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39 articles from ScienceDaily

Methylation of tRNA-derived fragments regulates gene-silencing activity in bladder cancer

Researchers describe a novel form of gene regulation that is altered in bladder cancer, leading to the boosting of a gene pathway that helps the cancer cells survive during rapid growth. The work focuses on a 22-base fragment of transfer RNA, tRF-3b, which is modified by the enzyme complex TRMT6/61A. In bladder cancer, the levels of TRMT6/61A -- a methyltransferase -- are elevated. The methylation...

How do water mold spores swim?

Oomycetes, also known as water moulds, are pathogenic microorganisms that resemble fungi and are responsible for a group of diseases affecting several plant species. To reach and infect plants, the spores swim to their target. Physicists and biologists have now precisely measured the movement of each flagellum while a zoospore follows a linear trajectory and when it is turning.

Drugs showing promise in cancer trials reduce scarring for scleroderma

Epigenetic drugs that have shown promise in cancer trials significantly reduce scarring in the cells of patients with scleroderma, a new study shows. Results reveal that drugs that inhibit BRD4, known to play a role in cancer, also affect fibrosis in scleroderma. Researchers tested BRD4 inhibitors on the skin fibroblasts of scleroderma patients and in mouse models of skin fibrosis, finding that...

Researchers identify key factors impacting adaptive therapy

Researchers have been investigating an alternative treatment approach called adaptive therapy that focuses on maintaining disease control instead of complete tumor cell elimination. Researchers used mathematical modeling to reveal that the spatial organization of a tumor is an important factor that governs how cells compete with one another and the effectiveness of adaptive therapy.

Ice-capped volcanoes slower to erupt, study finds

The Westdahl Peak volcano in Alaska last erupted in 1992, and continued expansion hints at another eruption soon. Experts previously forecasted the next blast to occur by 2010, but the volcano -- located under about 1 kilometer of glacial ice -- has yet to erupt again. Using the Westdahl Peak volcano as inspiration, a new volcanic modeling study examined how glaciers affect the stability and...

Ultrafast 'camera' captures hidden behavior of potential 'neuromorphic' material

Imagine a computer that can think as fast as the human brain while using very little energy. That's the goal of scientists seeking to discover or develop 'neuromorphic' materials that can send and process signals as easily as the brain's neurons and synapses. In a paper just published scientists describe surprising new details about vanadium dioxide, one of the most promising neuromorphic...

T cell behavior determines which tumors respond to treatment

Immunotherapy unleashes the power of the immune system to fight cancer. However, for some patients, immunotherapy doesn't work, and new research may help explain why. When immune cells called T lymphocytes infiltrate malignant tumors, the genetic program of those T cells and the developmental path they then follow, may affect their response to immunotherapy and predict overall patient survival,...