Tumors have co-opted this protein, which normally keeps white blood cells from eating red blood cells.

Last year, a PNAS study showed that the surfaces of many tumor cells have a protein called CD47, which protects them from the immune system. But when tumors are treated with an antibody to CD47, they do get attacked by immune system cells. So the researchers transplanted seven kinds of human tumors into mice, and treated them with an antibody to CD47.

All of the tumors — bladder, brain, breast, colon, liver, ovary and prostate — shrank or disappeared, which kept them from spreading. Now, the research will progress to clinical trials, thanks to a $20 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. CD47 was originally found on leukemia and lymphoma cells, and the trial will target the stem cells that perpetuate acute myeloid leukemia. This cancer of the blood and bone marrow is fatal within months if untreated, and the five year survival rate is only 30-40% even with aggressive treatments including chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants.

Cancer Commons 2013

See more of my cancer news for Cancer Commons.

Stomata (green) are opened and closed by oblong guard cells (colorless); 20X

Unlike animals, which breathe through airways lined with pathogen-trapping defenses, plants get air through tiny pores in their leaves that all but invite bacteria to sneak in. How, then, do plants keep them out? They slam their pores, or stomata, shut. Stomata are flanked by guard cells that swell when triggered by bacteria, thus closing the pores. New research shows that guard cells contain an enzyme that makes stomata close in response to pathogens, overturning a previous theory that this process is regulated by a plant hormone… (more)

PLOS Biology 2013

Warning: burger smoke may be hazardous to your health.

Hamburgers are a double health threat, polluting the air as well as clogging arteries. “Hamburgers account for more than twice as many particles as diesel trucks”, says Bill Welch, an environmental engineer at the University of California, Riverside. He estimates that charbroiling a single patty emits as many particles as driving 140 miles in an 18-wheeler diesel truck… (more)

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2012

Investing in opposite outcomes—or bet hedging—is a common tool to cushion against huge monetary losses. While this strategy has earned a bad name for its role in the recent global financial crisis, bet hedging is key to survival in bacteria. But how microorganisms manage bet hedging at the molecular level is poorly understood. Now, new research in yeast shows that slow-growing cells resist stress better than fast-growing cells, thanks in part to higher levels of a stress-related protein… (more)

PLoS Biology, 2012

Imbalanced gut bacteria can make mice obese, leading to diabetes

Obesity and type 2 diabetes have risen tremendously over the last 20 years, and  weight gain and insulin resistance are linked to gut bacteria that provide a source of extra calories by breaking down compounds that are otherwise indigestible.

Some mice are genetically protected against obesity-induced insulin resistance and, intriguingly, this may be due to alterations in their enteric microbe composition. Now, in this issue of PLoS Biology, Andréa Caricilli and colleagues present compelling evidence that gut bacteria can nullify genetic protections against diabetes … (more)

PLoS Biology, 2011

Can what we eat help fix what ails us? Research increasingly suggests that the answer could be “yes.” Many foods contain biofactors — biologically active compounds — that may prevent and treat illnesses including asthma, diabetes and heart disease… (more)

California Agriculture, 2011

Tiny worms with simple genetics, nematodes have almost everything it takes to be a favored model system to study viral infections. Recent work has even shown that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has innate immune pathways against viruses much like those in vertebrates, including people.

So what’s missing? No viruses were known to infect nematodes naturally, limiting our view to only a small part of the complex life cycle of these pathogens… (more)

PLoS Biology, 2011

The maxim “you are what you eat” goes only so far. The bacteria inhabiting our guts, which outnumber our own cells by perhaps 10 to 1, are commonly thought to reflect our diets. But other factors can also affect gut microbes, and sorting out their provenance is critical because they can affect our health for good or ill, from enhancing immune function to increasing the risk of stomach cancer.

New research counters the prevailing view that diet shapes the makeup of gut microbes…(more)

PLoS Biology, 2010

How we live largely determines how we age

California is about to be hit by an “age wave” of people 60 years and over. Driven by aging baby boomers and longer life spans, this “silver tsunami” is expected to swell the state’s elderly population by 40% to nearly 9 million by 2020.

Within the elderly population, those 85 years and over are more likely to have severe disabilities and chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia. But getting older does not have to mean deteriorating mental and physical health… (more)

California Agriculture, 2010

The statistics are alarming: the prevalence of over-weight children has tripled over the last 30 years, and now affects one in six school-aged children nationwide. But while the problem is plain to see, the remedy has been elusive. Recent studies by UC researchers and others reveal that the rise in childhood obesity is rooted in fundamental social changes, explaining why this epidemic is so hard to control as well as bringing us closer to a solution… (more)

California Agriculture, 2007