Research

Cardiovascular Institute researcher: Cancer drug may lower sudden cardiac death risk
In this study, researchers evaluated mice that had sustained a heart attack and also had abnormal heartbeats. The study found that inhibition of a protein signal known as c-Src decreased the risk of abnormal heartbeats and sudden cardiac death. This suggests usefulness of c-Src inhibition in preventing arrhythmias associated with heart failure. This use of Src inhibitors for treatment of sudden cardiac death risk has been submitted for a patent. Eurekalert!

Mitochondrial process may predict lifespan of organisms
In a paper published in Nature recently, En-Zhi Shen at the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing and colleagues have used C. elegans to make an intriguing discovery. Based on a process that occurs in each cell's power house, mitochondria, they claim to be able to predict the lifespan of that organism. MedicalXpress

Researchers generate new neurons in brains, spinal cords of living adult mammals
Scientists in UT Southwestern's Department of Molecular Biology first successfully turned astrocytes – the most common non-neuronal brain cells – into neurons that formed networks in mice. They now successfully turned scar-forming astrocytes in the spinal cords of adult mice into neurons. The latest findings are published today in Nature Communications and follow previous findings published in Nature Cell Biology.  Eurekalert!

Penn researchers show nuclear stiffness keeps stem cells and cancer cells in place
In a study published in the Journal of Cell Biology, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that cell migration through micron-size pores is regulated by lamin-A, a nuclear protein that is very similar to the fibrous ones that make up hair.

They have also shown that a cell’s ability to survive the mechanical stress of migration depends on proteins called “heat shock factors.” Using an anti-cancer drug that inhibits heat shock responses, they showed that this drug’s effectiveness relies on inhibiting the invasive migration of cells via the same mechanism. University of Pennsylvania