News by Subject Biology

Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) identified proteins that bind to Toc-HDOs, double-stranded molecules combining RNA and DNA linked to a form of vitamin E, tocopherol, that have applications in gene silencing therapies. The team showed that Toc-HDOs work through a different mechanism to other DNA/RNA-based gene silencing approaches and identified four proteins involved in regulating their function. A greater understanding of Toc-HDO function could help with development of more effective gene silencing therapies.

Drugs targeting the gene MAGEA3 may help block the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of primary liver cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the country. That's one conclusion of a new study analyzing the genetics of HCC tumors published June 24th in the journal PLOS Genetics by Augusto Villanueva of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and colleagues.

A new CF treatment strategy involves small, nucleic acid molecules called oligonucleotides that can correct some of the gene defects that underlie CF but are not addressed by existing modulator therapies. The researchers used a new delivery method that overcomes traditional obstacles of getting oligonucleotides into lung cells.

The scientific world has been delving ever deeper into cancer, scourging for even the tiniest biomolecule that could amp up the cure for the deadly disease. A recent discovery in this regard is the gene LIM domain only 1, whose coded protein has a role in tumor formation. In a new article in Chinese Medical Journal, researchers have reviewed studies detailing molecular features of this gene for potential practical applications in cancer cure.

An international team of researchers have shed new light on the early stages of viral evolution.