28/01/2019

Energizing the immune system to eat cancer - Scientists find a cellular process that stops cancer before it starts - Alzheimer's disease: It may be possible to restore memory function

Immune cells called macrophages are supposed to serve and protect, but cancer has found ways to put them to sleep. Now researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they've identified how to fuel macrophages with the energy needed to attack and eat cancer cells. It is well established that macrophages can either support cancer cell growth and spread or hinder it. But most tumors also express a signal called CD47, which can lull macrophages into a deep sleep and prevent them from eating. Researchers have found that rewiring macrophage metabolism can overcome this signal and act like an alarm clock to rouse and prepare macrophages to go to work. Their findings were published in Nature Immunology today.

Read More: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-energizing-immune-cancer.html

Just as plastic tips protect the ends of shoelaces and keep them from fraying when we tie them, molecular tips called telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes and keep them from fusing when cells continually divide and duplicate their DNA. But while losing the plastic tips may lead to messy laces, telomere loss may lead to cancer. Salk Institute scientists studying the relationship of telomeres to cancer made a surprising discovery: a cellular recycling process called autophagy—generally thought of as a survival mechanism—actually promotes the death of cells, thereby preventing cancer initiation.

Read More: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-reversal-scientists-cellular-cancer.html

Research published in the journal Brain reveals a new approach to Alzheimer's disease (AD) that may eventually make it possible to reverse memory loss, a hallmark of the disease in its late stages.  The team, led by University at Buffalo scientists, found that by focusing on gene changes caused by influences other than DNA sequences—called epigenetics—it was possible to reverse memory decline in an animal model of AD.

Read More: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-alzheimer-disease-memory-function-preclinical.html

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