Pharmacology In the News
Pharmacology Dissertations
February 22, 2008
Martha D. Port, Regulation of Expression and Function of Neurokine Receptors
March 10, 2008
Kristin Mahan, Circadian Oscillation of MARK Activity and cAMP in the Hippocampus: Implications for Memory Persistence
News
US: Keeping stem cell research alive (Randy Moon)
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Private funds keep stem cell research viable in Seattle (Randy Moon)
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Kidney Cancer Promotes Own Growth By Affecting Protein-Degradation System
A Wilms tumor, a rare type of kidney cancer affecting children, promotes its own growth by taking over a genetic program used by normal cells during human development. That finding is the result of a UW-led study published May 18 in the journal Science. Randall Moon, UW professor of pharmacology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, led the research, which also involved Ben Major, a postdoctoral fellow in Moon's lab.
Scientists now understand that a misguided version of a cell signaling pathway called Wnt is involved in a variety of cancers and other diseases. Wnt normally works with an intracellular protein called Beta-catenin to trigger changes within cells. In the absence of Wnt, Beta-catenin is degraded by a destruction complex.
In the new study, researchers found that efficient function of the Beta-catenin destruction complex depends on a protein called WTX that is often mutated in kidney cancer cells. They then investigated the activity of that protein in the test tube and in living organisms, and confirmed that WTX changes the effects of Wnt signaling.
This is the latest of several Wnt-related compounds that have been implicated in many cancers, retinal diseases, osteoporosis, and likely some neurodegenerative diseases.
Randy Moon receives $2.5 million for stem cell research - Read More>>
How does a zebrafish grow a new tail? The answer may help treat human injuries. - Read More>>
Paralytic shellfish toxins cause mutation that allows clams to accumulate 100 times more toxin - Read More>>
UW researchers identify potential therapeutic target for Huntington's disease - Read More>>
UW group blocks formation of toxic protein clumps seen in Huntington's disease - Read More>>
