Blood and guts: McNagny’s team identifies novel pathways involved in inflammatory bowel disease
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that is increasing in prevalence, and is characterized by weight loss, diarrhea, bleeding and fever. The disorder features invasion of the intestinal wall with the white blood cells, distortion of normal glanduloar structures, and multiple abscesses. Although it is known that altered regulation of the immune response […]
Hancock laboratory seeks novel anti-infective therapeutic strategies
Infectious diseases are responsible for a third of all deaths on the planet, and current therapeutifc approaches are under severe threat due to antibiotic resistance. The laboratory of CBR member Bob Hancock is engaged in research to address this growing problem. By using systems biology approaches to understand the mechanisms of action of antimicrobial petides […]
Leitch and Vickars identify survival benefits of iron chelation
Myelodysplastic syndromes and primary myelofibrosis are bone marrow failure disorders with a heightened leukemia risk. Affected patients require chronic red blood cell transfusions which leads to iron overload. Excess iron can cause damage to and faillure of the heart and live, and diabetes. In a series of publications, CBR investigators Heather Leitch and Linda Vickars […]
Burtnick and colleagues unbury the mysteries of buried actin-binding sites
The dynamic and tightly regulated interactions of actin and actin-binding proteins determine the sape and function of all mammalian cells. Loss of integrity of these proteins and their capacity to modulate cell function under different pathophysiologic conditions are associated with a range of diseases. It is therefore critical to delineate the mechanisms underlying these interactions […]
Rossi lab finds elusive repair cell
Following damage, many organs regenerate and return to their original state. When regeneration fails, a fibrous scar tissue, often containing scattered fat cells (adipocytes), replaces the functional tissue and interferes with organ function. Preventing this process remains a challenge, and requires identification of the source of the fibrous tissue and characterization of the adult stem […]
Karsan group identify microRNAs that are important in a maligant blood disease
A study published in Nature Medicine, led by CBR investigator Aly Karsan, Professor and Medical Director of the Cancer Genetics Laboratory, BCCA, and Head of Clinical Genomic Diagnostics at the Genome Sciences Centre reveals the role of two microRNAs (miRs) in a subtype of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). MDS comprise a group of malignant hematopoietic stem […]
Kelly McNagny and colleagues in a multilab study uncover mysteries of vascular lumen formation
The survival of mammals requires the formation of a complex network of blood vessels – tubes that are lined by endothelial cells – that traverse every organ, and dynamically respond to a range of pathophysiologic stresses. The blood vessels carry and regulate the delivery of essential factors including oxygen, nutrients and fluids, and dispose of […]
Overall lab provides perspectives into multitasking proteins
The cover artwork represents Popper’s postulate: If several observations of swans always show swans to be white, then the conclusion is that all swans are white. The dogma that all swans are white, held until the discovery in the eighteenth-century of black swans in Australia. We used this as an analogy for the interpretation of […]