New method to monitor early sign of oxidative stress that triggers cancer

Washington, Sept 12 (ANI): Scientists from University of Michigan have developed a new method to monitor early sign of oxidative stress that triggers cancer spread.

Lead researcher Kate Carroll suggests that being able to monitor a marker of oxidative stress that is associated with the activation of tumor cell growth pathways, particularly at an early stage, and then tailor treatments accordingly would allow for more targeted studies and might improve the odds of success with antioxidants and pro-oxidants.

The new method detects sulfenic acid in proteins-a tip off to early oxidative stress and to a specific protein modification associated with cell growth pathways.

Sulfenic acid is produced when a particular oxidant, hydrogen peroxide, reacts with the protein building block cysteine. But because the chemical modification involved is so small and transient, it has been difficult to detect.

To get around that problem, Carroll and Seo used a chemical probe that “traps” sulfenic acid and tags it for recognition by an antibody.

The antibody is labeled with a fluorescent dye that glows when observed with a fluorescence microscope.

The researchers then used the method to assess sulfenic acid levels as a marker of oxidative stress in several systems, including a panel of breast cancer cell lines.

“For each line, we saw a very distinct pattern of sulfenic acid modifications,” indicating different oxidative stress levels and hinting at differences in the underlying molecular events associated with tumor growth,” said Carroll, assistant professor of chemistry and a research assistant professor in the Life Sciences Institute.

“Whether the patterns we see will correlate with response to antioxidant treatment or other therapies that modulate oxidative stress level remains to be seen, but now we at least have a way to investigate that question,” the expert added.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Pak Qaeda hand in 2006 trans-Atlantic bomb plot revealed

London, Sep.8 (ANI): New evidence put before a British jury during a retrial of three Brit Muslim convicts suggests that the men used code words to discuss their plans with an al-Qaeda fixer based in Pakistan.

The e-mails and conversations suggest that the plot was in its final stages, possibly days away from execution in 2006.

The seven daily flights highlighted by the three plotters were: 14.15 United Airlines Flight 931 to San Francisco; 15.00 Air Canada Flight 849 to Toronto; 15.15 Air Canada Flight 865 to Montreal; 15.40 United Airlines Flight 959 to Chicago; 16.20 United Airlines Flight 925 to Washington; 16.35 American Airlines Flight 131 to New York; 16.50 American Airlines Flight 91 to Chicago.

According to The Telegraph and the Daily Express, the batteries the gang planned to use as part of their detonators were bought in Pakistan.

An ingredient in the bomb mix was the orange soft drink Tang – sold in Pakistan – which had a high sugar content to aid the explosion.

A British intelligence source said: “The use of drink bottles sold in Pakistan and batteries sold in Pakistan underline the plot’s ties to that country. The foot soldiers were from Britain – but the organisers were in Pakistan.”

A security source said of the conspiracy: “It was very clever and the airport scanners would not have picked up the devices at all.”

Prosecutor Peter Wright told the Woolwich Crown Court in South East London how the would-be bombers were “a cell of home-grown terrorists activated and directed by a designated leader in Pakistan.”

That was confirmed by a government source in Pakistan, who said the plot was believed to have originated “with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.”

Seized e-mails showed the chain of terror stretched from there, across the lawless border to Pakistan, to London and to the woods of High Wycombe where explosives were buried.

The aim was to mirror the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 259 passengers and 11 in the Scottish town.

Aliases exposed during the trial revealed the terror kingpin in Pakistan was dubbed “Paps” or “Papa”.

Ali called himself Imran and Chacha and also set up email accounts in the bogus names Tippu Khan and Jameel Masood.

His co-conspirators used aliases such as Fatty, Arro and Nigga.

Hydrogen peroxide was known as “aftershave”, police surveillance as “skin problems” and martyrdom videos were referred to as “wedding tapes”.

It is also thought that the bomb makers received training at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan.

A mystery Pakistani, thought to be a top al-Qaeda envoy, made contact with the three would-be suicide bombers during a flying visit to Britain in June 2006.

Experts who tested the explosive mix on the aircraft were horrified.

A witness said: “It was absolutely devastating.” (ANI)

How oxidative stress may help extend lifespan

Washington, May 29 (ANI): Scientists at the University of California, San Diego claim to have identified a mechanism of oxidative stress that prevents cellular damage.

“We may drink pomegranate juice to protect our bodies from so-called ‘free radicals’ or look at restricting calorie intake to extend our lifespan,” said Dr Trey Ideker, chief of the Division of Genetics in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine and professor of bioengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering.

“But our study suggests why humans may actually be able to prolong the aging process by regularly exposing our bodies to minimal amounts of oxidants,” Ideker added.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), ions that form as a natural byproduct of the metabolism of oxygen, play important roles in cell signalling. However, due to environmental stress like ultraviolet radiation or heat or chemical exposure the ROS levels can increase dramatically, resulting insignificant damage to cellular damage to DNA, RNA and proteins – cumulating in an effect called oxidative stress.

The scientists claim to have discovered the gene responsible for this effect.

One major contributor to oxidative stress is hydrogen peroxide. While the cell has ways to help minimize the damaging effects of hydrogen peroxide by converting it to oxygen and water, this conversion isn’t 100 percent successful.

During the study, the researchers designed a way to identify genes involved in adaptation to hydrogen peroxide.

To figure out which genes might control this adaptation mechanism, the team ran a series of experiments in which cells were forced to adapt while each gene in the genome was removed, one by one – covering a total of nearly 5,000 genes.

They identified a novel factor called Mga2, which is essential for adaptation.

“This was a surprise, because Mga2 is found at the control point of a completely different pathway than those which respond to acute exposure of oxidative agents,” said Ideker.

“This second pathway is only active at lower doses of oxidation,” Ideker added.

“It may be that adaptation to oxidative stress is the main factor responsible for the lifespan-expanding effects of caloric restriction,” said Ideker.

“Our next step is to figure out how Mga2 works to create a separate pathway – to discover the upstream mechanism that senses low doses of oxidation and triggers a protective mechanism downstream.”

The study is published in PLoS Genetics. (ANI)

Sacha Baron Cohen’s painful encounter with bleaching process

London, May 8 (ANI): Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was left in so much pain after a body bleaching process went insanely wrong that he could not sit for three days.

Baron decided to bleach his body to fit into his character of a gay Austrian fashion reporter in his forthcoming flick ‘Bruno’, as he was told that mostly gays are hairless. He thought that bleaching would make his hair invisible.

However, things took a turn for worse when the bleaching gave him a burning rash , which needed emergency treatment.

“Sacha is committed to as much realism as he can muster in his films. Gay. He’d heard that all-over hairlessness is a popular trend in the gay community, so he thought he’d bleach all his hair so it looked invisible,” The Sun quoted a source as saying.

“But it quickly turned into a disaster. Shortly after having the procedure done he felt a burning sensation and it grew steadily worse. He had a bad allergic reaction to hydrogen peroxide, which is a strong bleaching agent. It was so severe around a certain part of his anatomy that he couldn’t sit down for three days,” the source added.

Baron then met doctors and got rid of the rash within a few days.

However, his crew members could not help but laugh, as Baron could not even sit for three days due to which the shooting was delayed.

“He had to make an emergency appointment with the doctors, who gave him some medication to counter the irritation,” the source said.

“Crew members found the whole incident hilarious and it slowed down filming for a bit, but Sacha soon got over the discomfort. He has suffered no long-lasting ill effects,” the source added.

Bruno is due to hit cinemas on July 10. (ANI)

New form of destructive terrorist material unlikely

Washington, March 25 (ANI): Scientists have determined that it is highly unlikely that terrorists could produce a new and particularly dangerous form of the explosive responsible for airport security screening of passengers’ shoes.

Gerard Harbison, a chemist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and his team, used computer simulations to analyze a variety of potential peroxide-based explosives in the same chemical class as triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

That powerful, easy-to-make explosive was used by the “shoe bomber,” Richard Reid, in his failed attempt to blow up a transatlantic airline flight in 2001.

Harbison’s team became intrigued by “Internet lore,” reports circulating on the Web claiming creation of another explosive – tetracetone tetraperoxide (TeATeP) – which is reputedly a more lethal relative to TATP.

Initially working on detection methods of peroxide explosives for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the group instead began to investigate the structure of TeATeP to evaluate likelihood of its use as a terrorist’s weapon.

“Our analysis indicates that potentially new and destructive terrorist materials, which would tax our detection capabilities, may be too unstable for a practical synthesis,” said Harbison.

“We consider it unlikely that any of the previous syntheses were actually successful, and the Internet myths about TeATeP are nothing more than that. So, the good news is basically this is something we don’t have to worry about,” he added.

The group investigated 20 molecular structures of various acetone peroxide compounds and found that all substances larger than TATP are likely too sensitive to be used as weapons.

“The energies we’re seeing in the analysis are extreme enough,” Harbison said, adding that a review of previous TeATeP synthesis reports raised many questions.

“If you look at the actual literature on people who claim to have made TeATeP, it’s very ambiguous. We think probably what happened when people thought they were making TeATeP was that they were actually making TATP,” he added.

According to Harbison, this synthesis error is common and often fatal. When trying to make TATP, a less stable relative, diacetone diperoxide, often is created.

“Using computational chemistry, we can narrow down the domain of potential hazards, things that aren’t going to be on the horizon,” he said.

“I think we now know so much more about not just what works for improvised-explosive-device detection but also what doesn’t work, and we don’t have to try it out experimentally,” he added. (ANI)