Two Key Players in Cancer Prevention and How They Work
Mayo Clinic researchers have challenged the conventional teaching about a common cancer trait and in doing so, discovered how cells are naturally “cancer proofed.” Their findings appear in today’s early online edition of the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature ).
The researchers investigated aneuploidy (AN-u-ploy-dee), the state in which a cell has an abnormal number of chromosomes that creates cellular instability, giving rise to tumors. They discovered two key proteins that help prevent aneuploidy, and also found how the proteins work to “cancer proof” a cell: by preventing premature segregation of duplicated chromosomes during (nuclear) cell division.
Gene Mutation Found That Increases Severity of Multisystem Syndrome
Johns Hopkins scientists studying a rare inherited syndrome marked by eye and kidney problems, learning disabilities and obesity have discovered a genetic mutation that makes the syndrome more severe but that alone doesn’t cause it. Their report appears in the advance online edition of Nature (Dec. 4).
The new discovery about Bardet-Beidl syndrome (BBS) came from a panoply of studies—starting with comparative genomics and experiments with yeast, and moving to experiments with zebrafish and genetic analysis of families with the syndrome—and mirrors what experts expect for the genetically complex common diseases that kill most Americans, like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Oral contraceptives safe in lupus patients
Women with lupus can safely take oral contraceptives without fear that the pill will worsen their condition, two studies released on Wednesday showed.
The studies in this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine shake up the conventional wisdom that discouraged doctors from prescribing the pill and forced many female lupus patients to opt for less convenient contraceptives or even abortion.
Cancer Scientists Call for a Large-Scale Human Epigenome Project
A vast code, invisible to the DNA sequencing effort that constituted the Human Genome Project, is rapidly being shown to play a direct role in human health. This “epigenome” - from the Greek epi, meaning “in addition to” - consists of chemical “amendments” that dangle like charms on a bracelet from the linear string of letters that spell out the genetic code.
Now, an international group of 40 leading cancer scientists says the time is ripe to undertake a large-scale international “Human Epigenome Project” designed to map the chemical modifications to DNA that comprise the epigenetic code. Their proposal, “A Blueprint for a Human Epigenome Project”—published in the December 15, 2005 issue of Cancer Research—summarizes the findings of an AACR-sponsored workshop held June 15-18, 2005, in Lansdowne, Va.
