http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Small RNA-based nucleic acid drugs represent a promising new class of therapeutic agents for silencing abnormal or overactive disease-causing genes, and researchers have discovered new mechanisms by which RNA drugs can control gene activity. A comprehensive review article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., details these advances. http://phys.org/news247425425.html Biology Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:17:18 EST news247425425 Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany, are now using a procedure which brings forward ecological research on insects: They study gene functions in moth larvae by manipulating genes using the RNA interference technology (RNAi). RNAi is induced by feeding larvae with plants that have been treated with viral vectors. This method called "plant virus based dsRNA producing system" increases sample throughput compared to the use of genetically transformed plants. http://phys.org/news247399158.html Biology Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:59:43 EST news247399158 Influenza virus can rapidly evolve from one form to another, complicating the effectiveness of vaccines and anti-viral drugs used to treat it. By first understanding the complex host cell pathways that the flu uses for replication, University of Georgia researchers are finding new strategies for therapies and vaccines, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. http://phys.org/news246896618.html Biology Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:23:45 EST news246896618 Radiation therapy is an important part of head and neck cancer therapy, but most head and neck tumors have a built-in mechanism that makes them resistant to radiation. As a result, oncologists have to deliver huge doses of X-rays to the patient, damaging surrounding tissues and producing significant side effects. To overcome this resistance, researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and the University of Southern California (USC) have developed a nanoparticle formulation that interferes with the resistance mechanism, and as a result, increases the efficacy of radiation therapy in a mouse model of head and neck cancer. http://phys.org/news246273020.html Nanotechnology Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:10:04 EST news246273020 A cell's genome maintains its integrity by organizing some of its regions into a super-compressed form of DNA called heterochromatin. In the comparatively simple organism fission yeast, a cellular phenomenon known as RNA interference (RNAi) plays an essential role in assembling heterochromatin, which keeps the compressed DNA in an inactive or "silent" state. Central to this process is a large protein complex that physically anchors various molecules involved in heterochromatin assembly to the chromatin fibers. http://phys.org/news240410771.html Biology Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:00:05 EST news240410771 Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers – along with collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals – have found a way to block, in an animal model, the damaging inflammation that contributes to many disease conditions. In their report receiving early online publication in Nature Biotechnology, the investigators describe using small interfering RNA technology to silence the biochemical signals that attract a particular group of inflammatory cells to areas of tissue damage. http://phys.org/news237382042.html Biology Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:00:07 EST news237382042 High-density lipoprotein's hauls excess cholesterol to the liver for disposal, but new research suggests "good cholesterol" can also act as a special delivery vehicle of destruction for cancer. http://phys.org/news220897609.html Nanotechnology Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:27:13 EST news220897609 Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), both in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method that uncovers the combined effects of genes. Published online today in Nature Methods, it helps understand how different genes can amplify, cancel out or mask each others' effects, and enables scientists to suggest genes that interfere with each other in much the same manner that facebook suggests friends. http://phys.org/news218715468.html Biology Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:18:02 EST news218715468 A research team led by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has developed a powerful method that allows them to sift through thousands of candidate hairpin-shaped RNA molecules at a time and pull out only those RNAs that potently shut down the activity of a target gene. This accomplishment will now allow biologists to fully exploit RNA interference (RNAi), a natural cellular mechanism that has already been co-opted by scientists for myriad purposes such as hunting for cancer genes, stopping viral infections and more recently, treating diseases in clinical trials. http://phys.org/news217773693.html Biology Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:10:03 EST news217773693 The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Lundbeck Inc. today announced a research collaboration aimed at further development of a targeted therapy to slow or halt the progression of Huntington's disease (HD). http://phys.org/news215457297.html Medicine & Health Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:15:11 EST news215457297 A workhorse of modern biology is sick, and scientists couldn't be happier. http://phys.org/news215202701.html Biology Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:31:57 EST news215202701 The interplay between a major tumor-suppressing gene, a truncated chromosome and two sets of microRNAs provides a molecular basis for explaining the less aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an international team of researchers reports today in the Jan. 4 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://phys.org/news213638520.html Medicine & Health Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:02:47 EST news213638520 In the past 40 years, scientists have learned a great deal about how cells become cancerous. Some of that knowledge has translated to new treatments, but most of the time doctors are forced to rely on standard chemotherapy and radiation, which can do nearly as much damage to the patients as they do to the tumors. This series looks at targeted treatments that are on the horizon, and what needs to be done to make them a reality. http://phys.org/news209209728.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:49:01 EST news209209728 A Europe-wide network of labs focusing on RNA research is needed to make the most of RNA's high potential for treating a wide range of diseases. The recommendation for this virtual research institute comes from a panel of biologists at the European Science Foundation in a report published today, 'RNA World: a new frontier in biomedical research'. http://phys.org/news205989572.html Biology Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:19:48 EST news205989572 In a new study this week, Rice University scientists bring the latest tools of computational biology to bear in examining how the processes of natural selection and evolution influence the way bacteria acquire immunity from disease. http://phys.org/news203787038.html Biology Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:30:59 EST news203787038 A basic requirement for growth and life of a multicellular organism is the ability of its cells to divide. A protein complex, the so-called centrosome, plays a major role during cell division. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, together with colleagues at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and at the Leibniz Institute for Age Research - Fritz Lipmann Institute in Jena have investigated the functions of the different centrosomal components. The researchers now present the centrosome's components and their functions. Their work extends our knowledge of regulation of cell division and opens the door to new investigations into cancer development. (EMBO Journal, September 3rd 2010) http://phys.org/news202986261.html Biology Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:05:28 EST news202986261 In a groundbreaking study, University of Toronto researchers including Professors Daniel Durocher, Anne-Claude Gingras and Frank Sicheri have uncovered a protein called OTUB1 that blocks DNA damage in the cell -- a discovery that may lead to the development of strategies to improve some cancer therapies. http://phys.org/news201764754.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:46:08 EST news201764754 Researchers from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich have shown that the ADAM10 protein can inhibit the formation of beta-amyloid, which is responsible for Alzheimer's disease. ADAM10 acts like a pair of molecular scissors to cut the protein from which beta-amyloid is formed, effectively preventing the formation of beta-amyloid. This makes ADAM10 a key molecule in Alzheimer's therapy. http://phys.org/news199708484.html Medicine & Health Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:50:03 EST news199708484 One way of regulating protein levels in cells is to shorten the lifespan of messenger RNAs (mRNAs). These are intermediary molecules that are first copied from DNA in the cell's nucleus via a process called transcription and then transported into the cell's body to be translated into protein. http://phys.org/news196687864.html Biology Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:31:16 EST news196687864 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a new group of proteins involved in determining the life span of laboratory roundworms. Blocking the expression of one member of the group can extend the worm's life span by up to 30 percent. Because the proteins work in the worms' reproductive systems, the research represents yet another intriguing link between longevity and fertility. http://phys.org/news195910589.html Biology Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:00:31 EST news195910589 In a major cancer-research breakthrough, researchers at the McGill University, Department of Biochemistry have discovered that a small segment of a protein that interacts with RNA can control the normal expression of genes - including those that are active in cancer. http://phys.org/news194118017.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 May 2010 22:10:02 EST news194118017 Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School report in the journal Nature Medicine on a cellular pathway in the deadly brain cancer malignant glioma, a pathway essential to the cancer's ability to grow - and a potential target for therapy that would stop the cancer's ability to thrive. http://phys.org/news194021257.html Medicine & Health Tue, 25 May 2010 15:49:42 EST news194021257 New research by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center could make it easier for patients to use a family of promising experimental cancer therapeutics known as small interfering RNA (siRNA). http://phys.org/news192288772.html Medicine & Health Wed, 05 May 2010 15:20:03 EST news192288772 (PhysOrg.com) -- A multi-institutional team of researchers and clinicians has published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle can traffic into tumors, deliver double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and turn off the production of an important cancer protein using a mechanism known as RNA interference (RNAi). Moreover, the team provided the first demonstration that this new type of therapy, infused into the bloodstream, can make its way to human tumors in a dose-dependent fashion, that is, a higher number of nanoparticles sent into the body leads to a higher number of nanoparticles in the tumor cells. These two findings were achieved in phase I clinical trials in which the investigators are testing a nanoparticle-siRNA construct as an anticancer therapy. http://phys.org/news191047320.html Nanotechnology Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:42:33 EST news191047320 A California Institute of Technology (Caltech)-led team of researchers and clinicians has published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle -- used as an experimental therapeutic and injected directly into a patient's bloodstream -- can traffic into tumors, deliver double-stranded small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and turn off an important cancer gene using a mechanism known as RNA interference (RNAi). Moreover, the team provided the first demonstration that this new type of therapy, infused into the bloodstream, can make its way to human tumors in a dose-dependent fashion -- i.e., a higher number of nanoparticles sent into the body leads to a higher number of nanoparticles in the tumor cells. http://phys.org/news188378267.html Nanotechnology Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:00:01 EST news188378267 In reports of two new studies, researchers led by Johns Hopkins say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don't develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to treat, prevent or modify the disorder or its symptoms. http://phys.org/news186383954.html Medicine & Health Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:19:38 EST news186383954 Working with worms may not be your average person’s idea of a good time, but for University of Toronto researcher Dr. Andrew Fraser, they are fascinating. http://phys.org/news185943571.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:20:04 EST news185943571 Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania studying oocytes in mice, the immature egg cells necessary for sexual reproduction, have demonstrated an unusual behavior in microRNA, or miRNA, activity that may be the first event in reprogramming the differentiated oocyte into pluripotent blastomeres of the embryo. MicroRNAs are a member of the family of small RNAs, the so-called dark matter of the biological world. http://phys.org/news184422567.html Biology Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:31:21 EST news184422567 Taxanes, a group of cancer drugs that includes paclitaxel (Taxol®) and docetaxel (Taxotere®), have become front-line therapy for a variety of metastatic cancers. But as with many chemotherapy agents, resistance can develop, a frequent problem in breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers. Now, cancer researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report a protein previously unknown to be involved in taxane resistance and that could potentially be targeted with drugs, making a cancer more susceptible to chemotherapy. http://phys.org/news183741054.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:30:01 EST news183741054 A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has determined a hierarchical set of criteria that explain how the molecular precursors of gene-regulating small RNAs are sorted by the cellular machinery. http://phys.org/news181820500.html Biology Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:42:14 EST news181820500