An understanding of the molecular basis of differences in the incidence and survival of cancer between men and women may allow the discovery of specific and more effective treatments.
The study, published in Science Advances, compares the brain tumours of male and female flies at the molecular level and identifies proteins responsible for the different degree of aggressiveness.
Activation of the chaperone protein Hsp70 leads to a decrease in the formation of androgen receptor aggregates, which give rise to muscular atrophy in patients with Kennedy´s disease, a rare condition for which no treatment is available.
The results may also be useful in the search for a treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer, a disease that causes 30,000 death a year in Europe and for which there is no treatment.
The study, which has been published in Nature Communications, is a collaboration with the University of California San Francisco and the University of Michigan.
Ángel R. Nebreda’s team (IRB Barcelona) publishes a study in the journal Nature Communications addressing the role of the p38 protein in angiogenesis—the formation of new blood vessels—a critical process that fuels tumour cells and allows them to grow and eventually develop metastases.
A greater understanding of how new blood vessel formation is regulated could help to improve chemotherapy treatments for cancer, as well as to develop more efficient angiogenic therapies for other diseases.
In a study published in Cell Reports,the scientists inhibited the capacity of RAS to block cell death, thus eliminating malignant tumours without affecting the development of organs.
The results of the study pave the way to combining irradiation treatments with the administration of RAS pathway inhibitors to eliminate tumour cells.
Modesto Orozco’s lab (IRB Barcelona) has published a study on the reaction mechanism of DNAzymes in Nature Catalysis.
DNAzymes, which are catalysers formed by DNA, have applications in biomedicine and biotechnology. These research results will contribute to advances in the design and improvement of catalysers for therapeutic purposes.
Modesto Orozco’s laboratory (IRB Barcelona) has published a study on the source of asymmetry between nucleic acid hybrid (RNA and DNA) in CHEM (Cell Press).
The results are a promising step towards enhancing gene therapies, which are applicable to many diseases.
Kennedy’s disease is an untreatable neuromuscular disorder considered a rare disease
A study led by Xavier Salvatella may pave the way for new lines of treatment for Kennedy’s disease
A study done by scientists at IRB Barcelona can simulate and predict the shape of a molecule in function of its environment.
These results mark a milestone for the computational design of molecules with specific shape and features for agrochemical, technological and pharmaceutical applications.
The research group led by Travis Stracker identifies genes involved in male infertility in mice.
Their findings are relevant in humans and could explain undiagnosed cases of male infertility or subfertility.
In mice whose body clock—an internal mechanism located in the brain—does not work properly, each tissue still knows what time it is and has the capacity to respond to changes in light intensity.
The study, published in the journal Cell, is a collaboration between IRB Barcelona and the University of California, Irvine (US).
