#Genetics overlap found between Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular risk factors The findings are published in current online issue of Circulation."
"For many years we have known that high levels of cholesterol and high levels of inflammation are associated with increased risks for Alzheimer's disease,
"said study co-author Paul M Ridker, MD, MPH, the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical school and director of the Center for Cardiovascular disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital."
"The current work finds that specific genetic signals explain a part of these relationships. We now need to characterize the function of these genetic signals
and therapeutically target individuals at increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease who are also at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease,
Phd, research fellow and radiology resident at the UC San diego School of medicine and the study's first author.
Late-onset AD is the most common form of dementia affecting an estimated 30 million persons worldwide--a number that is expected to quadruple over the next 40 years.
"Currently, there are no disease modifying therapies and much attention has been focused upon prevention and early diagnosis,"said Ole A. Andreassen, MD, Phd,
a senior co-author and professor of biological psychiatry at the University of Oslo in Norway."
"Delaying dementia onset by even just two years could potentially lower the worldwide prevalence of AD by more than 22 million cases over the next four decades,
resulting in significant societal savings
#New transitional stem cells discovered Preeclampsia is a disease that affects 5 to 8 percent of pregnancies in America.
Complications from this disease can lead to emergency cesarean sections early in pregnancies to save the lives of the infants and mothers.
Scientists believe preeclampsia is caused by a number of factors, including shallow placentas that are associated insufficiently with maternal blood vessels.
Now, researchers from the University of Missouri, in an effort to grow placenta cells to better study the causes of preeclampsia,
serendipitously discovered a previously unknown form of human embryonic stem cell. R. Michael Roberts a Curators Professor of Animal Science and a professor of biochemistry,
and his colleagues, says these new stem cells can help advance research on preeclampsia and a number of other areas of the human reproductive process."
what causes diseases like preeclampsia and other prenatal problems.""Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into a number of different types of cells such as muscle cells, bone cells, skin cells, etc.
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,
Researchers from Imperial College London who led the study are now developing a gene therapy designed to boost the infection-fighting cells
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
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.
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
and unlocked an unexpected way of enhancing the ability of our immune system to fight viruses or cancers.
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.
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,
#Immunotherapy combination promising for untreated patients with advanced melanoma The combination of two immunotherapies for first-line treatment of advanced melanoma induces better responses
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.
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 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.
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."
"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,
This truly represents a paradigm shift in how we think about restoring function to multiple sclerosis patients."
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).
include high permeability polymers, nanomagnets for medical diagnostics applications, materials for the 3d printing of metal articles,
#New gene therapy success in a rare disease of the immune system Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is a rare congenital immune and platelet deficiency
This disease, which primarily affects boys, causes bleeding, severe and recurrent infections, severe eczema and in some patients autoimmune reactions and the development of cancer.
The only treatment available today is bone marrow transplantation, which requires a compatible donor and can itself cause serious complications.
Severe eczema and severe infection disappeared in all cases. Arthritis was eliminated in one patient and another saw major improvement in vasculitis of the lower limbs and was able to return to normal physical activity without a wheelchair.
However, the rate of corrected platelets varies from one patient to another. Fulvio Mavilio, Chief Scientific Officer Genethon:"
"We are all very happy and encouraged by the results of this study. It is the first time that a gene therapy based on genetically modified stem cells is tested in a multicenter, international clinical trial that shows a reproducible and robust therapeutic effect in different centers and different countries.
For very rare diseases such as WAS, multicenter clinical trials are the only effective way of proving the safety
and efficacy of gene therapy and having it rapidly approuved and made available to all patients.
We are following the same approach for other rare and less rare blood diseases.""Frdric Revah, CEO of Genethon, the laboratory of the AFM-Telethon and the trial sponsor, said"These first results of our clinical trial for the treatment of Wiskott Aldrich syndrome are very encouraging.
They illustrate not only the ability of Genethon to carry out the upstream research to develop treatments for these rare and complex diseases,
but also to construct and conduct international clinical trials, to produce these advanced therapy products, to work with international teams and to manage the regulatory aspects of the trials in France and abroad.
These are skills that we implement for other international trials of gene therapy for rare genetic diseases of the immune system
blood, muscle, vision or liver...We will continue the current study with the objective of providing treatment for patients."
"The results obtained in this multicenter clinical trial constitute an important therapeutic advance (overhang) because they concern a complex pathology
which affects almost all of blood cells with dramatic clinical consequences. After transfer of gene, the patients showed a significant clinical improvement due to the reexpression of the protein WASP in the cells of the immune system.
indicates that it is from now on justifiable to hope to treat other complex genetic diseases as those affecting red blood cells."
"This is a very powerful example of how gene therapy can offer highly effective treatment for patients with complex and serious genetic disease.
It also excitingly demonstrates the potential for treatment of a large number of other diseases for
which existing therapies are either unsatisfactory or unavailable
#Printing silicon on paper, with lasers Recently, a group of researchers at Delft University of Technology,
"We coated liquid polysilane directly on paper by doctor-blading, or skimming it by a blade directly in an oxygen-free environment.
"The process can be expanded to biomedical sensor and solar-cell areas, "Ishihara said, "and will also realize stretchable--and even edible--electronics
The findings could have therapeutic implications specific to this rare form of the disease, say the authors.
Research from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New jersey shows genomic profiling identifies genomic mutations in a gene associated with a rare subset of breast cancer--mutations that cannot otherwise be identified with standard clinical analysis of cells and tissue.
being presented as part of a poster presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) being held in Philadelphia,
could have therapeutic implications specific to this rare form of the disease, say the authors.
Invasive lobular carcinoma is a cancer that starts in the lobules, an area of the breast where milk is produced.
It is normally very sensitive to estrogen-targeting therapies because of high expression of the estrogen receptor protein,
Pleomorphic invasive lobular carcinoma is a unique subset of lobular breast cancer that has abnormally aggressive tumor cells and results in poorer outcomes than the classic lobular breast cancer.
which is tested routinely for using standard pathologic techniques. As part of the precision medicine initiative at the Cancer Institute of New jersey, investigators--which include colleagues from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical school and RUCDR Infinite Biologics, the world's largest university-based biorepository,
located within the Human genetics Institute of New jersey--wanted to define the relationship of ERBB2 alterations in the pleomorphic form of the disease."
"Figuring out specific differences that are not visible under the microscope allows us to intervene with more appropriate and potentially lifesaving therapy.
With genomic sequencing detecting ERBB2 alterations in this form of cancer, we have an opportunity to identify anticancer therapies that would specifically target that abnormality
and that would otherwise not be given to those patients who could benefit. These genomic abnormalities would be overlooked with current,
standard of care laboratory testing for breast cancer,"says lead author Kim M. Hirshfield, MD, Phd, breast medical oncologist at the Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical school. Utilizing the invasive breast cancer data set of 962 cases in The Cancer Genome Atlas
all breast cancers with alterations in the CDH1 gene (that gives instructions to make a protein that causes cancer cells to stick to one another
and defines lobular breast cancers) were identified. Tumors were evaluated by a pathologist at the microscopic level to classify them as either classic or pleomorphic lobular breast cancer.
Independent identification of ERBB2 gene alterations was completed and frequency of that alteration, as well as others in the PTEN, PIK3CA and TP53 genes, were determined.
An additional 16 cases from the Cancer Institute were evaluated using an advanced form of tumor DNA sequencing at RUCDR.
Of 116 eligible breast cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas 86 were invasive lobular breast cancer. Of that number, 21 cases were found to be the pleomorphic type.
There were no significant differences in the frequency of the other gene alterations examined between the two types of cancer.
With that, investigators say the alterations in the ERBB2 gene strongly associate with pleomorphic lobular breast cancer but not the classic form of the disease.
Data from the additional 16 cases from the Cancer Institute validate the findings observed on breast cancers from The Cancer Genome Atlas."
"In identifying a specific abnormality in a patient's cancer instead of the overall organ where it first presented,
the opportunity exists to provide tailored therapies for patients,"notes Lorna Rodriguez, MD, Phd, director of the precision medicine initiative at the Cancer Institute and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences
such findings can also aid in developing the next generation of therapies through clinical trials. It is our aim at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New jersey to build upon this work,"notes senior author of the work, Shridar Ganesan, MD, Phd, associate director for translational science at the Cancer Institute
and associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical school l
#Natural reparative capacity of teeth elucidated These results are published in the journal Stem Cells. The tooth is a mineralised organ, implanted in the mouth by a root.
The"living"part of the tooth or dental cavity is the dental pulp (in yellow in the photograph shown opposite) composed of vessels and nerves.
When a dental lesion appears, the dormant stem cells in the pulp awaken and try to repair the tooth by an unknown process.
the researchers from Inserm and Paris Descartes University at Unit 1124,"Toxicology, Pharmacology and Cellular Signaling,"have succeeded in extracting
two neurotransmitters that are essential to the body (see schema on page 2). The presence of these receptors on the surface of these stem cells indicated that they had the ability to respond to the presence of dopamine and serotonin in the event of a lesion.
activated by the dental lesion, are responsible for releasing a large quantity of serotonin and dopamine. Once released, these neurotransmitters then recruit the stem cells to repair the tooth by binding to their receptors (see schema on page 2). The research team was able to confirm this result by observing that dental repair was absent in rats with modified platelets that do not produce serotonin or dopamine,
"Currently, dentists use pulp capping materials (calcium hydroxide) and tricalcium phosphate-based biomaterials to repair the tooth and fill lesions.
Our results lead us to imagine unprecedented therapeutic strategies aimed at mobilising the resident pulpal stem cells
in order to magnify the natural reparative capacity of teeth without use of replacement materials, "concludes Odile Kellermann.
#Researchers discover new drugs to combat the root cause of multiple sclerosis At the pathological level,
MS is a disease in which the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath, a type of insulation that covers nerves,
"Current therapies focus on stopping immune system attacks, slowing the progression of the disease. Our research is focused on trying to repair the brain itself,
to stop the disease rather than slow it, "said Robert Miller, Ph d.,co-author of the study and senior associate dean for research, Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Professor,
and professor of anatomy and regenerative biology at the George washington University School of medicine and Health Sciences."
researchers discovered the therapeutic compounds for enhancing myelination from oligodendrocyte progenitor cells through screening a library of bioactive small molecules.
Finding this cellular target for pharmacological intervention, Miller and co-author Paul Tesar, Ph d.,the Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics
#Researchers develop Ebola treatment effective 3 days after infection The study results, in the April 22 edition of Nature Journal, demonstrated that the treatment is the first to be shown effective against the new Makona outbreak strain of Ebola in animals that were infected with the virus
and exhibited symptoms of the disease. The treatment uses a sequence specific short strand of RNA, known as sirna,
"We were able to protect all of our nonhuman primates against a lethal Makona Ebola infection
when treatment began three days following infection. At this point, those infected showed clinical signs of disease
and had detectable levels of virus in their blood.""Although all infected animals showed evidence of advanced disease,
those receiving treatment had milder symptoms and recovered fully. The untreated controls succumbed to the disease on days eight and nine,
which is reported similar to that in the field after patients begin showing symptoms of Ebola. This treatment also protected against liver
and kidney dysfunction and blood disorders that occur during an Ebola infection. These results indicate that the treatment may confer protective benefits that go beyond improving survival rates and effective control of virus levels in the body."
The Tekmira sirna-based therapeutic is now being evaluated in Ebola-infected patients in Sierra leone e
Phd, uncovered the critical role in pain processing of a gene associated with a rare disease.
Mutations in this gene also cause a rare human disease called the Nail-patella syndrome (NPS
or perhaps as biomimetic surfaces for implantable tissue scaffolds or neural implants. The work was the result of collaboration between Wong's biomedical engineering lab and the lab of Robert Hurt, professor of engineering at Brown,
The results reveal serious obstacles to using the method in medical applications. The scientists have tried to head off ethical concerns by using'nonviable'embryos,
that were obtained from local fertility clinics. However the work is very controversial, with some warning it could be the start of a slippery slope towards designer babies.
"Dr Yalda Jamshidi, Senior Lecturer in Human genetics, St george's University Hospital Foundation Trust, said:""Inherited genetic conditions often result
and promise to be a powerful approach for many human diseases which don't yet have an effective treatment.
"Prof Shirley Hodgson, Professor of Cancer Genetics, St george's University of London, said:""I think that this is a significant departure from currently accepted research practice.
and you are trying to figure out the body's immune response to a particular pathogen, for example,
which could prove useful in biomedical applications, among other uses
#Electrical power converter allows grid to easily accept power from renewable energy Doctoral student Joseph Carr developed the system with his adviser, Juan Balda, University Professor and head of the department of electrical engineering.
Then, combining that tissue-specific functional signal with the relevant disease's DNA-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS),
and diseases that would otherwise be undetectable. The resulting technique, which they called a'network-guided association study,
and identify genes underlying complex human diseases. And because the technique is driven completely data Netwas avoids bias toward better-studied genes
The paper goes on to describe functional gene disruptions for diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
Many human cell types important to disease cannot be studied by traditional direct experimentation, so the ability to instead work with these rich datasets was a critical workaround."
and in many other disease-relevant tissues and cell types.""These findings have important implications for our understanding of normal gene function,
"Biomedical researchers can use these networks and the pathways that they uncover to understand drug action and side effects in the context of specific disease-relevant tissues,
and to repurpose drugs,"Troyanskaya says.""These networks can also be useful for understanding how various therapies work and to help with developing new therapies."
"The researchers have created also an online resource so that other scientists may use Netwas and access the tissue-specific networks.
and analyze data from genetic studies to find genes that cause disease. Aaron K. Wong, a data scientist at SCDA and formerly a graduate student in the computer science department at Princeton, led the way in creating GIANT."
"Our goal was to develop a resource that was accessible to biomedical researchers, "he says."
"For example, with GIANT, researchers studying Parkinson's disease can search the substantia nigra network, which represents the brain region affected by Parkinson's,
and pathways involved in the disease.""Wong is one of three co-first authors of the paper.
Other key collaborators on this study were Emanuela Ricciotti, Garret A. Fitzgerald and Tilo Grosser of the pharmacology department and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the Perelman School of medicine, University of Pennsylvania;
Daniel I. Chasman of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical school in Boston; and Kara Dolinski at the Lewis-Sigler Institute at Princeton university."
"This is an exciting time in biomedical research, and I believe we are still at the early stages of developing new ways to think about biological networks and their control,
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011