which may one day allow them to be programmed to detect and ultimately treat diseases such as colon cancer and immune disorders.
with future applications that might include the early detection and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer.
and report on pathologies in the gut, including signs of bleeding or inflammation, the bacteria will need to remember this information and report it externally.
To enable them to do this, the researchers equipped B. thetaiotaomicron with a form of genetic memory.
and respond to signs of disease could also be used elsewhere in the body, he adds.
In addition, more advanced genetic computing circuits could be built upon this genetic toolkit in Bacteroides to enhance their performance as noninvasive diagnostics and therapeutics. or example,
and specificity when diagnosing disease with engineered bacteria, Lu says. o achieve this, we could engineer bacteria to detect multiple biomarkers,
or even in-situ synthesis of therapeutic molecules as and when they are needed. Source: MIT, written by Helen Knigh
#Tumor-suppressing gene lends insight to cancer treatment Cell duplication and growth is essential to sustaining life,
a known tumor-suppressor gene, has mutated or is absent, this delicate replication process derails and can lead to cancer development.
The study, published in Nature Communications, could influence how future cancer patients are treated based on their genetic makeup. umors without PTEN are more sensitive to chemotherapies that work by targeting DNA replication,
while normal cells or cancers with active PTEN resist these treatments, said Dr. Wen H. Shen, the study lead investigator and an assistant professor of cell biology in radiation oncology at Weill Cornell. ased on our research,
knowing PTEN status is critical for guiding treatment choices. n the late 1990s, scientists discovered the PTEN gene,
and growing evidence has shown that PTEN is a powerful tumor suppressor. Less clear, however, has been whether
and how PTEN works when it comes to DNA replication and if loss of PTEN could impact this central process of genome transmission to allow development and progression of cancer.
The Weill Cornell research team found that when the PTEN gene is missing or mutated,
and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell. s the DNA double helix unwinds and separates, forming A y-shaped open structure,
leading the cell to produce stress signals. Cancer can result when the stress signals accumulate
or when cells with unreplicated DNA rush into cell division prematurely to produce an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell, a condition called aneuploidy.
PTEN function is absent in a wide variety of cancers for example, 70 percent of prostate cancers have PTEN mutation or deletion.
Because of this, researchers are testing PTEN to see if it a marker of aggressive cancer
and for personalized cancer treatment. atients whose cancers have lost PTEN or harbor mutations in the gene are known to have poorer outcomes than patients with active PTEN,
Shen said. ur expectation is that a PTEN blood test in the near future will help clinicians decide on the right therapies for each cancer patient,
and in particular, to benefit this subgroup of cancer patients carrying PTEN mutations. ource: Cornell Universit u
#HIV vaccine: Pushing the Envelope A new study led by scientists at Harvard Medical school and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center demonstrates that a heterologous prime-boost HIV-1 vaccine regimen protected 50 percent of vaccinated nonhuman primates against challenges with the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV),
a virus similar to HIV that infects nonhuman primates. Published in the July 2 online edition of Science, these new findings provide a new strategy for the clinical development of this novel HIV-1 vaccine candidate. espite the urgent need for a safe and effective
global HIV-1 vaccine, only four vaccine concepts have been evaluated for protective efficacy in humans over the past 30 years,
said lead author Dan Barouch, HMS professor of medicine and director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess. e are encouraged very by the results of this latest preclinical HIV-1 vaccine study
and believe the findings may lead to a clear path forward for evaluating this HIV vaccine candidate in humans.
In this work, nonhuman primates were given first a dose of adenovirus serotype 26 vectored vaccine to rimethe immune system to mount an antibody response
and then received a oostwith a purified HIV envelope protein (the surface protein of HIV),
which enhances the immune system over time. Adenovirus 26 is responsible for the common cold and is engineered to serve as a carrier,
or vector, to deliver pieces of SIV into cells.)The study results showed that the prime-boost vaccine regimen provided complete protection in half of the vaccinated nonhuman primates against a series of six repeated challenges with SIV. ur previous studies
of viral vector-based HIV-1 vaccine candidates showed much lower levels of protection against SIV,
said Barouch. hese new findings show that the envelope protein boost following the viral vector priming increases the magnitude
and functionality of antibody responses and improves protection. Based on these preclinical data, the HIV-1 version of this vaccine regimen is now being evaluated in an ongoing international clinical study sponsored by Crucell Holland BV
one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & johnson. More than 35 million people worldwide are infected with HIV
and more than 2 million new infections develop each year. lthough antiretroviral therapies have prolonged the lives of HIV-1 infected patients,
the definitive solution to this epidemic will likely be said a vaccine Barouch. hese new findings represent an important step forward. s
remote medicine and a wide variety of other business, civil and military uses. 3d Tau SSE technology is designed to be embedded directly into a new generation of screens for televisions, movie theaters, computer displays, game
to attack E coli, a bacterium that causes food poisoning; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common disease-causing bacterium; Ralstonia, a genus of bacteria containing numerous soil-borne pathogen species;
and Staphylococcus epidermis, a bacterium that can cause harmful biofilms on plastics like catheters in the human body.
The nanoparticles were effective against all the bacteria. The method allows researchers the flexibility to change the nanoparticle recipe in order to target specific microbes.
a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular disease and a professor of medical genetics and cellular and molecular pharmacology at UC San francisco. his technology could help us quickly screen for drugs likely to generate cardiac birth defects,
a drug known to cause severe birth defects. They found that at normal therapeutic doses the drug led to abnormal development of microchambers, including decreased size,
problems with muscle contraction and lower beat rates compared with heart tissue that had not been exposed to thalidomide. e chose drug cardiac developmental toxicity screening to demonstrate a clinically relevant application of the cardiac microchambers,
The most commonly reported birth defects involve the heart, and the potential for generating cardiac defects is of utmost concern in determining drug safety during pregnancy.
cells along the edge experienced greater mechanical stress and tension, and appeared more like fibroblasts,
which is an imperfect model for human disease. The researchers pointed out that while this study focused on heart tissue,
#Could dissolvable microneedles replace injected vaccines? The microneedle patch can dissolve in the skin, delivering the flu vaccine painlessly.
New vaccine patch protects against flu in humansflu vaccines delivered using microneedles that dissolve in the skin can protect people against infection even better than the standard needle-delivered vaccine,
according to new research published in Biomaterials. The authors of the study, from Osaka University in Japan, say their dissolvable patch the only vaccination system of its kind could make vaccination easier, safer and less painful.
According to the World health organization, immunization prevents an estimated 2-3 million deaths every year. The continued threat of pandemics such as H1n1 swine flu and emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola makes vaccine development and mass vaccination a priority for global healthcare.
Most vaccines are injected under the skin or into the muscle using needles. While this is an effective delivery method,
it requires medical personnel with technical skills and brings the risk of needle-related diseases and injuries.
The new microneedle patch is made of dissolvable material, eliminating needle-related risks. It is also easy to use without the need for trained medical personnel,
making it ideal for use in developing countries, where healthcare resources are limited. ur novel transcutaneous vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch is the only application vaccination system that is readily adaptable for widespread practical use,
said Professor Shinsaku Nakagawa, one of the authors of the study from Osaka University. ecause the new patch is so easy to use,
we believe it will be particularly effective in supporting vaccination in developing countries. he new microneedle patch Microhyala is dissolvable in water.
The tiny needles are made of hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring substance that cushions the joints. When the patch is applied like a plaster,
taking the vaccine with them. The researchers compared the new system to traditional needle delivery by vaccinating two groups of people against three strains of influenza:
A/H1n1, A/H3n2 and B. None of the subjects had a bad reaction to the vaccine,
showing that it is safe to use in humans. The patch was also effective: people given the vaccine using the microneedles had an immune reaction that was equal to
or stronger than those given the vaccine by injection. e were excited to see that our new microneedle patch is
just as effective as the needle-delivered flu vaccines, and in some cases even more effective, said Professor Nakagawa.
Previous research has evaluated the use of microneedles made of silicon or metal, but they were shown not to be safe.
we think it could bring about a major change in the way we administer vaccines globally, said Professor Nakagawa.
This breakthrough was published in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens and will be presented at the upcoming IAS 2015 conference in Vancouver.
The findings pave the way for future HIV prevention or cure strategies. The study goal was to determine how HIV manages to compromise antiviral responses in the initial period of infection
also called the acute infection stage, during which the virus establishes itself in the body.
The acute infection is considered a critical period in determining the complexity, extent and progression of the disease.
It is also during this stage that HIV establishes latent infection in long-lasting cellular reservoirs.
These viral reservoirs, which harbour the virus out of sight from the immune system and antiviral drugs, represent the primary barrier to a cure. n important component in this process is a group of proteins collectively called type 1 Interferons,
which are the immune system first line of defence against viral infections and are known to have a beneficial role in the early stages of HIV infection,
says Dr. Cohen, Director of the Human Retrovirology research unit at the IRCM. he problem is that HIV has developed mechanisms to suppress the Interferon response and, until now,
little was known about how this was achieved. Most of the Interferon is produced by a very small population of immune cells called pdcs (plasmacytoid dendritic cells), responsible for providing immediate defence against infections.
PDCS patrol the body to detect invaders and, when they recognize the presence of a pathogen,
they secrete Interferon. The Interferon then triggers a large array of defence mechanisms in nearby cells, creating an antiviral state that prevents the dissemination and
and leads to persistent infection, adds Dr. Bego. e found that HIV, through Vpu, takes advantage of the role played by BST2 by maintaining its ability to activate ILT7 and limit the production of Interferon,
all the while counteracting its direct antiviral activity on HIV production. he hope for a definitive cure
and an effective vaccine has been frustrated by HIV endless propensity to subvert the host defences and persist in small populations of long-lasting reservoirs despite antiretroviral therapy,
describes Dr. Cohen, who also leads Cancure, a team of leading Canadian researchers working towards an HIV cure. ur findings can provide tools to enhance antiviral responses during the early stages of infection.
By blocking Vpu action, we could prevent early viral expansion and dissemination, while also allowing pdcs to trigger effective antiviral responses.
We believe that such interventions during primary infection have the potential to limit the establishment and complexity of viral reservoirs,
which explains how the virus can be held down or wiped out during early periods of infection,
this new study will advance research for an HIV cure. t
#Futuristic brain probe allows for wireless control of neurons Scientists used soft materials to create a brain implant a tenth the width of a human hair that can wirelessly control neurons with lights and drugs.
Its development was funded partially by the National institutes of health. t unplugs a world of possibilities for scientists to learn how brain circuits work in a more natural setting. said Michael R. Bruchas, Ph d.,associate professor of anesthesiology and neurobiology at Washington University School of medicine and a senior author
The Bruchas lab studies circuits that control a variety of disorders including stress, depression, addiction, and pain.
Both options require surgery that can damage parts of the brain and introduce experimental conditions that hinder animalsnatural movements.
to construct a remote controlled, optofluidic implant. The device is made out of soft materials that are a tenth the diameter of a human hair
and lights. e used powerful nanomanufacturing strategies to fabricate an implant that lets us penetrate deep inside the brain with minimal damage,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a senior author. ltra-miniaturized devices like this have tremendous potential for science and medicine. ith a thickness of 80 micrometers and a width of 500 micrometers,
When the scientists compared the implant with a typical cannula they found that the implant damaged
In some experiments, they showed that they could precisely map circuits by using the implant to inject viruses that label cells with genetic dyes.
when they made mice that have light-sensitive VTA neurons stay on one side of a cage by commanding the implant to shine laser pulses on the cells.
t in line with the goals of the NIH BRAIN INITIATIVE. he researchers fabricated the implant using semiconductor computer chip manufacturing techniques.
and energy engineering at University of Colorado Boulder. e tried to engineer the implant to meet some of neurosciences greatest unmet needs. n the study,
the scientists provide detailed instructions for manufacturing the implant. tool is only good if it used,
On this website, doctors can, together with the patient, easily calculate the odds of recurrence of the disease.
More and more women in The netherlands have to face breast cancer. Due to early detection and better treatment more and more of them are cured.
however, is that the group of women who have to regularly be checked for recurrence of the disease is growing.
Up until 2012, women who were cured of breast cancer were checked every year for recurrence of the disease.
Since 2012 the oncological guidelines prescribe that doctors have to choose an individualized approach, where the risk of recurrence of the disease in a specific patient has to determine the follow-up course of action.
In practice this doesn happen, because doctors simply do not know the ecurrence riskin individual patients.
Odds of recurrenceresearchers of the University of Twente have developed therefore a system, a so-called nomogram, that doctors can use together with patients to simply calculate the odds of recurrence of the disease themselves, on the basis of the age of the patient, the information on the original tumour and the treatment used.
The system gives the odds of recurrence of the disease per year, including the uncertainty of the prediction.
To develop their system the researchers used the information of almost 40,000 breast cancer patients from The netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR, Nederlandse Kankerregistratie), a unique database in which all information about the occurrence,
survival and deaths of all instances of cancer in The netherlands have been registered since 1989. Follow-upwith this system
doctors have a tool they can use to help determine the best way to set up the follow-up for individual patients.
The University of Twente will now get to work on providing doctors with concrete recommendations for planning subsequent check-ups.
For patients with a very low risk, for example, it not necessary to get a check-up every year,
According to Joost Klaase, surgeon at the Medical Spectrum Twente (MST) and involved with the research, the medical world has need a for the system. he nomogram for risk of breast cancer recurrence gives us a tool to create a tailor-made follow-up for breast cancer patients:
#Xenotransplantation of MSC Sheets Attenuates Left Ventricular Remodeling Xenotransplantation of Bone marrow-Derived Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheets Attenuates Left Ventricular Remodeling in a Porcine Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Model.
Bone marrow-derived autologous human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCS) are one of the most promising cell sources for cell therapy to treat heart failure.
and enhanced the efficacy of cell therapy. We hypothesized that the transplantation of MSC sheets may be a feasible, safe,
and effective treatment for ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). METHODS AND RESULTS: Human MSCS acquired from bone marrow were positive for CD73, CD90,
These were transplanted successfully over the infarct myocardium of porcine ICM models induced by placing an ameroid constrictor on the left anterior descending coronary artery without any procedural-related complications (MSC group=6:
On histological examination 8 weeks after transplantation, left ventricular (LV) remodeling was attenuated significantly compared with the sham group (cardiomyocyte size and interstitial fibrosis were measured.
Immunohistochemistry of the von Willebrand factor showed that the vascular density in the infarct border area was significantly greater in the MSC group than the sham group.
Expression of angiogenesis-related factors in the infarct border area of the MSC group was significantly greater than that of the sham group,
#Graphene-Based Biosensor Could Detect Cancer within Minutes One of the main reasons why treating most cancers is such a difficult task is our inability to detect its presence before it becomes widespread.
many forms of the disease are often completely reversible. The new, graphene-based immunosensor could soon lead to a quantum leap in cancer diagnosis. Image credit:
Alden Chadwick via flickr. com, CC BY 2. 0. In order to help medical professionals combat this deadly affliction,
researchers at Trinity college Dublin are currently developing a highly-efficient biosensor that could pick up even the slightest presence of cancer within the body in mere minutes.
The prototype device, called Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunosensor, is a small strip of material based on advanced optical technology,
While the technology has already been proven to be capable of rapidly detecting cholera it took graphene to also make it sensitive to cancer. e showed experimentally that simply the addition of graphene led to a clear increase in the sensor signal, aid Dr. Georg Duesberg,
a researcher involved in the study. his type of sensing platform offers a large variety for medical diagnostics,
since it can be adapted to almost any type of disease markers. ven though the SPR sensor is not the only method scientists are currently developing for cancer screening,
it might just be the most exciting one due to its accuracy and speed while most current techniques require full vials of blood for an accurate diagnosis,
the new-and-improved device could detect malignancies from just a single droplet. ecause of the sensitivity, apart from faster results,
it could more easily detect smaller amounts of biomarkers, thus providing earlier diagnosis and prognosis of conditions such as cancer, said Dr. Andreas Holzinger,
another researcher involved in the study. Although the device is currently in early developmental stages
researchers are already hailing it as an important innovation in medical diagnoses. The sensor has shown yet its value in detecting cholera without error,
and, as the authors wrote in the current study, here is no reason why this method could not be used in any other chemistry
or pump liquids in miniature devices used for chemical analysis, said Dr. Carter Haines BS1 Phd5,
#New receptor for controlling blood pressure discovered High blood pressure is a primary risk factor in the development of many cardiovascular diseases.
which could be a factor in the development of hypertension: the physical forces of the flowing blood activate a receptor on the surface of the inner vascular wall.
or if it does not function correctly, this can cause hypertension. Under the leadership of the Max Planck researchers, a new study has now been shed able to some light on key elements of the mechanism that leads to the release of nitrogen monoxide
are of major clinical interest. e want to examine the extent to which malfunctions in this key blood pressure regulation principle are responsible for the development of vascular diseases such as hypertension
Knowledge about this principle could in future be used for the prevention and treatment of hypertension t
and cause other nonlethal infections that can lead to serious complications. Now scientists at the University of Zurich have found that adenoviruses penetrate the cells with the help of the cells themselves.
Adenoviruses cause variety of health problems to humans, such as eye or respiratory infections. Now scientists discovered that natural repair mechanism actually helps virus to penetrate the membrane and cause an infection.
Image credit: Yale Rosen via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2. 0 Adenoviruses cause variety of health problems to humans, such as eye or respiratory infections.
Now scientists discovered that natural repair mechanism actually helps virus to penetrate the membrane and cause an infection.
Image credit: Yale Rosen via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2. 0 Understanding mechanisms of adenoviruses is extremely important.
They cause numerous diseases, such as eye or respiratory infections, but they are used also in sciences adenoviruses are used widely in gene therapy.
use this natural repair mechanism to cause infections. Adenoviruses create small pores in the surfaces of the cell membrane as well.
And this mechanism is used by adenovirus to trigger the infection. In the repair process ceramide lipids are formed,
but also viruses. And so adenovirus increases the size of the lesion in the membrane, and can leave the endosome before the endosome becomes a lysosome
which is part of the explanation for the high infection efficiency of the adenoviruses. Scientists also managed to identify a new inhibitor against the adenoviruses,
New knowledge should also help with using adenoviruses in vaccination and gene therapy e
#Scientists discover first NA ambulanceu of T researchers have discovered how severely damaged DNA is transported within a cell
It a discovery that could unlock secrets into how cancer operates a disease that two in five Canadians will develop in their lifetime. cientists knew that severely injured DNA was taken to specialized ospitalsin the cell to be repaired,
a Professor in the Faculty of medicine Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. ee now discovered the DNA mbulanceand the road it takes. ekhail discovered this DNA ambulance,
Mekhail team also found that the DNA hospital, also known as the nuclear pore complex, repairs damaged DNA inaccurately.
it has irregular cell instructions a scenario that could cause cancer. his process allows cells to survive an injury,
and disease settings. he processes wee studying are fundamental to the basic survival of a cell,
said graduate student and first author Daniel Chung. lmost every aspect of disease can be linked to problems with DNA. ow Mekhail team is searching for more DNA ambulances
and roads while conducting a study to see what role they might play in causing cancer. e expect that this may allow us to identify targets for a new class of anticancer drugs.?
#New technology helps personalized medicine by enabling epigenomic analysis with a mere 100 cells A new technology that will dramatically enhance investigations of epigenomes, the machinery that turns on and off genes and a very prominent field of study in diseases such as
inflammation and cancer, is reported on today in the research journal Nature Methods. The examination of epigenomes requires mapping DNA interactions with a certain protein in the entire genome.
This epigenomic characterization potentially allows medical doctors to create personalized treatment of diseases by understanding the state of a patient,
For well more than a decade, Chang Lu, a professor of chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, has worked on the development of tools to effectively analyze living cells with the long-term goal of gaining a better understanding of a range of diseases.
the team plans to use this technology to study other epigenomic changes involved in inflammation and cancer in the near future.
The innovative approach may lead to more effective therapies with fewer side effects, particularly for diseases such as cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
GPCR drugs that selectively modulate one pathway are preferred often as they can have better therapeutic benefits with fewer undesirable side effects than non-selective drugs. rrestin
interaction and function of each of these groups of proteins is vital to developing effective therapies.
Cell surface receptors are excellent therapeutic targets due to their location on the surface of the cell,
GPCRS are major targets in the development of new therapies and account for about 40 percent of current drug targets.
In the future, the researchers hope to study the signaling protein arrestin with other GPCRS that are involved in heart disease
and cancer as well as to use this structure to screen for drug compounds that are designed to treat these diseases with far fewer side effects,
and when they become dysfunctional it can lead to devastating diseases such as cancer, said Wei Liu,
and make important progress in the fight against cancer and other incurable human diseases. a
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