A common insulin signaling pathway across cancer and diabetes

An oncology researcher has made an unexpected contribution to the understanding of type 2 diabetes. In results published in Science Advances, Patrick Hu, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found a protein that modulates a signaling pathway often targeted by cancer therapies is also required for insulin biogenesis. Hu and colleagues showed a protein controlling the […]

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Important signaling pathway in breast cancer revealed

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that a particular signaling pathway in breast cancer tumors causes cancer cells to divide symmetrically, expanding the tumor. Inhibiting the pathway with drugs could become a strategy for eliminating the cancer cells. In breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women, tumors contain a […]

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New cellular pathway helps explain how inflammation leads to artery disease

Investigators have identified a new cellular pathway that may help explain how arterial inflammation develops into atherosclerosis—deposits of cholesterol, fats and other substances that create plaque, clog arteries and promote heart attacks and stroke. The findings could lead to improved therapies for atherosclerosis, a leading cause of death worldwide. “We have known for decades that atherosclerosis is a disease of […]

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Research identifies possible new pathway to treat anxiety

Researchers know that anxiety is a result of repeated stress. William Colmers, a University of Alberta professor in the Department of Pharmacology, is trying to understand why stress affects people differently, and to identify possible new therapeutic approaches to anxiety disorders. The body is designed to deal with stress thanks to a “fight or flight” response that helps prepare your […]

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‘Lone wolf’ protein offers new pathway to cancer treatments

Structural biologists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered how a key protein functions to trigger cell’s suicide machinery, called apoptosis. The scientists found that the protein, called BOK, is controlled separately from the rest of the apoptosis process—offering the potential for new drugs to more selectively kill cancer cells. Led by Tudor Moldoveanu, Ph.D., an assistant member of […]

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