International Research Chemistry Awards

A dysfunction in muscle blood vessels could be to blame for the weak muscles and weight loss that most cancer patients experience, according to a new study from University of Illinois Chicago researchers. The discovery may help cancer survivors regain their muscle strength, which could contribute to better outcomes for these patients, said Dr. Jalees Rehman, senior author of the new paper and the Benjamin J. Goldberg Professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the College of Medicine . Up to 80% of patients with cancer experience muscle wasting, known as cachexia, a debilitating complication marked by extreme fatigue, weight loss and lack of appetite. "It is one of the major determinants of poor outcomes in cancer survivors, if they're unable to engage in their activities of daily living because they've lost a lot of their muscle strength," said Rehman, who is also co-leader of the Translational Oncology Research Program at the Unive...

  Scientists have found that global warming in the Middle East and North Africa is making breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer more common and more deadly. The rise in rates is small but statistically significant, suggesting a notable increase in cancer risk and fatalities over time. "As temperatures rise, cancer mortality among women also rises - particularly for ovarian and breast cancers," said Dr. Wafa Abuelkheir Mataria of the American University in Cairo, first author of the article in Frontiers in Public Health. "Although the increases per degree of temperature rise are modest, their cumulative public health impact is substantial." An unhealthy environment Climate change isn't healthy. Rising temperatures, compromised food and water security, and poor air quality all increase the burden of disease and death worldwide. Natural disasters and the strain of unanticipated weather conditions also disrupt infrastructure, including healthcare systems. Wh...

  A Ludwig Cancer Research study has uncovered a surprising link between diet, intestinal microbes and the efficacy of cancer therapy. Led by Ludwig Princeton's Asael Roichman and Branch Director Joshua Rabinowitz, the study could help explain why drugs known as PI3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitors-which disrupt an abnormally activated biochemical signaling pathway that spurs cancer cell proliferation-haven't led to consistent, durable cancer control in patients with solid tumors. "While we focused in this study on PI3K inhibitors, the liver enzymes involved in clearing these drugs break down many others as well," added Roichman, a postdoc in the Rabinowitz lab and lead author of the study. "This suggests our findings could be of relevance to multiple classes of drugs used to treat cancer and other diseases." The study, reported in the current issue of Cell, began with a surprising result obtained from an experiment examining the interplay between diet and cancer th...

  KRAS mutations are among the most common genetic alterations in cancer and are considered particularly difficult to treat. In colon cancer, the second most common cause of cancer death, such mutations severely limit therapeutic options. The results of a study led by the Center for Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna, recently published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, now raise a previously little-considered strategy: the targeted blockade of the EGFR signaling pathway - even in the presence of a KRAS mutation. This could make KRAS-mutated colon cancer more treatable than previously thought. Using so-called tumor organoids - mini-tumours made from colon cancer cells isolated from specific mouse models - the research team was able to demonstrate that the removal of EGFR has a profound effect on the metabolism of cancer cells. The cells processed sugar and amino acids in a completely different way - an indication of new vulnerabilities in KRAS-mutated tumours...

  The analysis of a large-scale dataset derived from four continents identified a modest positive association between alcohol intake and pancreatic cancer risk. The findings are published in PLOS Medicine . Background Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer worldwide, associated with a high mortality rate when diagnosed at advanced stages. It accounted for 5% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide in 2022. The incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer are 4-5 times higher in Europe, North America, Australia, and Eastern Asia compared to other regions. Smoking, obesity, chronic pancreatitis, and diabetes mellitus are some of the major risk factors for pancreatic cancer. Evidence linking alcohol intake to pancreatic cancer risk remains inconclusive, despite the classification of alcohol as a group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A previous analysis of large-scale observational data from 14 cohorts in the Pooling Project of Pro...

  To effectively battle cancer , scientists must study the battlefield. Now, in a recent study published in Nature Communications, a multi-institutional research team including The University of Osaka has discovered some crucial intel: localized oxygen deficiency in the colon cancer microenvironment can promote tumor growth. Until recently, oxygen deprivation, i.e., hypoxia, was thought to suppress tumor progression. Consequently, drugs that block the supply of oxygen to tumors were being used to treat cancers. However, these treatments achieved mixed results; sometimes, these drugs even accelerated tumor growth. Understanding why this happens has become an urgent question in cancer research. The research team found that when oxygen becomes scarce in certain areas of a colon tumor, the surrounding fibroblasts (normally 'good' cells that support tissue structure) transform into harmful inflammatory fibroblasts. The altered cells release factors that help tumors grow, such as epi...

  Scientists in Uruguay have found genotypes of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cervical cancer in urban wastewater, saying it could help inform disease prevention efforts. They believe their findings, published in the journal Food and Environmental Virology , position wastewater monitoring as a useful tool for finding information about diseases in low- and middle-income countries, where epidemiological data is scarce. HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer, detected in 99 per cent of cases. Low- and middle-income countries have the highest prevalence of this type of cancer — and the highest mortality rate from it. The researchers hope their results can spur more epidemiological studies and prevention strategies for cervical cancer and other cancers linked to the HPV virus. Wastewater, which is discharged through the sanitation system after domestic or commercial use, has been the subject of many studies to determine the health of a population because it contains traces ...

  An international group of scientists has identified a key molecular process that drives a deadly form of childhood brain cancer, potentially offering a much-needed, new therapeutic target. Published in leading international journal Molecular Cell, the new study has revealed how a rare but devastating childhood brain cancer-called Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG)-hijacks the cell's gene control machinery to fuel its growth. The findings could point the way to urgently needed new treatments for this currently incurable disease. DMG is a tumor that develops deep in the brain and primarily affects children and young adults. Nearly all cases carry a key genetic change: a mutation in a protein called histone H3, which helps package DNA inside cells. This mutation disrupts a crucial chemical mark-known as H3K27me3-that normally acts like a stop sign to silence genes. Scientists had long believed this disruption caused genes to turn on when they shouldn't. But in a surprising twist, the ...

  A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine has identified flavonoids, natural compounds found in plants, that are toxic to bladder cancer cells cultured in the lab. The researchers report in the journal Pharmacological Research - Natural Products that Cell Painting technology enables them not only to identify compounds with potential anti-cancer properties but also uncover insights into their mechanism of action. "Cell Painting uses high-throughput microscopy to highlight cellular structures and, via custom image analysis pipelines, quantify changes in cultured cell populations," said corresponding author Dr. Michael Mancini, professor of molecular and cellular biology and director of Baylor's long-running Integrated Microscopy Core and the Gulf Coast Consortium Center for Advanced Microscopy and Image Informatics (CAMII, co-located at Baylor and the Texas A&M Institute for Bioscience and Technology). "This innovation enables a more detailed unders...

  University of Texas at Dallas bioengineers, in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, are developing an enhanced light-activated immunotherapy approach that could one day treat patients with stomach cancer that has spread throughout the abdomen. The approach uses lab-designed molecules and far-red or near-infrared light to "prime" the immune system to help it attack stubborn cancer cells , said Dr. Girgis Obaid, assistant professor of bioengineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. The lab-designed molecules, or betabodies , target only tumors, leaving healthy tissue unaffected to reduce side effects. "When activated by light, our engineered proteins capture oxygen and convert it into reactive molecules that can kill cancer cells and simultaneously activate the immune system," Obaid said. The approach has not yet been fully tested in humans. Obaid received a $250,000 High Impact/High Risk Research Award in Aug...

  Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most prevalent and deadly cancers worldwide, with rising incidence linked to dietary and lifestyle changes. Despite advances in surgery and chemotherapy, drug resistance and tumor recurrence pose marked challenges. The epidermal growth factor receptor/mitogen-activated protein kinase (EGFR/MAPK) signaling pathway, frequently hyperactivated in CRC, drives tumor growth, but its downstream effectors-particularly noncoding RNAs-are not fully understood. A research team from Sun Yat-sen University Sixth Affiliated Hospital has made a groundbreaking discovery in colorectal cancer (CRC) research, identifying a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) named ESSENCE (EGF Signal Sensing CAD's Effect; ENST00000415336) as a critical regulator of tumor progression. The study reveals that ESSENCE stabilizes a key metabolic enzyme, CAD (carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamylase, and dihydroorotase), to promote cancer growth and suppress ferroptos...

  Announcing a new publication for Acta Materia Medica journal. Tumor ferroptosis, a regulated form of cell death driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for combating cancers, particularly in cases involving cancer stem cells (CSCs) and drug resistance. In recent years nanomaterial-based approaches have gained significant attention for the potential to selectively induce ferroptosis in cancer cells while sparing normal tissues. This review article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in utilizing nanomaterials for targeting tumor ferroptosis with a specific focus on the application in eradicating CSCs and overcoming drug resistance mechanisms. The molecular mechanisms underlying ferroptosis induction by nanomaterials, the unique properties and functionalities of various nanomaterial platforms, and strategies for targeting CSCs and overcoming drug resistance using nanoferroptosis approaches ar...