Life Sciences and Chemistry

Spiral-shaped molecules, reinforced by chemical ’staples,’ could aid drug discovery

A part of the system that causes cells to self-destruct when they are damaged or unneeded has been harnessed to kill leukemia cells in mice, say scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The discovery could aid in the discovery of new drugs for cancer and other diseases. The researchers plucked a critical “death domain” from a key molecule in the self-destruction mechanism of a cell,

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have developed a small molecule that mimics the action of a key “death-promoting” protein in cells, a finding that could lead to more effective cancer therapies with fewer side effects.
In the Sept. 3 issue of the journal Science, the researchers report on this new compound and how it behaves like the cellular protein Smac, a molecule that lifts barriers to cell death. Dr. Xiaodong Wang, professor of biochemistry and one of the au

Ticks as small as a freckle can transmit a number of illnesses for which there is no vaccine and, in some cases, no cure. These creatures even could become bioterrorism weapons.

To find new ways to control the tiny animals and halt the spread of the pathogens they carry, Purdue University researchers and colleagues from the University of Connecticut Health Center, the University of Notre Dame and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are undertaking the job of unraveling the genetic

’Wounds may not heal the way we thought they did’

Bone marrow produces cells that not only help fight infection, but also permanently heal wounds, according to research at the University of Washington. Previously, researchers had not known that bone marrow contributed to the development of new skin in wounds. The findings will be published in the Sept. 3 issue of Stem Cells.

“Wounds may not heal the way we thought they did,” says Dr. Richard Ikeda, a biochemist at the Na

How does the West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, survive the cold mosquito-free months of winter? In New York City, West Nile’s initial beachhead in North America, researchers found that the virus persisted in a kind of suspended animation in mosquitoes hibernating in sewers. But in much of the South, mosquitoes do not truly hibernate during winter — they just reduce their activity rate during cold periods, revving back up whenever the weather warms.

Understanding h

Analyzing the expression levels of the gene CDK9 (cyclin dependent kinase) and its attached molecule CYCLIN T1 in lymphoid cells in a sample of blood can accurately pinpoint lymphoma, according to researchers at Temple University’s Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Human Pathology and Oncology at the University of Siena in Italy.

Their study, “CDK9/CYCLIN T1 expression during normal lymphoid differentiation and malignant transformation