Newly discovered signalling pathways important for future brain cancer therapy

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a method for identifying functional mutations and how these affect genes with significance for the development of glioblastoma – a malignant brain tumor with very poor prognosis. The study is published in Genome Biology.

Lymphatic malformation is a debilitating and often incurable disease. Taija Mäkinen’s research group has in an international collaboration studied cellular mechanisms leading to abnormal vessel growth and identified a combination therapy that may allow effective treatment of these malformations.

In an international collaboration, researchers from IGP have mapped the lymph node lymphatic vessels in mice and humans down to the level of individual cells. The results may eventually help scientists to discover new methods for strengthening the immune system against viruses and cancer. Their work has been published in the journal Frontiers of Cardiovascular Research.

Targeting a molecule that contributes to leaky eye vessels, while sparing nerve and blood-vessel cells, could be a safer treatment strategy for age and diabetes-related vision loss. Scientists at IGP have identified a key step in the process that leads to leaky vessels and harmful swelling in eye diseases, according to a new study published today in the journal eLife.

Cancer cells grow and divide in an uncontrolled manner. A new study from IGP now shows how alterations in a cell’s degradation hubs, called lysosomes, can cause abnormal cell growth. The results are published today in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Could the ability of cancer cells to quickly alter their genome be used as a weapon against malignant tumours? Researchers at IGP have succeeded in developing a substance that has demonstrated promising results in experiments on both animal models and human cancer cells. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Using a computer algorithm, scientists at IGP have identified a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma. This form of cancer in children, which occurs in specialised nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system, may be life-threatening. In the long term the discovery, described in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications, may result in a new form of treatment for children in whom the disease is severe or at an advanced stage.

Medication against a certain type of epilepsy can be a new way to treat malignant brain tumours in infants. A specific mTOR inhibitor can cross the blood-brain barrier and both reach and attack the tumour where it is located. This is shown by IGP researchers, in collaboration with American and British colleagues, and the results are published in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell.

Researchers at IGP have identified a certain group of patients with malignant glioblastoma brain tumours that respond to a therapy targeting the cancer gene MYCN. The research findings are published in the scientific journal Cell Death & Disease.

In an international collaboration, researchers from IGP have shown that loss of chromosome Y in the blood in men can function as an indicator of genetic instability, which in turn can affect the susceptibility for cancer in other parts of the body. The study has been published in the journal Nature.

A new study from IGP shows that whole genome sequencing contributes to increasing the accuracy in genetic studies, which in turn can improve the understanding of how biomarkers can be used to discover diseases. The results are published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.

In a new study published in the journal EMBO Reports, researchers from IGP show for the first time a mechanism for how new blood vessels are formed and the importance of this mechanism for embryo survival and organ function. The results could be developed to control the formation of new blood vessels in different diseases.

A comprehensive study from IGP, with over 325,000 participants, shows that deep belly fat is a major contributing risk factor for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The study also shows that deep belly fat is a larger risk factor in women compared to men. Moreover, the scientists investigated how our genes affect the accumulation of fat and present a new, simpler method to estimate the amount of deep belly fat.

The HPA project has recently released a new version of The Human Protein Atlas. This is the most extensive update so far, with the completely new parts Blood Atlas, Brain Atlas, and a Metabolic Atlas, developed in collaboration with Chalmers University.

A new study published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases presents a WHO reference reagent produced by an international team of researchers and clinical laboratories. This reagent will facilitate the adjustment of autoantibody analyses in SLE and thereby also diagnosis and therapy for SLE patients.

There is a growing demand for diagnostic markers for early disease detection and prognosis. Exosomes are potential biomarkers for cancer progression and neurodegenerative disease but it can be difficult to identify what tissue a specific exosome comes from. Researchers at IGP and spin-off company Vesicode AB have solved this problem by developing a method that maps surface protein complements on large numbers of individual exosomes.

Each year, more than 1 300 people in Sweden are diagnosed with brain cancer. An international collaboration with researchers from the University of Wales, the United States and IGP have now uncovered molecular targets that might lead to a new generation of brain cancer therapies. The results are published today in a paper in the journal Cancer Discovery.

In a new study from IGP, researchers have found a total of 141 regions (genes) in our genetic material that largely explain the genetic risk underlying asthma, hay fever and eczema. As many as 41 of the genes identified have not previously been linked to an elevated risk for these diseases. The results are published in the scientific journal Human Molecular Genetics.

The majority of women who undergo surgery for suspected ovarian cancer do not have cancer. A novel blood test developed by Ulf Gyllensten’s research group, together with colleagues at Uppsala University and the Sahlgrenska Academy, at University of Gothenburg, now offers the possibility of more precise diagnostics without the need for surgery. This could lead to a reduction in unnecessary surgery and to earlier detection and treatment for affected women.

Nearly ninety per cent of all cancer patient deaths are due to metastasis. A study from IGP shows that a process that allows the cells to metastasise is aided by the synthesis of new ribosomes, the cell components in which proteins are produced. The results open the possibility for new treatment strategies for advanced cancers. The study is published in Nature Communications.

A recent study from IGP has found that whether you store your fat around the trunk or in other parts of your body is highly influenced by genetic factors and that this effect is present predominantly in women and to a much lower extent in men. In the study, which is published in Nature Communications, the researchers measured how fat was distributed in nearly 360,000 voluntary participants.

Evaluation of cytogenetic complexity could improve prognosis and predict therapy response for the cancer disease chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This is shown by IGP researcher Panagiotis Baliakas, together with an international research team, in a recently published article in the journal Blood.