Public release date: 30-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Bonnie Prescott bprescot@bidmc.harvard.edu 617-667-7306 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center BOSTON -- Two papers led by scientific teams from the Cancer Genetics Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shed new light on the genetic mechanisms underlying cellular energy and metabolism and, at the same time, highlight both the challenges and opportunities of genetic approaches to cancer treatment. Appearing in the September 2012 issues of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) and Nature Medicine, the new findings reveal surprising insights into how PML regulates metabolism via the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) pathway and, in the process, uncover paradoxical roles for this tumor suppressor gene. "The real story lies in the juxtaposition of these two papers, the way they jointly illuminate the braided function of PML in the FAO pathway," says the papers' senior author Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, Director of Cancer Genetics at BIDMC and George C. Reisman Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The Pandolfi laboratory has been studying the PML (promyelocytic leukemia protein) tumor suppressor gene, for more than 20 years. Fatty-acid oxidation is the fat-burning metabolic process that is of importance to the energy … Continue reading →

Public release date: 30-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Kristen Woodward kwoodwar@fhcrc.org 206-667-5095 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center SEATTLE African Americans have higher blood levels of a protein associated with increased heart-disease risk than European Americans, despite higher "good" HDL cholesterol and lower "bad" triglyceride levels. This contradictory observation now may be explained, in part, by a genetic variant identified in the first large-scale, genome-wide association study of this protein involving 12,000 African American and Hispanic American women. Lead researcher Alexander Reiner, M.D., an epidemiologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues describe their findings online ahead of the Sept. 7 print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. Specifically, the researchers looked for genetic signposts associated with elevated levels of C-reactive protein, or CRP a marker of inflammation that is linked with increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. "Most previous studies examining the genetic determinants of elevated CRP have focused on tens of thousands of white individuals of European descent," said Reiner, a member of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division. "Since minorities African Americans and Hispanic Americans in particular tend to have higher CRP levels than other U.S. racial and … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2012) Two papers led by scientific teams from the Cancer Genetics Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shed new light on the genetic mechanisms underlying cellular energy and metabolism and, at the same time, highlight both the challenges and opportunities of genetic approaches to cancer treatment. Appearing in the September 2012 issues of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) and Nature Medicine, the new findings reveal surprising insights into how PML regulates metabolism via the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) pathway and, in the process, uncover paradoxical roles for this tumor suppressor gene. "The real story lies in the juxtaposition of these two papers, the way they jointly illuminate the braided function of PML in the FAO pathway," says the papers' senior author Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, Director of Cancer Genetics at BIDMC and George C. Reisman Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The Pandolfi laboratory has been studying the PML (promyelocytic leukemia protein) tumor suppressor gene, for more than 20 years. Fatty-acid oxidation is the fat-burning metabolic process that is of importance to the energy of all cells. The two studies examined the impact of the FAO process in different biomedical situations including … Continue reading →

Public release date: 30-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Quinn Eastman qeastma@emory.edu 404-727-7829 Emory University Scientists have established a genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a human condition in which women experience irregular menstrual cycles and reduced fertility, and early exposure to estrogen deficiency. POI affects approximately one in a hundred women. In most cases of primary ovarian insufficiency, the cause is mysterious, although genetics is known to play a causative role. There are no treatments designed to help preserve fertility. Some women with POI retain some ovarian function and a fraction (5-10 percent) have children after receiving the diagnosis. Having a mouse model could accelerate research on the causes and mechanisms of POI, and could eventually lead to treatments, says Peng Jin, PhD, associate professor of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine. The results were published online recently in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The paper was the result of a collaboration between researchers at Emory and the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Dahua Chen, PhD, associate director of the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, is the senior author and postdoctoral fellow Cuiling Lu is the first author. … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) Australian molecular diagnostics firm Genetic Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Reproductive Genetics Institute for alleged infringement of a patent covering its non-coding DNA technology. The suit was filed this week in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division and alleges that RGI infringes US Patent No. 5,612,179, entitled, "Intron Sequence Analysis Method for Adjacent Locus Alleles as Haplotypes." Specifically, Genetic Technologies claims that RGI's screening services for cystic fibrosis infringe the patent. The Australian firm has asked the court for a judgment that RGI is infringing the '179 patent, and it is seeking unspecified damages for that alleged infringement. The '179 patent has been at the center of several suits that Genetic Technologies has filed against other firms including Applera, Beckman Coulter, Gen-Probe, Interleukin Genetics, Orchid Cellmark, Pioneer Hi-Bred and others. All of those parties have since taken a license to the '179 patent from Genetic Technologies, according to the suit filed this week. The patent also is the center of a suit filed in May 2011 by Genetic Technologies against Agilent Technologies and nine other firms. Genetic Technologies settled that case with a few of the defendants GeneSeek, … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2012) The skin, the blood, and the lining of the gut -- adult stem cells replenish them daily. But stem cells really show off their healing powers in planarians, humble flatworms fabled for their ability to rebuild any missing body part. Just how adult stem cells build the right tissues at the right times and places has remained largely unanswered. Now, in a study published in an upcoming issue of Development, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research describe a novel system that allowed them to track stem cells in the flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea. The team found that the worms' stem cells, known as neoblasts, march out, multiply, and start rebuilding tissues lost to amputation. "We were able to demonstrate that fully potent stem cells can mobilize when tissues undergo structural damage," says Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stowers Investigator Alejandro Snchez Alvarado, Ph.D., who led the study. "And these processes are probably happening to both you and me as we speak, but are very difficult to visualize in organisms like us." Stem cells hold the potential to provide an unlimited source of specialized cells for regenerative therapy of a wide variety of diseases but delivering … Continue reading →

Stem cell-powered implant set to revolutionise orthopaedic surgery Scientists at the University of Glasgow are working to harness the regenerative power of stem cells to improve orthopaedic implant surgery. They are collaborating with surgeons at Glasgows Southern General Hospital to develop a new type of orthopaedic implant which could be considerably stronger and more long-lived than the current generation of products. Currently, implants are commonly made from materials such as polyethylene, stainless steel, titanium or ceramic and have a limited lifespan due to loosening, requiring replacement after 15 or 20 years of use. In hip replacement surgery, the head of the thigh bone is removed and replaced with an implant which is held in place by a rod fixed inside the marrow along the length of the bone. Marrow is a rich source of mesenchymal stem cells, which have the potential to divide, or differentiate, into other types of cells such as skin, muscle or bone which can improve the process of healing. However, stem cells can also differentiate into cells which have no use in therapy. Artificially controlling the final outcome to ensure the desired type of cells are created is very difficult, even under laboratory conditions. When traditional … Continue reading →

New studies say green tea may be a promising remedy for treating melanoma. by Stacy D. Tompkins, M.D. Theres no doubt that melanoma is an epidemic in our nation, and with rising rates of tanning bed use, the concerns over skin cancer have escalated among medical experts. In a recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),melanoma rates in the Unites States have increased tremendously among young women between the ages 18 and 21 with frequent tanning bed use to blame. And although the International Agency for Research on Cancer categorized indoor tanning as a carcinogen in 2009, many young women an estimated 28 million still flock to tanning salons every year. Indoor UV tanners are 74% more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors. Frequent tanners using the newer high-pressure lamps may get as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to what they get from natural sun. It comes as no surprise then to learn that dermatologists in San Diego recommend avoiding tanning salons and the regular use of daily sunscreen with a high SPF factor to combat the effects of sun damage and reduce the risk for … Continue reading →

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a landmark clinical study, scientists of the RNL Stem Cell Technology Institute have demonstrated that the transplant of patients' own ("autologous") stem cells can dramatically improve the ability of plastic surgeons to repair diseases. In the September 2012 issue of the prestigious international plastic surgery journal Annals of Plastic Surgery (69:3), researchers published their controlled study of the power of stem cells, describing a breakthrough with patients who have Parry-Romberg Syndrome. More than 200,000 have this tragic and debilitating disease in the U.S. alone. Their prognosis without treatment is the slow loss of control, then paralysis of the face and in some cases the mouth and even eyes. Most patients with Parry-Romberg begin to experience these symptoms between the age of five (5) and fifteen (15) years of age. There is, says the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, "no cure." To date, treatments have involved waiting until the disease slows and then transplanting fat into patients' faces, strengthening bones in their faces, and using microvascular surgery to "install" a free flap of skin. However the only solution for patients with this disorder, … Continue reading →