biochemical pathway

Scripps research team unravels new cellular repair mechanism

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

(Scripps Research Institute) A Scripps Research team has unraveled a new biochemical pathway that triggers a critical repair response to correct errors in the DNA replication process that could otherwise lead to harmful or fatal mutations in cells. Though the work focused on yeast cells, the team expects to find an analogous system in human cells that could be exploited as a target for potential therapies for cancers, which are often caused by such repair mechanisms going off course.

Major 'missed' biochemical pathway emerges as important in virtu...

admin — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

(Duke University Medical Center) Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have published a study in Science that provides compelling evidence that the nitric oxide system in cells is very broad-based and important, resembling in its essence the much-studied system of phosphorylation. The findings may offer new insights into how cells work and the basis of many diseases.

Novel enzyme inhibitor paves way for new cancer drug

admin — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

(The Wistar Institute) Wistar Institute scientists have developed a new type of enzyme inhibitor capable of blocking a biochemical pathway that plays a key role in cancer development. Based on studies in human melanoma cells, the research paves the way for developing new ways to treat cancer by dampening overactive enzyme activity that leads to uncontrolled tumor growth. The study shows how small-molecule inhibitors can be designed to target a family of signaling proteins, called phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinases, or PI3Ks.