Cyclin Was Discovered 30 years ago - what is it being used for today?

It looks like research articles on cyclin have been published regularly over the past twenty years. In fact the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for the discovery of CDKs and cyclins and the complete description of cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinase mechanisms.

You remember from our textbook that when cyclin is injected into a non-dividing cell it begins to form spindles and goes into cell division. A research article published in 2008 found that cyclin d1 is over-expressed in human breast cancer. These findings may explain how cyclin d1 contributes to breast tumor growth, and provides the rationale for targeted therapies in humans.

In April 2010, over 50 abstracts were presented at the American Association of Cancer Research meeting dealing with cyclins and ways to inhibit the cyclin dependent kinase. It looks like a very promising area of cancer study.




Sources: ErbB2 Induces Notch1 Activity and Function in Breast Cancer Cells Clinical
and Translational Science Volume 1, Issue 2, pages 107–115, September 2008

http://seekingalpha.com/article/199229-cyclin-dependent-cancer-confab-
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What's New in Cancer Research?

Studying about cell division always brings up great questions about cancer.

One very recent discovery is the develop of blood vessels in tumors which serves as a pipeline for nourishment. It appears that tumors have hormone receptors that allows a hormone called FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) to bind and start forming new blood vessels. This receptor was found in 11 different types of tumors and the race is on to see if compounds can be used to block the receptor or inhibit the protein.

Source: A. Radu et al. Expression of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor in tumor blood vessels. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 363, Oct 21, 2010, p.1621.

Is there one stage of sleep when you can't be awakened?

Sleep consists of three stages plus a stage of rapid eye movement know as REM. When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves which progress into delta waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 is referred to as deep sleep or delta sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from it.

In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors. Adults spend about 20%of their sleep time in REM and about 15% of their time in Stage 3.

What Determines Eye Color?

Eye color is genetically determined and is not as simple as once thought. The color of the eye is determined by multiple genes allowing for many different shades of gray, gree, blue and brown.

Eye color can change as a person grows older although most colors are permanent by age one.

How Does A Cell Become Cancerous?

Cells growth and division is controlled by genes. One part of the gene stimulates and growth and another part of the gene restrains it. Those two pieces need to work in perfect harmony in order to have a normal rate of cell division. When cells divide much faster than usual they form a tumor. All cancers develop from a primary tumor.If the tumor sheds cells in the blood or lymph they will go on to form a secondary tumor elsewhere in the body.

Could Stem Cells Be Used to Make Muscles Bigger?

The beauty of a stem cell is that it can develop into any type of cell. The stem cell is described as being pluripotent meaning that it is capable of generating any and all cells in the body under the right conditions.

So theoretically, a stem cell can be grown into a muscle cell however, right now the focus of researchers is on repairing diseased cells with new ones. So stem cells grown into muscle cells would be used to help someone with Muscular Dystrophy not a body builder.

Why Do Bruises Hurt When Touched?

Bruises hurt because they are the physical evidence of an injury. When a bruise appears it means that the tissue below has been damaged and blood vessels have broken beneath the skin. The swelling of the area due to escaping blood irritates the nerve endings in the area and you perceive pain.

Light bruising usually fades in about one week.