#Protein finding can pave the way for improved treatment of malignant melanoma Researchers from Aarhus University have linked for the first time a new protein with malignant melanomas.
The protein is detected in aggressive malignant melanoma cells and might be used to predict whether and how the cancer will spread.
At the same time, the discovery also opens new doors for future improved treatment of patients with melanomas.
Today it is not possible to predict spreading from malignant melanomas. Melanoma metastases are furthermore extremely difficult to eliminate as traditional treatment such as chemotherapy
and radiotherapy is mostly ineffective. Only ten per cent of the patients survive once they reach an advanced stage with distant metastases.
The discovery point towards the possibility of identifying aggressive melanomas at an earlier stage than is currently possible,
Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research. May be Possible to Predict Disease Progression It is the first time that the protein megalin,
which is known otherwise primarily for its function in the kidneys, has been connected with malignant melanomas. The novel knowledge is the result of longstanding research in the field of cell surface receptor proteins at the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University. ur studies have shown that the protein megalin is almost always detectable in malignant melanomas,
while it is rarely found in the benign counterparts. We see a clear trend that the more megalin is present
says Associate professor Mette Madsen from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University. With the new knowledge, the hope is that pathologists
and oncologists at an early stage will be able unlike today to predict whether a patient should expect spreading
Even though we currently see considerable progress and success from novel treatment strategies for patients with metastatic melanoma,
it remains a very serious illness when it reaches later stages with spreading. In a best case scenario, this discovery can pinpoint those patients who will experience a relapse,
which patients the most, says Henrik Schmidt, consultant at the Department of Oncology at Aarhus University Hospital,
either medicine affecting the protein and its function thereby inhibiting the proliferation of the cancer cells and their survival,
and could easily be introduced at the hospitals
#Major Advance in Artificial Photosynthesis Poses Win/Win for the Environment A potentially game-changing breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis has been achieved with the development of a system that can capture carbon dioxide emissions before they are vented into the atmosphere
#Fruit fly studies shed light on adaptability of nerve cells An international team of researchers at German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
little was known about the signalling underlying such ynaptic plasticity Now, investigations of fruit flies by researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tokyo Tech, the National Institute of Genetics in Japan,
Future work may investigate how modifying the Wnt signal can be used to manipulate synaptic plasticity, with possible therapeutic applications for neurodegenerative or mental diseases n
said senior investigator Shingo Kajimura, Phd, UCSF assistant professor of cell and tissue biology, School of dentistry, with a joint appointment in the UCSF Diabetes Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center
of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. The finding was published online on March 16
2015 in Nature Medicine. All mammals, including humans, have two types of fat with completely opposite functions:
white, which stores energy and is linked with diabetes and obesity, and brown, which produces heat by burning energy
Typically, for a condition such as epilepsy, it is essential to act at exactly the right time and place in the brain.
enables localised inhibition of epileptic seizure in brain tissue in vitro. This research is published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Drugs constitute the most widely used approach for treating brain disorders. However, many promising drugs failed during clinical testing for several reasons:
they are diluted in potentially toxic solutions, they may themselves be toxic when they reach organs to which they were directed not initially, the blood-brain barrier,
which separates the brain from the blood circulation, prevents most drugs from reaching their targets in the brain,
Epilepsy is a typical example of a condition for which many drugs could not be commercialised because of their harmful effects,
when they might have been effective for treating patients resistant to conventional treatments 1. During an epileptic seizure,
have developed a biocompatible micropump that makes it possible to deliver therapeutic substances directly to the relevant areas of the brain.
the researchers reproduced the hyperexcitability of epileptic neurons in mouse brains in vitro. They then injected GABA,
by allowing very localised action, directly in the brain and without peripheral toxicity. Based on these initial results, the researchers are now working to move on to an in vivo animal model
In addition to epilepsy this state-of-the-art technology, combined with existing drugs, offers new opportunities for many brain diseases that remain difficult to treat at this time a
#Yale scientists apply new tool to explore mysteries of the immune system Why do infected some individuals with the West nile virus develop life-threatening infections
while others never know they had more than a mosquito bite? That medical mystery is just one of the questions that Ruth Montgomery,
associate professor of medicine at Yale School of medicine, seeks to explore with the use of a transformational tool for translational research.
It called Cytof, which stands for cytometry by time-of-flight, and it gives researchers greater insight into the intricacies of immune cells than ever before.
researchers studying a range of conditions from West Nile to multiple sclerosis to diabetes to cancer can generate an unprecedented level of detailed data about cells from relatively small samples.
deepening their understanding of cell biology and human disease. SPADE analysis showing the multiple subsets of immune and nonimmune cells that Cytof technology can detect from a single sample.
such as surface markers or proteins, with flourescent probes attached to antibodies and pass those cells through lasers.
Flow cytometry allows researchers to use 8 to 10 fluorescently labeled markers typically antibodies to capture data about key cell features.
It akin to the difference between looking at the stars with a standard telescope versus an observatory-quality refractor telescope, according to Yale chair of neurology, Dr. David Hafler, who worked with Montgomery to bring Cytof to Yale. t allows
Montgomery applies the technology to her study of how aging impacts the immune response to infections and autoimmune diseases.
The research may help explain differences in immune response to infection that could potentially benefit those most harmed by the illness, notes Montgomery.
Similarly, in his lab, Hafler applies Cytof to the study of cellular complexities at the root of diseases such as a multiple sclerosis and cancer.
In one current project, his team is investigating specific types of immune cells extracted from brain tumors. ee isolating T cells from brain tumors,
Understanding how multiple molecules function at the same time in a single cell may reveal clues about how brain tumors manage to survive
he said. he more we can define how the tumor is evading the immune system, the more specific we can make the treatment.
we can be more precise in defining the therapy moving forward. Eye on immune therapies and prevention In his lab, professor of immunology Dr. Kevan Herold has used the technology to explore key questions about type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition.
Cytof is helping his team get more data about a limited repertoire of cells specific to type 1 diabetes
which typically appears during childhood. e want to understand the targets of the cells that cause diabetes,
he said. hat turns them on? What turns them off? are involved there pathways that we can target for therapies?
Those are the types of questions wee interested in. The goal is not only to develop immune therapy to treat type 1 diabetes
but potentially to use the data for prevention. here are antigen-reactive T cells that are found in individuals at risk for type 1 diabetes,
said Herold. ome of those individuals go on to develop diabetes; others don. What we want to do is figure out who is going to go on to develop diabetes
in order to prevent it. If he identifies a marker that differentiates between patient types, for example, that finding could point to a target for preventive strategies, notes Herold.
The work of Montgomery, Hafler, and Herold may be just the tip of the iceberg. With this more powerful tool for analyzing cells,
and profile whole populations of immune cells for the study of cancer and other complex diseases.
and the immune therapies that emerge. e tend to think of our analyses of cells as unidimensional or bi-dimensional.
diseases and higher temperatures and droughts expected to accompany climate change. Cotton growers have experienced a plateau in yields since the early 1990s
and breeders in the years ahead develop cotton varieties with improved fiber qualities, higher yields and more tolerance to heat, drought and diseases anticipated due to climate change.
with applications for everything from fuel cells to biological implants. t a huge step for nanofabrication, said Jan Schroers, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale,
#An end to cancer pain? U of T researcher finds the ain trigger A new study led by University of Toronto researcher Dr. David Lam has discovered the trigger behind the most severe forms of cancer pain.
Released in top journal Pain this month, the study points to TMPRSS2 as the culprit:
a gene that is also responsible for some of the most aggressive forms of androgen-fuelled cancers.
Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Faculty of dentistry, Lam research initially focused on cancers of the head and neck,
Studies have shown that these types of cancers are the most painful, with sufferers experiencing pain that is immediate and localized,
and neck cancer patients are men leading him to investigate a genetic marker with a known correlation to prostate cancer,
TMPRSS2. rostate cancer research already knows that if you have the TMPRSS2 gene marker, the prostate cancer is much more aggressive.
Theye also shown that this is androgen (male hormone) sensitive. In his study, Lam, who is appointed jointly as a Consultant Surgeon at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
and a Clinician at the Mount sinai Wasser Pain Management Centre, ascertained that TMPRSS2 was not only present in patients suffering from head
and neck cancers it was also prevalent in much greater quantities than in prostate cancer.
Lam and his fellow researchers followed up this observation by looking at different types of cancers with known pain associations for instance, certain breast and melanoma cell lines.
and neck cancer is the most painful form of cancer, followed by prostate cancer, while melanoma,
or skin cancer, sits at the bottom of the pain scale. But what surprised the researchers was that the presence
and amount of TMPRSS2 in these cancer cell cultures stood in exact correlation with the known level of pain each cancer causes. t was exactly
what we know clinically about pain association, adds Lam. A New Direction for Drug Research The startling discovery of TMPRSS2 role in triggering cancer pain may lead to the creation of targeted cancer pain therapies that effectively shut down the expression of this gene
or its ability to infiltrate pain receptors in the body. Dr. Brian Schmidt, Professor at New york University college of Dentistry, Director of the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research and a co-author of the study states,
he discovery that TMPRSS2 drives cancer pain demonstrates another way that cancers lead to suffering.
Inhibition of its activity in patients might provide a new form of treatment for cancer pain. ny cancer that is painful before initiating drug treatment we can label the cancer cells for TMPRSS2
what role the increased expression of TMPRSS2 plays in the aggressiveness and morbidity rates associated with certain aggressive cancers
#Researchers get under the skin to develop new transplant technique James Shapiro, one of the world leading experts in emerging treatments of diabetes, can help
but be excited about his latest research. The results, he says, could soon mark a new standard for treatmentot only for diabetes,
but for several other diseases as well. Shapiro, Canada Research Chair in Transplantation Surgery and Regenerative medicine in the University of Alberta Faculty of medicine & Dentistry,
and Andrew Pepper, a postdoctoral fellow working in his lab, are the lead authors in a study published in the April 20 edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.
In the study the authors describe developing a new site for islet transplantation under the skin,
Islet transplantation is a procedure that temporarily allows people with severe diabetes to stop taking insulin. ntil now it has been nearly impossible for transplanted cells to function reliably
we have successfully and reliably reversed diabetes in our preclinical models. This approach is new
not only in diabetes, but also across the board in regenerative medicine. Evolving the Edmonton Protocol The new technique, tested in preclinical models,
is an evolution of the Edmonton Protocol, which Shapiro developed in the late 1990s to treat Type 1 diabetes.
In the Edmonton Protocol, islet cells are transplanted into the liver, granting patients insulin independence for a varying amount of time.
we need a better, safer site to implant experimental cells. The skin offers a remarkable opportunity,
While the new transplant approach offers several benefits to diabetes patients, the researchers are excited equally by how it may be applied to other illnesses.
his exciting new approach doesn have to be limited to diabetes. For any area of regenerative medicine that requires replacing old cells with newnd there lots of different disease states where there just one gene defect that could be corrected by a cell transplanthis opens up an incredible future possibility for successful engraftment beneath the skin.
Shapiro has filed a patent for the new transplant technique and hopes to begin human trials in the very near future t
#Engineering the Smallest Crack in the World A new procedure will enable researchers to fabricate smaller, faster,
Structures with these well-defined, atomic-sized gaps could be used to detect single molecules associated with certain diseases
particularly those that are characteristic of certain diseases. When light is shined upon structures with extremely small gaps,
This enhanced electromagnetic field, in turn, increases the signal produced by any molecule within the gap. f some disease marker comes in and bridges the gap between the nanostructures
whether the disease was present or not, said Lipomi. While the technique reported in this study can produce nanostructures suitable for optical applications,
#Researchers'"hugely exciting"asthma discovery Cardiff scientists have identified for the first time the potential root cause of asthma and an existing drug that offers a new treatment.
Published today in Science Translational Medicine journal, University researchers, working in collaboration with scientists at King College London
and the Mayo Clinic (USA), describe the previously unproven role of the calcium sensing receptor (Casr) in causing asthma,
a disease which affects 300 million people worldwide. The team used mouse models of asthma and human airway tissue from asthmatic and non-asthmatic people to reach their findings.
Crucially, the paper highlights the effectiveness of a class of drugs known as calcilytics in manipulating Casr to reverse all symptoms associated with the condition.
cigarette smoke and car fumes and airways twitchiness in allergic asthma. ur paper shows how these triggers release chemicals that activate Casr in airway tissue
and drive asthma symptoms like airway twitchiness, inflammation, and narrowing. Using calcilytics, nebulized directly into the lungs,
Director of research and Policy at Asthma UK, who helped fund the research, said: his hugely exciting discovery enables us, for the first time,
to tackle the underlying causes of asthma symptoms. Five per cent of people with asthma don respond to current treatments so research breakthroughs could be life changing for hundreds of thousands of people. f this research proves successful we may be just a few years away from a new treatment for asthma,
and we urgently need further investment to take it further through clinical trials. Asthma research is chronically underfunded;
there have only been a handful of new treatments developed in the last 50 years so the importance of investment in research like this is absolutely essential.
While asthma is controlled well in some people, around one-in-twelve patients respond poorly to current treatments.
the identification of Casr in airway tissue means that the potential for treatment of other inflammatory lung diseases beyond asthma is immense.
for which currently there exists no cure. It is predicted that by 2020 these diseases will be the third biggest killers worldwide.
Professor Riccardi and her collaborators are now seeking funding to determine the efficacy of calcilytic drugs in treating asthmas that are especially difficult to treat,
particularly steroid-resistant and influenza-exacerbated asthma, and to test these drugs in patients with asthma.
Calcilytics were developed first for the treatment of osteoporosis around 15 years ago with the aim of strengthening deteriorating bone by targeting Casr to induce the release of an anabolic hormone.
Although clinically safe and well tolerated in people calcilytics proved unsuccessful in treating osteoporosis . But this latest breakthrough has provided researchers with the unique opportunity to re-purpose these drugs,
potentially accelerating the time it takes for them to be approved for use asthma patients. Once funding has been secured,
the group aim to be trialling the drugs on humans within two years. f we can prove that calcilytics are administered safe
when directly to the lung in people, then in five years we could be in a position to treat patients
and potentially stop asthma from happening in the first place, added Professor Riccardi. The study was part-funded by Asthma UK
the Cardiff Partnership Fund and a BBSRC parking Impactaward d
#Transparent Armor based on Spinel Could Also Ruggedize Your Smart Phone Imagine a glass window that tough like armor,
#Renal failure: location signals for cell division For the kidneys to function flawlessly, millions of cells must be arranged precisely according to a specified blueprint.
The kidneys continuously filter waste and toxic substances from the blood, which are removed then from the body via the urine.
It involves a fundamental mechanism by which the kidneys heal following renal failure. The scientists now want to investigate
whether plexin B2 and the semaphorins also play a role in the repair of other organisms and in diseases such as cancer
and you are trying to figure out the body immune response to a particular pathogen, for example, Prof Roukes said. his new technique adds another piece of information to aid our identification of molecules,
which could prove useful in biomedical applications, among other uses. i
#More power to the mitochondria: Cells'energy plant also plays key role in stem cell development Researchers at NYU Langone Medical center have discovered that mitochondria, the major energy source for most cells,
also play an important role in stem cell development a purpose notably distinct from the tiny organelle traditional job as the cell main source of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) energy needed for routine cell metabolism.
Indeed, Lehmann, who also serves as director of NYU Langone Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and chair of its Department of Cell biology,
a potential boon for diabetics The 340 million diabetes sufferers in the world have plenty to worry about:
Most diabetics need to prick their fingers multiple times a day to draw blood samples
Arizona State university engineering professor Jeffrey La Belle use of biomarkers measurable indicators of wellness or disease in body fluids to diagnose
This noninvasive alternative would be a significant benefit in convenience, comfort and treatment compliance for the more than 340 million people living with diabetes.
Bishop is now cofounder and chief innovation officer of Qualaris Healthcare Solutions, a Pittsburgh-based medical-product development company.
and we look forward to commercializing this technology with one or more leading medical device companies that can benefit by making it easier and painless for diabetics to measure glucose,
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin,
Hyperglycemia, or elevated blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body systems
Earlier this year, Advanced Tear Diagnostics, a medical-products company based in Birmingham, Alabama, licensed the same technology to improve
and funding support from Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The measurements would help in the diagnosis
and treatment of a variety of ocular surface disorders particularly in detecting and differentiating between bacterial and viral infections,
including one of the most common infections, conjunctivitis, also called pinkeye. Advanced Tear Diagnostics is providing $496,
000 for the project over a year time and plans to commercialize the final product.
Azte really is a helpful resource we have here at ASU. r. La Belle promising technology has the potential to improve the diagnosis
monitoring and treatment of a wide range of medical conditions, said Yash Vaishnav, Azte vice president of business development for life sciences. ekcapital is also a great partner.
the biomedical engineers outlined how they had reinforced soft hydrogels via a 3d printed scaffold. Professor Dietmar W. Hutmacher, from QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said nature often used fibre reinforcement to turn weak structures into outstanding mechanically robust ones. uch
is the case with articular cartilage tissue, which is formed by stiff and strong collagen fibres intertwined within a very weak gel matrix of proteoglycans,
The School of Biomedical sciences team was able to observe the presence of the receptors as part of their ongoing research into the growth of human hearts during disease.
The research team primary focus is on how the heart grows normally as well as abnormally in disease. fter hypertension or a heart attack
Professor Thomas said. ut a common end result of this compensatory growth is eventual heart failure, a major cause of death in Australia. uring laboratory tests,
Professor Thomas said the project progressed from animal studies to human investigations through collaborations with the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane. sing heart tissue from humans undergoing heart surgery
#Alzheimer pathology and neural activity An international research group including the University of Tokyo, Stanford university and Washington University has discovered that neuronal activity augments the accumulation of amyloid ß that is observed in the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).
The accumulation of deposits of a protein fragment termed amyloid ß is thought to be the cause of the development of dementia in AD brains.
Neurons in the brain are connected through junctions termed synapses and function by transmitting electrical activity (i e.,
Professor Takeshi Iwatsubo, graduate students Kaoru Yamamoto and Zen-ichi Tanei, Assistant professor Tadafumi Hashimoto and Professor Haruhiko Bito at the University of Tokyo Graduate school of Medicine, Professor
and could ultimately lead to the design of a vaccine to prevent transmission of the virus. This innovative approach could also be part of the solution for one day eradicating the virus. Despite recent advances,
35 million people are infected with HIV-1 worldwide. e found that people infected with the HIV-1 virus have naturally occurring antibodies that have the potential to kill the infected cells.
We just have to give them a little push by adding a tiny molecule that acts as a can opener to force the viral envelope to expose regions recognized by the antibodies,
The experiments were conducted with serum samples from the AIDS and Infectious diseases Network (SIDA-MI) cohort of the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ.
however, wild-type HIV-1 virus, responsible for the vast majority of infections in the world, still contains these proteins,
The antibodies that are naturally present after the infection can then target the infected cells
For decades, scientists have been trying to devise a vaccine to block HIV infection, which causes AIDS.
then kill the infected cells with this molecule and the already present antibodies, argues Finzi,
The discovery by Finzi team could help develop a two-part vaccine to prevent HIV infection:
through antibodies that are easy to generate and using this new family of molecules. Furthermore, this discovery opens the way for the development of strategies to eliminate the viral reservoirs of individuals already infected.
As the spool pulls, the CNT ribbon is dragged between two surgical blades. While the blades appear straight to the naked eye
#Pressure-monitoring stockings to prevent wounds in diabetics Diabetics often have little feeling in their feet
This can result in unnoticed wounds that then develop into abscesses. Many diabetics have to have toes
or feet amputated. Now, a novel kind of pressure stocking developed by Fraunhofer researchers is set to help protect against wounds via an integrated sensor system that sends a warning
when pressure is too high. Diabetes patients often suffer from nerve and circulation problems in the feet,
which reduce their perception of pain. They literally don know when it time to take the load off their feet.
Diabetics, however, don notice that their toes, heels or the balls of their feet are loaded too heavily the foot receives no relief,
Even small uneven areas or shoe pressure can lead to open wounds or damaged tissue on the foot.
In-stocking sensors provide three-dimensional pressure readings To ensure that poorly healing wounds don occur in the first place,
40 very fine, dielectric elastomer sensors measure compression load and distribution for diabetes patients taking over the job usually performed by the nerves in their feet. xisting systems on the market measure the pressure distribution
which then informs the diabetes patient that it is time to change foot position or weight distribution. ith the current prototype,
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