mitochondria, in response to different death signals, where it binds to Bcl-2, changing its shape and function.
Burnham Institute for Medical Research
The NuBCP-9 peptide was created from Nur77, a potent pro-apoptotic protein. Nur77 often moves from the nucleus to mitochondria, in response to different death signals, where it binds to Bcl-2, changing its shape and function.
Burnham Institute for Medical Research
Cell Death Current Events and Cell Death News RSSGrape-seed extract kills laboratory leukemia cells, proving value of natural compounds
An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract.
Toxicity mechanism identified for Parkinson's disease
Neurologists have observed for decades that Lewy bodies, clumps of aggregated proteins inside cells, appear in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Dormant cancer cells rely on cellular self-cannibalization to survive
A single tumor-suppressing gene is a key to understanding, and perhaps killing, dormant ovarian cancer cells that persist after initial treatment only to reawaken years later, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the December Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Matrix fragments trigger fatal excitement
Shredded extracellular matrix (ECM) is toxic to neurons. Chen et al. reveal a new mechanism for how ECM demolition causes brain damage. The study will appear in the December 29, 2008 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org).
Brain starvation as we age appears to trigger Alzheimer's
A slow, chronic starvation of the brain as we age appears to be one of the major triggers of a biochemical process that causes some forms of Alzheimer's disease.
How chromosomes meet in the dark -- Switch that turns on X chromosome matchmaking
A research group lead by scientists at the University of Warwick has discovered the trigger that pulls together X chromosomes in female cells at a crucial stage of embryo development. Their discovery could also provide new insights into how other similar chromosomes spontaneously recognize each other and are bound together at key parts of analogous cell processes.
Researchers create smaller, brighter probe tailored for molecular imaging and tumor targeting
Researchers have developed a new generation of microscopic particles for molecular imaging, constituting one of the first promising nanoparticle platforms that may be readily adapted for tumor targeting and treatment in the clinic.
Cellular 'brakes' may slow memory process in aging brains
University of Florida researchers may have discovered why some brain cells necessary for healthy memory can survive old age or disease, while similar cells hardly a hairsbreadth away die.
Potential breakthrough for T-Cell lymphoma patients with drug that mimics folic acid
Preliminary results of a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial of pralatrexate (PDX), a drug that partially works by mimicking folic acid, showed a complete or partial response in 27 percent of patients with recurrent or resistant peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).
Vitamin D found to fight placental infection
In a paper available at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction, a team of UCLA researchers reports for the first time that vitamin D induces immune responses in placental tissues by stimulating production of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin.
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