Life Extension News Aggregator

The processes of autophagy recycle damaged and unwanted structures and proteins in cells. Increased autophagy is involved in the beneficial response to calorie restriction and numerous other mild forms of stress. A range of potential approaches to upregulate autophagy have been explored by the research community, but few have made much progress towards the clinic....

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is one of the ways in which cells remove damaged and unwanted proteins. Proteins are tagged with ubiquitin, which allows them to enter a proteasome and be broken down into component parts for reuse. Increased proteasomal activity has been shown to be beneficial in short-lived laboratory species, with the understanding that this...

Nanotechnology has contributed a great deal to the field of medical science. It has enabled researchers to design tools to deliver drugs to specific targets in a living organism. Smart drug delivery vectors, combined with stimuli-based characteristics, are becoming increasingly important. The use of external and internal stimulating factors can have enormous benefits in combination...

LEBANON, NH - A research team at Dartmouth's and Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center has found that the same vaccination programs that target human papillomavirus (hrHPV) strains in the United States may not be as effective in protecting other populations of women from the disease. Years of work in Honduras, led by Gregory J. Tsongalis,...

FINDINGS Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed gene-expression patterns in the most aggressive prostate cancer grade group -- known as Gleason grade group 5 -- and found that this grade of cancer can actually be subdivided into four subtypes with distinct differences. The findings may affect how people are treated for the...

Scientists can monitor biomolecular processes in live tissue by noninvasive optical methods, such as fluorescence imaging. However, the fluorescent dyes used for that purpose are often rather unstable, and photobleaching, lack of specificity, and poor pharmacokinetics are recurrent issues. US scientists have developed a molecular shield that stabilizes near-infrared fluorescent dyes and enhances their functionality....