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IMAGE: Human cells with long telomeres (left) and short telomeres (right). Top and lower panels show cells in interphase and in metaphase, respectively. view more
Credit: CNIO
Patients with severe COVID-19 disease have significantly shorter telomeres, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in collaboration with the COVID-IFEMA Field Hospital, published in the journal
Aging. The study, led by Maria A. Blasco and whose first authors are Raúl Sánchez and Ana Guío-Carrión, postulates that telomere shortening as a consequence of the viral infection impedes tissue regeneration and that this is why a significant number of patients suffer prolonged sequelae.
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IMAGE: Previously only suspected, now made it visible thanks to the molecular reporter: where human tumor cells and brain cells of a mouse meet, the tumor cells have a different identity. view more
Credit: Gargiulo Lab, MDC
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. Roughly five in every 100,000 people develop this type of cancer each year. The diagnosis amounts to a death sentence: Even after surgical resection followed by radiation and chemotherapy, the glioblastoma will kill the patient in a few months. This is because the tumor invariably returns after treatment, and in a more aggressive form than before.
Molecular reporters produce fluorescence to expose the allies of tumor cells
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults. Roughly five in every 100,000 people develop this type of cancer each year. The diagnosis amounts to a death sentence: Even after surgical resection followed by radiation and chemotherapy, the glioblastoma will kill the patient in a few months. This is because the tumor invariably returns after treatment, and in a more aggressive form than before.
Researchers investigating glioblastoma tissue always find immune cells inside the tumor. They have therefore long suspected that these cells strengthen the tumor, instead of fighting it. A team led by Dr. Gaetano Gargiulo at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) has now supplied direct evidence of this.
Credit: CNIO
Researchers from the Microtubule Organization lab, headed by Jens Lüders at IRB Barcelona, and the Macromolecular Complexes in DNA Damage Response Group, led by Oscar Llorca at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), have achieved the first in vitro reconstitution of the human -tubulin ring complex (γTuRC), responsible for initiating microtubule formation. In addition, they revealed its 3D structure by cryo-electron microscopy. The key to their success lies in the identification of the RUVBL protein complex as an essential γTuRC assembly helper.
Microtubules are a component of the cytoskeleton, which is essential for intracellular transport processes and cell division. Microtubules cannot form spontaneously in cells but require nucleation by the γTuRC. Mutations in γTuRC subunits cause neurodevelopmental defects such as microcephaly and have also been linked to defects in the retina.
Scientists assemble the gamma-tubulin ring complex in vitro for the first time phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.