The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

The Dynamic Immunopeptidome University of Montreal ♦ Published in Molecular Systems Biology, September 27, 2011 The human body has developed a complex system in which to identify self and non-self. The large majority of nucleated cells in the body display small peptides on the cell surface known as MHC I-associated peptides (MIPs). Although past theories [...]

Gene Therapy Tailored to the Prostate University of British Columbia ♦ Published in Cancer Gene Therapy (npg), September 16, 2011 Prostate cancer cells tend to over express the protein translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). With this knowledge on hand, researchers at the University of British Columbia experimented with a variety of 5′UTRs to see which [...]

Astrocytes Modulate Basal Synaptic Transmission University of Montreal ♦ Montreal General Hospital ♦ Published in Cell, September 2, 2011 The astrocyte, a larger flattened cell type relative to the neuron, regulates the growth and survival of brain cells through the release of various growth factors and proteins. Recent findings indicate that they are also involved [...]

Functional Validation of Cancer Stem Cell Theory Ontario Cancer Institute ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Hospital for Sick Children ♦ McMaster University ♦ others.. Published in Nature Medicine, August 28th, 2011 John Dick’s lab has begun functionally validating the cancer stem cell theory in a mouse model and created the closest thing we have to a [...]