calcium

Scientists have created a new antitumor drug that induces a lethal calcium influx in tumor cells by targeting specific channels. This innovative approach, using existing calcium ions in tumors and tested successfully in mice, offers a potential new method for cancer treatment.Activation of calcium channels results in a fatal influx of calcium ions into tumor cells.Calcium ions play a crucial role in cellular functions, yet can become harmful at elevated levels. Researchers have recently developed a compound that targets…

No matter how important something is, too much of anything is bad for you. Scientists have now put that principle to work to kill cancer, with a new drug that causes calcium to build up and choke the tumor to death.Calcium ions are crucial messengers in biological cells, and play a key role in keeping the energy-producing mitochondria functioning. They travel in and out of cells through channels that open and close with precise triggers to maintain exactly the right balance. If there’s too much calcium, the cell can…

I hope that means what I think it means Even though the retro-inspired first-person shooter sub-genre has been running at full steam for a while, I feel like it just keeps getting better. Sure, I feel like a lot of it is mowing down demons or cultists to heavy metal music, and it can sometimes be hard to tell your Hyperviolent apart from your Turbo Overkill, but still new approaches pop up that are easy to miss. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer is one of my favorite releases this year. It combines…

Hearts from mice infected with COVID-19 have an increased percentage of fibrosis and dilation of the fibers—a common indicator of early cardiomyopathy in mice. Credit: Image courtesy of Andrew Marks<span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>COVID-19</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>First identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, COVID-19, or Coronavirus disease 2019, (which was originally called &quot;2019 novel…

Using Mössbauer spectroscopy, Osaka Metropolitan University scientists investigate the iron ion status of pyroxenes, a major group of rock-forming silicate minerals. Their study revealed that in pyroxene crystals consisting of roughly 50% calcium, the tensor that determines the ratios of iron ions at the Mössbauer spectral peaks is independent of the iron content but dependent on the calcium content. Credit: Shinoda, OMU…

Coccolithophores, shown here, are a key component of the marine carbon and calcium carbonate cycles. Credit: Patrizia Ziveri Organic carbon and calcium carbonate are two critical components of the ocean's carbon cycle. Organic carbon originates mainly from phytoplankton photosynthesis, which is part of a complex biological pump. Calcium carbonate, meanwhile, largely derives from shell-building organisms like coccolithophores,…