DNA repair
Regenerative Medicine
The Link between Inflammation and Cancer
A research team from the Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) at MIT has confirmed that when DNA repair mechanisms are compromised, chronic inflammation expedites intestine cancer in mice. The results suggest that people with a decreased ability to repair DNA damage might be more susceptible to developing cancer associated with chronic inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis. This discovery may lead to the development of treatments for the prevention of various types of cancer and will hopefully raise the awareness to the importance of early detection and treatment of inflammation. ... Continue Reading
Structure of XPD Sheds Light on Cancer and Aging: The Role of a Unique DNA-Repair Protein in Multiple Diseases
The protein XPD is one component of an essential repair mechanism that maintains the integrity of DNA. XPD is unique, however, in that pinpoint mutations of this single protein are responsible for three different human diseases: in xeroderma pigmentosum, extreme sensitivity to sunlight promotes cancer; Cockayne syndrome involves stunted growth and premature aging; trichothiodystrophy, characterized by brittle hair and scaly skin, is another form of greatly accelerated aging. ... Continue Reading
New treatments prevent brain injury hours after stroke in rats
Two novel treatments -- a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea -- may prevent brain damage caused from stroke, according to two studies in rats led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Both treatments were administered through the nose, rather than intravenously, the conventional method for delivering drugs to the brain. ... Continue Reading
Age-related Changes In DNA Repair Illuminate The Connection Between Age And Genetic Damage
Researchers have uncovered a new way in which the aging process is linked to DNA damage--which occurs normally as a result of cell metabolism and environmental influences--and the various ways in which cells repair that damage. In the new work, researchers found that cells in young fruit flies make use of a different mix of molecular DNA-repair mechanisms compared to cells in older flies. The findings are reported by William Engels and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin and appear in the October 24th issue of the journal Current Biology, published by Cell Press. ... Continue Reading
DNA Repair Teams' Motto: 'To Protect And Serve'
When you dial 911 you expect rescuers to pull up at your front door, unload and get busy--not park the truck down the street and eat donuts. It's the same for a cell--just before it divides, it recruits protein complexes that repair breakage that may have occurred along the linear DNA chains making up your 46 chromosomes. Without repair, damage caused by smoking, chemical mutagens, or radiation might be passed on to the next generation. ... Continue Reading
Everybody dance: The energy you use won't shorten your life
The theory that animals die when they've expended their lifetime allotment of energy may be reaching the end of its own life, according to a study presented at The American Physiological Society conference, Comparative Physiology 2006. However, the longitudinal study leaves open a newer form of the theory -- that antioxidants help prolong life by limiting the damage that oxidative stress can cause to cells. ... Continue Reading
DNA Repair: Dynamic Defenders against Cancer and Aging
You probably weren't thinking about your body's DNA repair systems the last time you sat on the beach in the bright sunshine. Fortunately, however, while you were subjecting your DNA to the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) light, your cells were busy repairing the damage. The idea that our genetic material could be damaged by the sun was not appreciated in the early days of molecular biology. When Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA in 1953 [1], it was assumed that DNA is fundamentally stable since it carries the blueprint of life. However, more than 50 years of research have revealed that our DNA is under constant assault by sunlight, oxygen, radiation, various chemicals, and even our own cellular processes. Cleverly, evolution has provided our cells with a diverse set of tools to repair the damage that Mother Nature causes. ... Continue Reading
Your Choice: Treat Aging or Treat Disease
It is unlikely that physicians are going to adopt what has just been described in the journal of Rejuvenation Research. The reason is that physicians are mired in the treatment age-related disease as it occurs, and the habit of affixing a billing code number to an insurance claim to receive reimburse for treatment rendered, rather than intervention at the molecular level to slow the aging process itself. ... Continue Reading
Weizmann Institute scientists discover a molecular security mechanism for keeping mutations in check
Everyone knows mutations ... Continue Reading
Molecular Security Mechanism For Keeping Mutations In Check
Everyone knows mutations -- genetic mistakes in DNA, the material of heredity -- are bad: The more mutations in the cell's DNA, the higher the risk of cancer developing. But in the last few years it has become clear that the very processes that generate mutations, if they take place at a relatively low frequency, can actually protect us from cancer. ... Continue Reading
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