Considered the most lethal form of DNA damage, double-strand breaks must be repaired to prevent cell death. In developing therapies for hard-to-treat breast and ovarian cancers in patients with BRCA gene mutations, scientists aim to identify ways to keep cancer cells from using DNA break repair pathways.
A brain enzyme plays an important role in waking up neural stem cells
Researchers studying an enzyme in fruit fly larvae have found that it plays an important role in waking up brain stem cells from their dormant quiescent state, enabling them to proliferate and generate new neurons. Published in the journal EMBO Reports, the study by Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, could help clarify how some neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and microcephaly occur.
Quiescent neural stem cells in the fruit fly larval brainPr-set7 is an enzyme involved in maintaining genome stability, DNA repair and cell cycle regulation, as well as turning various genes on or off. This protein, which goes by a few different names, has remained largely unchanged as species have evolved. Professor Wang Hongyan, a professor and deputy director at Duke-NUS Neuroscience and Behavioural Disorders Programme, and her colleagues set out to understand the protein s function during brain development.
A novel approach to suppress the growth of glioblastoma cells
Inhibiting a key enzyme that controls a large network of proteins important in cell division and growth paves the way for a new class of drugs that could stop glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, from growing.
Researchers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Toronto, showed that chemically inhibiting the enzyme PRMT5 can suppress the growth of glioblastoma cells.
The inhibition of PRMT5 led to cell senescence, similar to what happens to cells during aging when cells lose the ability to divide and grow. Cellular senescence can also be a powerful tumor suppression mechanism, stopping the unrelenting division of cancer cells.
The Future of Environmental and Food Monitoring
Sponsored Content by PittconFeb 12 2021
In this interview, News-Medical Life Sciences talks to Professor Antje Baeumner about the future of food and environmental monitoring, the subject of her Pittcon presentation.
Thought LeadersProfessor Antje BaeumnerInstitute of Analytical Chemistry and BiosensorsUniversity of Regensburg
What are some techniques used to monitor the environment and food?
A broad range of analytical chemical methods is used for environmental monitoring and food safety. Some of these are lab-based techniques, such as mass spectrometry, GC, HPLC and chromatography, while some are technologies that can also be used on-site.
These on-site technologies are typically dominated by portable, self-sustained sensors, either biosensors or chemosensors.
Substrain of SARS-CoV-2 variant in UK may resist antibody neutralization
Researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw have identified a substrain of the recently emerged B.1.1.7 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that may confer resistance to antibody neutralization.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has now claimed the lives of more than 2.35 million people.
The substrain of the B.1.1.7 variant of concern (VOC) contains mutations that have previously been shown to compromise the binding of neutralizing antibodies.
Tomasz Lipniacki and colleagues say mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike protein are of particular concern, especially those identified in the receptor-binding motif (RBM).