#Scientists discover protein that boosts immunity to viruses and cancer Scientists have discovered a protein that plays a central role in promoting immunity to viruses
and cancer, opening the door to new therapies. Experiments in mice and human cells have shown that the protein promotes the proliferation of cytotoxic T cells,
which kill cancer cells and cells infected with viruses. The discovery was unexpected because the new protein had known no function
Researchers from Imperial College London who led the study are now developing a gene therapy designed to boost the infection-fighting cells
The study also involved researchers at Queen Mary University of London, ETH Zurich and Harvard Medical school.
but when faced with serious infections or advanced cancer, they are often unable to proliferate in large enough quantities to fight the disease.
By screening mice with genetic mutations, the Imperial team discovered a strain of mice that produced 10 times as many cytotoxic T cells
when infected with a virus compared with normal mice. These mice suppressed the infection more effectively
and were more resistant to cancer. They also produced more of a second type of T cells,
memory cells, enabling them to recognise infections they have encountered previously and launch a rapid response.
The mice with enhanced immunity produced high levels of a hitherto unknown protein, which the researchers named lymphocyte expansion molecule, or LEM.
They went on to show that LEM modulates the proliferation of human T cells as well as in mice.
The researchers now aim to develop a gene therapy designed to improve immunity by boosting the production of LEM.
the technology commercialisation company for the College, the researchers have filed two patents. A company called Immunart has been formed with the aim of commercialising the technology.
Professor Philip Ashton-Rickardt from the Section of Immunobiology in the Department of Medicine at Imperial, who led the study,
Genetically engineering T cells to augment their ability to fight cancer has been a goal for some time and techniques for modifying them already Exist by introducing an active version of the LEM gene into the T cells of cancer patients,
we hope we can provide a robust treatment for patients. ext we will test the therapy in mice,
make sure it is safe and see if it can be combined with other therapies. If all goes well,
we hope to be ready to carry out human trials in about three years. Dr Claudio Mauro
who led the research from the Centre for Biochemical Pharmacology, based within Queen Mary University of London William Harvey Research Institute,
said: his study has identified the novel protein LEM and unlocked an unexpected way of enhancing the ability of our immune system to fight viruses or cancers.
This is based on the ability of the protein LEM to regulate specific energy circuits, and particularly mitochondrial respiration, in a subset of white blood cells known as cytotoxic T cells.
This discovery has immediate consequences for the delivery of innovative therapeutic approaches to cancer. Its ramifications,
however, are far greater as they can help explaining the biological mechanisms of widespread human diseases involving altered immune and inflammatory responses.
These include chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders such as atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The research was funded by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and The british Heart Foundation.
Dr Mike Turner, Head of Infection and Immunobiology at The Wellcome Trust, said: he discovery of a protein that could boost the immune response to not only cancer,
but also to viruses, is a fascinating one. Further investigation in animal models is needed before human trials can commence,
works with a mixture of dissociating elements, capable of separating and removing all contaminants, as well as organic and inorganic pollutants."
"The methodology is founded on molecularly dissociating water pollutants to recover the minerals necessary and sufficient in order for the human body to function properly nourished,
"technical staff explained. Notably, the engineers developed eight dissociating elements, and after extensive testing on different types of contaminated water, implemented a unique methodology that indicates
what and how much of each element should be combined.""During the purification process no gases, odors nor toxic elements that may damage
or alter the environment, human health or quality of life are generated, "said the Mexican firm. The corporation has a pilot plant in their offices that was used to demonstrate the purification process,
which uses gravity to save energy. We observed that the residual water in the container was pumped to reactor tank,
where it received a dosing of the dissociating elements in predetermined amounts. In this phase solid, organic and inorganic matter as well as heavy metals are removed by precipitation and gravity;
and a sludge settles at the bottom of the reactor. The latter is removed and examined to determine
if it is suitable to use as fertilizer or manufacture construction materials. Subsequently, the water is conducted to a clarifier tank, to sediment the excess charge of dissolved elements;
then the liquid reaches a filter to remove turbidity and is passed finally by polishing tank that eliminates odors, colors and flavors.
The treated water is transported to a container where ozone is added to ensure its purity, and finally is ready to drink.
Indeed, the resulting liquid is fresh, odorless and has a neutral taste.""We have done over 50 tests on different types of wastewater
and all have been certified and authorized by the laboratories of the Mexican Accreditation agency (EMA). Also, the Monterrey Institute of technology and Higher education (ITESM), the College of Mexico and the National Polytechnic institute (IPN) have given their validation that the water treated with our technology meets the SSA NOM 127 standard,
which indicates the parameters and quality characteristics for vital liquid to be used for human consumption,
"says the Corporate Jhostoblak. Moreover, they report that this development is protected under trade secret in America
Its implementation in the market will depend on the needs of users and the issue of new laws regarding use
Light-controlled molecule switching Dr. Artur Erbe, physicist at the HZDR, is convinced that in the future molecular electronics will open the door for novel and increasingly smaller--while also more energy efficient--components or sensors:"
"Single molecules are currently the smallest imaginable components capable of being integrated into a processor.""Scientists have succeed yet to in tailoring a molecule
which an otherwise strong bond between individual atoms dissolves in one location --and forms again precisely when energy is pumped into the structure.
Dr. Jannic Wolf, chemist at the University of Konstanz, discovered through complex experiments that a particular diarylethene compound is an eligible candidate.
The advantages of this molecule, approximately three nanometres in size, are that it rotates very little
when a point in its structure opens and it possesses two nanowires that can be used as contacts.
The diarylethene is an insulator when open and becomes a conductor when closed. It thus exhibits a different physical behaviour,
A computer from a test-tube A special feature of these molecular electronics is that they take place in a fluid within a test-tube,
The diarylethene needs to be attached at the end of the nanowires to electrodes so that the current can flow."
"We developed a nanotechnology at the HZDR that relies on extremely thin tips made of very few gold atoms.
which is why I believe that we have succeeded in making an important step toward a genuine molecular electronic component."
"Our colleagues from the HZDR theory group are computing how precisely the molecule must rotate
Approximately ten years ago, a working group at the University of Groningen in The netherlands had managed already to construct a switch that could interrupt the current.
then computers of the future will come from test-tubes,"Dr. Erbe prophesizes. The enormous advantages of this new technology are obvious:
billion-euro manufacturing plants that are necessary for manufacturing today's microelectronics could be a thing of the past.
as they both will require very little energy. With the Helmholtz Research School NANONET, the conditions for investigating
and developing the molecular electronics of tomorrow are quite positive in Dresden. In addition to the HZDR, the Technische Universitt Dresden, Leibniz-Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technology and Systems (IKTS) and the Namlab ggmbh all participate in running the structured doctoral program m
#Immunotherapy combination promising for untreated patients with advanced melanoma The combination of two immunotherapies for first-line treatment of advanced melanoma induces better responses
and far longer progression-free survival than giving one of those drugs alone, new research shows.
Further, the combination was effective in the portion of melanoma patients--the majority--who currently have few effective treatment options. hase 2 clinical trial led by Ludwig Harvard's Stephen Hodi
and Ludwig Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK)' s Jedd Wolchok has found that the combination of two immunotherapies for first-line treatment of advanced melanoma induces better responses
the combination was effective in the portion of melanoma patients--the majority--who currently have few effective treatment options.
and nivolumab against ipilimumab alone in previously untreated patients, were presented today at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research
and have been published simultaneously in the New england Journal of Medicine.""Preclinical studies suggested that this combination therapy would have better outcomes than those elicited by their individual
or sequential administration,"said Hodi, who is also director of the Melanoma Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute."
"It's very encouraging to see that pattern reflected in this trial with previously untreated patients."
and is also the Chief of the Melanoma and Immunotherapeutics Service at MSK, found that the same concurrent combination of therapies generated notably positive responses in previously treated patients."
"It was apparent following that trial that the combination should be tested as a first line therapy for metastatic melanoma,
"said Wolchok.""Rationally combined immunotherapies hold great promise for cancer treatment as long as their side effects can be managed."
"Ipilimumab interferes with a process by which the immune system controls the activation of T cells that destroy diseased tissues.
The antibody blocks CTLA-4, a protein switch on the surface of T cells that, when turned on, dampens their activation.
Nivolumab, meanwhile, is an antibody that targets a protein known as PD-1, which is also found on the T cell surface.
PD-1 is engaged often aberrantly by tumor cells themselves to thwart T cell attack. Both drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The Phase 2, double-blind trial enrolled 142 patients with advanced melanoma who had received not prior therapy.
The tumors of 109 of these patients had the normal form of the gene BRAF
which is mutated frequently in melanoma. This is significant because while melanoma patients with the mutant BRAF gene can be treated with a targeted therapy, the majority
whose tumors encode a normal BRAF have few effective treatment options. In this group of patients, 72 received ipilimumab plus nivolumab, followed by nivolumab alone,
while 37 got ipilimumab plus placebo. Patients whose tumors had a normal BRAF gene showed an overall objective response rate of 61%.
%This included a 22%complete response rate. Those with a normal BRAF who received only ipilimumab had a response rate of 11%,with no complete responses.
Patients with BRAF mutations had similar outcomes for each of the therapies. The combination therapy also induced effects that continued well after the last administration of the therapy.
Of those patients who died, 25 in the combination group (27%)and 17 in the monotherapy group (37%)died from progressive disease.
Notably, three of the deaths in the combination group were determined to have been combined related to the therapy."
"In general, and as might be expected, side effects were more prevalent in patients who received the combination therapy,
"said Hodi.""This is something that will have to be studied further. But we also look forward to following up with the patients who benefitted from the combination therapy to assess the durability of the responses we have observed
#Drugs stimulate body's own stem cells to replace the brain cells lost in multiple sclerosis Led by researchers at Case Western Reserve,
a multi-institutional team used a new discovery approach to identify drugs that could activate mouse
and human brain stem cells in the laboratory. The two most potent drugs--one that currently treats athlete's foot,
and the other, eczema--were capable of stimulating the regeneration of damaged brain cells and reversing paralysis
when administered systemically to animal models of multiple sclerosis. The results are published online Monday, April 20, in the scientific journal Nature."
"We know that there are stem cells throughout the adult nervous system that are capable of repairing the damage caused by multiple sclerosis,
but until now, we had no way to direct them to act, "said Paul Tesar, Phd, the Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics,
and associate professor in the Department of Genetics & Genome Sciences at the Case Western Reserve School of medicine."
"Our approach was to find drugs that could catalyze the body's own stem cells to replace the cells lost in multiple sclerosis."
"The findings mark the most promising developments to date in efforts to help the millions of people around the world who suffer from multiple sclerosis.
The disease is the most common chronic neurological disorder among young adults, and results from aberrant immune cells destroying the protective coating, called myelin, around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
Without myelin, neural signals cannot be transmitted properly along nerves; over time, a patient's ability to walk, hold a cup
Current multiple sclerosis therapies aim to slow further myelin destruction by the immune system, but the Case Western Reserve team used a new approach to create new myelin within the nervous system.
Their work offers great promise of developing therapies that reverse disabilities caused by multiple sclerosis or similar neurological disorders."
much of the stem cell field has focused on direct transplantation of stem cell-derived tissues for regenerative medicine,
"said Tesar, also a New york Stem Cell Foundation Robertson Investigator and member of the National Center for Regenerative medicine."
"Tesar emphasized that much work remains before multiple sclerosis patients might benefit from the promising approach. Scientists still must find ways to transform the topical medications for internal use
Clobetasol, meanwhile, is typically available by prescription to treat scalp and other skin conditions such as dermatitis.
Neither had been considered previously as a therapeutic for multiple sclerosis, but testing revealed each had an ability to stimulate OPCS to form new myelinating cells.
When administered systemically to lab mice afflicted with a multiple sclerosis-like disease, both drugs prompted native OPCS to regenerate new myelin."
"It was a striking reversal of disease severity in the mice, "said Robert Miller, Phd, a member of the neurosciences faculty at Case Western Reserve who,
with Tesar, is a co-senior author of the Nature paper. The two collaborated on this project
since June his primary appointments are at the George washington University School of medicine and Health Sciences, where he is Senior Associate dean for Research and Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Chair."
"The drugs that we identified are able to enhance the regenerative capacity of stem cells in the adult nervous system.
This truly represents a paradigm shift in how we think about restoring function to multiple sclerosis patients."
--and saw the medication prompt a similar response as seen in the mouse cells. Both medications worked well,
"We have pioneered technologies that enable us to generate both mouse and human OPCS in our laboratory,"said Fadi Najm, MBA, the first author of the study and Research Scientist in the Department of Genetics & Genome Sciences at the Case Western Reserve School of medicine."
"This uniquely positioned us to test if these drugs could also stimulate human OPCS to generate new myelinating cells."
said investigators next will work to deepen their understanding of the mechanism by which these drugs act.
The team is optimized enthusiastic that versions of these two drugs can be advanced to clinical testing for multiple sclerosis in the future,
"but off-label use of the current forms of these drugs is more likely to increase other health concerns than alleviate multiple sclerosis symptoms.
"While multiple sclerosis is the initial focus for translating this research into the clinic, a number of other disorders involve myelin loss
or dysfunction including cerebral palsy, age-related dementia, optic neuritis and schizophrenia. Any drugs developed that enhance myelination in multiple sclerosis also hold promise for benefiting these other disorders."
"The approach from Case Western Reserve University combines cutting-edge stem cell and drug screening technologies to develop new chemical therapeutics for myelin disorders,
"said Christopher Austin, MD, director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National institutes of health (NIH).
"It is clear that the discovery of drugs that control the function of stem cells in the body represents a promising new era in regenerative medicine
#Efficient method of producing metallic nanoparticles VTT's aerosol technology reactor for nanoparticle production can generate a variety of pure metal particles, particles of various alloys and carbon-coated particles.
The reactor can efficiently produce hundreds of grammes or even kilogrammes of nanoparticles per day."
"Demand has outstripped supply in the nanoparticle markets. This has been an obstacle to the development of product applications;
nano-metal composites are scarce and often available in small quantities only. We wanted to demonstrate that it was possible to produce nanomaterials in considerable quantities cost-effectively,"comments Ari Auvinen of VTT, head of the research team.
When developing the reactor, the aim was to achieve a production figure of 200-3, 000 grammes per day.
This has already been exceeded clearly. Due to the extremely small material wastage incurred when using this equipment,
In most cases, industrial production of metallic nanoparticles involves chemical reduction in liquid solutions which requires the design of product-specific solutions.
Plasma synthesis, which consumes large amounts of energy and involves significant material wastage, is used another generally method.
In the design of the reactor developed by VTT, the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the synthesis process were key criteria.
For this reason, synthesis is performed under air pressure at a comparatively low temperature. This means that the equipment can be built from materials commonly used in industry
and energy consumption is low. The process generates an extremely high particle concentration, enabling a high production speed but with low gas consumption.
which keeps the price low. VTT has demonstrated the practical functionality of its reactor by testing the production of various nanometals, metallic compounds and carbon-coated materials.
Materials such as carbon-coated magnets, which can be used as catalysts in biorefineries--say, in the production of biofuels--have been produced in the reactor.
Following synthesis, magnets used as catalysts can be gathered efficiently in and recycled back into the process.
Nanoparticles have also been tested in the manufacture of magnetic inks and inks that conduct electricity in printed electronics.
For example VTT succeeded in using a permalloy ink to print a magnetically anisotropic material, which can be used in the manufacture of magnetic field sensors.
VTT's third application trial involved the prevention of microwave reflection. The tests showed that reflection can be reduced by even 10,000 times in polymers,
by adding particles which increase radar wave attenuation. VTT's researchers believe that the reactor has many applications
in addition to those already mentioned. The silicon nanoparticles it produces may even enable lithium battery capacity to be boosted by a factor of 10.
Other possible applications all of which require further investigation, include high permeability polymers, nanomagnets for medical diagnostics applications, materials for the 3d printing of metal articles,
and silicon-based materials for thermoelectric and solar power components. VTT is currently seeking a party interested in commercializing the technique e
#Better battery imaging paves way for renewable energy future"Iron fluoride has the potential to triple the amount of energy a conventional lithium-ion battery can store,
"says Song Jin, a UW-Madison professor of chemistry and Wisconsin Energy Institute affiliate.""However, we have yet to tap its true potential."
"Graduate student Linsen Li worked with Jin and other collaborators to perform experiments with a state-of-the-art transmission X-ray microscope at the National Synchrotron Light source at Brookhaven.
There, they collected chemical maps from actual coin cell batteries filled with iron fluoride during battery cycling to determine how well they perform.
The results are published today in the journal Nature Communications.""In the past, we weren't able to truly understand what is happening to iron fluoride during battery reactions
because other battery components were getting in the way of getting a precise image, "says Li.
By accounting for the background signals that would otherwise confuse the image, Li was able to accurately visualize and measure, at the nanoscale,
the chemical changes iron fluoride undergoes to store and discharge energy. Thus far, using iron fluoride in rechargeable lithium ion batteries has presented scientists with two challenges.
The first is that it doesn't recharge very well in its current form.""This would be like your smart phone only charging half as much the first time,
and even less thereafter,"says Li.""Consumers would rather have a battery that charges consistently through hundreds of charges."
"By examining iron fluoride transformation in batteries at the nanoscale, Jin and Li's new X-ray imaging method pinpoints each individual reaction to understand why capacity decay may be occurring."
"In analyzing the X-ray data on this level, we were able to track the electrochemical reactions with far more accuracy than previous methods,
and determined that iron fluoride performs better when it has a porous microstructure, "says Li.
The second challenge is that iron fluoride battery materials don't discharge as much energy as they take in, reducing energy efficiency.
The current study yielded some preliminary insights into this problem and Jin and Li plan to tackle this challenge in future experiments.
Some implications of this research are obvious--like using portable electronic devices for longer before charging
--but Jin also foresees a bigger and broader range of applications.""If we can maximize the cycling performance and efficiency of these low-cost and abundant iron fluoride lithium ion battery materials,
we could advance large-scale renewable energy storage technologies for electric cars and microgrids, "he says. Jin also believes that the novel X-ray imaging technique will facilitate the studies of other technologically important solid-state transformations
and help to improve processes such as preparation of inorganic ceramics and thin-film solar cells. The experiments were performed with the help of Yu-chen Karen Chen-Wiegart, Feng Wang, Jun Wang and their co-workers at Beamline X8c
National Synchrotron Light source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and supported by the U s. Department of energy Basic energy Sciences and a seed grant from the Wisconsin Energy Institute.
The synthesis of the battery materials in Jin's lab was supported by National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research h
#Innovation boosts Wi-fi bandwidth tenfold Researchers have invented a new technology that can increase the bandwidth of Wi-fi systems by 10 times,
using LED LIGHTS to transmit information. It could be integrated with existing Wi-fi systems to reduce bandwidth problems in crowded locations, such as airport terminals or coffee shops,
and in homes where several people have multiple Wi-fi devices. Researchers at Oregon State university have invented a new technology that can increase the bandwidth of Wifi systems by 10 times,
using LED LIGHTS to transmit information. The technology could be integrated with existing Wifi systems to reduce bandwidth problems in crowded locations
such as airport terminals or coffee shops, and in homes where several people have multiple Wifi devices. Experts say that recent advances in LED TECHNOLOGY have made it possible to modulate the LED light more rapidly,
opening the possibility of using light for wireless transmission in a"free space optical communication system.""In addition to improving the experience for users,
the two big advantages of this system are that it uses inexpensive components, and it integrates with existing Wifi systems,
"said Thinh Nguyen, an OSU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. Nguyen worked with Alan Wang, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering,
to build the first prototype. The prototype, called Wifo, uses LEDS that are beyond the visual spectrum for humans
and creates an invisible cone of light about one meter square in which the data can be received.
To address the issue of a small area of usability the researchers created a hybrid system that can switch between several LED transmitters installed on a ceiling,
and the existing Wifi system.""I believe the Wifo system could be transformed easily into a marketable product,
and we are currently looking for a company that is interested in further developing and licensing the technology,
"Nguyen said. The system can potentially send data at up to 100 megabits per second. Although some current Wifi systems have similar bandwidth,
it has to be divided by the number of devices, so each user might be receiving just 5 to 10 megabits per second,
whereas the hybrid system could deliver 50-100 megabits to each user. In a home where telephones, tablets, computers
gaming systems, and televisions may all be connected to the internet, increased bandwidth would eliminate problems like video streaming that stalls and buffers.
The receivers are small photodiodes that cost less than a dollar each and could be connected through a USB port for current systems,
or incorporated into the next generation of laptops, tablets, and smartphones. A provisional patent has been secured on the technology,
and a paper was published in the 17th ACM International Conference on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile Systems.
The research has been supported by the National Science Foundation n
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011