http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Ever since discovering a decade ago that a gene altered in lung cancer regulated an enzyme used in therapies against diabetes, Reuben Shaw has wondered if drugs originally designed to treat metabolic diseases could also work against cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-diabetes-drug-lung-cancer-patients.html Cancer Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:06:14 EST news278676360 The cancer-causing form of the gene Myc alters the metabolism of mitochondria, the cell's powerhouse, making it dependent on the amino acid glutamine for survival. In fact, 40 percent of all "hard-to-treat" cancers have a mutation in the Myc gene. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-downstream-proteins-cancer-causing-pathway-cell.html Cancer Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:54:46 EST news272040879 As is true of many brain structures, the hippocampus, which plays a central role in memory and learning, is made up of multiple cell types organized into domains controlling different functions. Distinct from many other brain regions, however, the hippocampus is a site of active neuronal generation in the adult. Its distinctive pyramidal neurons are contained mainly in the cornu ammonis (CA), while another hippocampal region called the dentate gyrus (DG) is characterized by granule cells. While it is known that the survival of these granule cells relies on the activity of specific transcription factors, how they arise during the differentiation of the hippocampus has remained unknown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-transcription-factor-prox1-hippocampal-cellular.html Neuroscience Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:55:14 EST news269596504 LAM, short for pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis, affects about 1 in 10,000 women of childbearing age and is characterized by proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells in the lung, destruction of lung tissue, and growth of lymphatic vessels. The disease manifests itself in a wide variety of ways, so it is sometimes difficult to diagnose and there is no cure. The disease is caused by inactivation of either of two genes, TSC1 or TSC2, but to date no animal model has been able to replicate the pathologic features those mutations produce in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mouse-debilitating-lung-disease-potential.html Medical research Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:00:01 EST news268488811 Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered that vitamin E may prevent cancer in patients with an under-recognized genetic disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-vitamin-decrease-cancer-cowden-syndrome.html Cancer Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:12:03 EST news267117109 Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York University have discovered how a mutation in the gene known as TET2 contributes to the development of some leukemias. When a mutation in TET2 occurs, it enhances the function of blood stem cells in the bone marrow, causing them to renew themselves more efficiently than normal blood stem cells. This results in a greater number of mutant cells than normal blood stem cells, a condition that leads to leukemia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-gene-mutation-contributes-leukemia-function.html Cancer Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:00:16 EST news228736795