The new technique holds the promise of a potent new tool to offset the growing challenge of antibiotic resistance by bacterial pathogens, according to the team.
and conducted in collaboration with New york University Langone Medical center and Brigham and Women Hospital of Harvard Medical school.
this new technique is quite promising for future treatment of bacterial pathogens, as it enables de novo detection and characterization of epigenetic heterogeneity in a bacterial population.
and is associated with gastric cancer, the team discovered that epigenetic heterogeneity can quickly emerge as a single cell divides,
said Adam Perriman, Ph d.,from the University of Bristol school of cellular and molecular medicine."
or knee osteoarthritis or the severe injuries caused by major trauma, for example in road traffic accidents or war injuries."
which helped to make possible the first successful transplant of a tissue-engineered trachea, utilizing the patient's own stem cells t
said Adam Perriman, Ph d.,from the University of Bristol school of cellular and molecular medicine."
or knee osteoarthritis or the severe injuries caused by major trauma, for example in road traffic accidents or war injuries."
which helped to make possible the first successful transplant of a tissue-engineered trachea, utilizing the patient's own stem cells t
and toxicology in UB's School of medicine and Biomedical sciences. The study found that by manipulating the activity of Activin receptors the researchers were able to increase
#Scientists Smell Success for Treatment of Spinal cord Injuries Three years after they treated patients with spinal cord injury in a randomized clinical trial with transplanted cells from the patients'olfactory mucosa to build a bridge
and determined that the use of olfactory mucosa lamina propria (OLP) transplants was'promising and safe.'
and daily life activities, wrote the investigators in an article (utologous Olfactory Lamina Propria Transplantation for Chronic Spinal cord Injury:
randomized 12 patients with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) to receive OLP transplants and followed them for three years after transplantation,
noting that similar studies had not been designed to include long-term patient follow-up. he postoperative images in our study demonstrated that the transplants in the OLP group bridged the proximal and distal stumps (of the severed spinal cord),
or sensory recovery, said Hua-Zi Xu, M d.,department of spinal surgery, the second affiliated hospital of Wenzhou Medical University.'
'Most of the patients exhibited improvements within the first 12 to 24 months after surgery and their functional recovery slowly increased,
but plateaued at 24 months after surgery. Overall, wrote the researchers, there appeared to be a reater improvement in sensory function rather than motor function in the ASIA score assessment.
Eight of the 12 patients were without bladder sensation at the preoperative evaluation. ptimal outcomes may be related to age, severity and level of injury
the quality and quantity of transplants, surgical technique, and postoperative rehabilitation, continued the researchers.''We believe that to derive clinical benefits from OEC transplants a combination with other pharmacological agents is most likely to achieve significant axon regeneration
and reestablish functionally useful connections across the injured spinal cord. h
#Scientists Devise Promising Strategy to Tackle MERS A Purdue University-led team of scientists studying the Middle east Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) reports that it found molecules that shut down the activity of an essential enzyme
in the virus and could lead the way to better treatments for those infected. The virus is in the international spotlight again as South korea faces the largest MERS outbreak outside the Middle east.
Purdue's Walther Professor of Cancer Structural biology and professor of biological sciences and chemistry who leads the research team."
"It is a threat to public health we take very seriously, and there currently is no treatment or vaccine.
We continue to study the virus to improve our understanding of how it works and ways to prevent its spread."
what our work with SARS and other related coronaviruses predicted. So, we investigated what was happening
which the virus cannot create more viruses to further an infection. Once inside the cell, the virus creates a long strand of a large viral protein that must be cut at specific points to release individual proteins that serve various functions in building new virus particles.
and its dimer will break apart much more easily than the SARS protease or those of other coronaviruses.
who also is deputy director of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research e
#New Drug Prevents Cancer cells from Staging Last Stand Unlike many last stands in human history,
the last stands arranged by individual cancer cells often resist being overwhelmed, with dire consequences for cancer patients.
Such a coordinated attack could effectively overrun cancer before it could muster one last defense,
"The finding opens the door to a new way to attack cancer, "said Reuben Shaw, a senior author of the paper, professor in the Molecular and Cell biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute and a Howard hughes medical institute Early Career Scientist."
"The inhibitor will probably find the greatest utility in combination with targeted therapies.""""The key to success for this project came
"This allowed us to find a drug that targeted ULK1 not just in a test tube but also in tumor cells.
Our work provides the basis for a novel drug that will treat resistant cancer by cutting off a main tumor cell survival process. i
#New Target Blocks Malaria Invasion and Transmission With close to 50%of the world population living in endemic areas and it being one of the leading causes of death in children under the age of 5,
malaria is a scourge that humans have endured since before they could walk fully upright. Moreover, the rate of resistance to current drug therapies is growing exponentially
and scientists are always on the hunt for novel targets that have the potential to not only treat symptoms of infected patients,
researchers from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public health have discovered what they believe will become an indispensable new target for the development of antimalarial drug therapies.
The scientists found that a malaria protein called calcineurin is essential for parasite invasion into red blood cells."
"Our study has great biological and medical significance, particularly in light of the huge disease burden of malaria,"explained senior author Manoj Duraisingh, Ph d.,professor of Immunology and Infectious diseases at the T. H. Chan School of Public health."
"As drug resistance is a major problem for malaria control and eradication, it is critical that that we continue to develop new antimalarials that act against previously unexploited targets in the parasite to keep priming the drug pipeline."
"The findings from this study were published recently in Cell Host Microbe through an article entitled"Parasite Calcineurin Regulates Host Cell Recognition and Attachment by Apicomplexans."
"Using a mixture of reverse genetic and chemical genetic approaches the investigators were able to provide evidence for the function
implicating the protein as a potential target for blocking malaria transmission. Since there is much genetic conservation among parasites in the Apicomplexa phylum,
as it prevented cellular attachment in this parasite species as wellpening up the potential that calcineurin could target other parasitic diseases in addition to malaria."
#Depersonalized Medicine Shows Promising Results Against Cancer Researchers at St louis University (SLU) say they have,
Unlike recent advances in personalized medicine that focus on specific genetic mutations associated with different types of cancer,
this research targets a broad principle that applies to almost every kind of cancer: its energy source.
and in human tumor cells in the lab, showed that a specific drug can stop cancer cells without causing damage to healthy cells or leading to other severe side effects.
Thomas Burris, Ph d.,chair of pharmacology and physiology at SLU and colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute developed the novel therapeutic.
"Targeting cancer metabolism has become a hot area over the past few years, though the idea is not new,"according to Dr. Burris.
In fact, this is how doctors use positron emission tomography to scan images to spot tumors. PET scans highlight the glucose that cancer cells have accumulated.
In a paper (road Anti-tumor Activity of a Small Molecule that Selectively Targets the Warburg Effect and Lipogenesis published in Cancer cell
Dr. Burris reports that the Warburg effect is the metabolic foundation of oncogenic growth, tumor progression,
and metastasis as well as tumor resistance to treatment.""Cancer cells look for metabolic pathways to find the parts to grow and divide.
"If the Warburg effect and lipogenesis are key metabolic pathways that drive cancer progression, growth, survival, immune evasion, resistance to treatment,
and disease recurrence, then, Dr. Burris hypothesized, targeting glycolysis and lipogenesis could offer a way to stop a broad range of cancers.
He and his colleagues created a class of compounds that affect a receptor that regulates fat synthesis. The new compound, SR9243,
and in human tumor cells grown in animal models. Because the Warburg pathway is a feature of almost every kind of cancer,
researchers are testing it on a number of different cancer models.""It works in a wide range of cancers both in culture and in human tumors developing in animal models,"explained Dr. Burris."
"Some are more sensitive to it than others. In several of these pathways, cells had been reprogramed by cancer to support cancer cell growth.
This returns the metabolism to that of more normal cells.""In human tumors grown in animal models,
it reportedly worked well on lung, prostate, and colorectal cancers and, to a lesser degree, in ovarian and pancreatic cancers."
"It also seems to work on glioblastoma, an extremely difficult to treat form of brain cancer,
though it isn't able to cross the brain-blood barrier very effectively. The challenge for researchers in this scenario will be to find a way to allow the drug to cross this barrier, the body's natural protection for the brain,
which can make it difficult for drug treatments to reach their target. When SR9243 is used in combination with existing chemotherapy drugs,
it increases their effectiveness, in a mechanism apart from SR9243's own cancer fighting ability, added Dr. Burris B
like recognizing an invading pathogen and mounting a response. If so, one might program those cells to collaboratively diagnose the flu or malaria:
just add saliva to a packet of yeast and see if it changes color. For now,
a versatile hormone that controls everything from where a plant's roots develop to how effectively they fight off pathogens.
San diego School of medicine and Moores Cancer Center led an international team that discovered that cancer stem cell properties are determined by epigenetic changes.
which was carried out on human tumor samples and mouse models, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The team reports that Lysine-Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1) turns off genes required to maintain cancer stem cell properties in glioblastoma, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.
rather than specific DNA sequences, determines tumorigenicity in glioblastoma cancer stem cells.""One of the most striking findings in our study is that there are dynamic and reversible transitions between tumorigenic
. associate professor of neurosurgery and vice-chair of research and academic development at UC San diego School of medicine.
whether or not glioblastoma cells can proliferate indefinitely as cancer stem cells is their relative abundance of LSD1,
turning off a number of genes required for maintaining cancer stem cell properties, including MYC, SOX2, OLIG2 and POU3F2."
which glioblastoma develops resistance to therapy,"noted Dr. Chen.""For instance, glioblastomas can escape the killing effects of a drug targeting MYC by simply shutting it off epigenetically
Ultimately, strategies addressing this dynamic interplay will be needed for effective glioblastoma therapy.""Dr. Chen and one of the study's first authors, Jie Li, Ph d.,note that the epigenetic changes driving glioblastoma are similar to those that take place during normal human development."
In fact, this spare can help the genome steer clear of cancer. Various kinds of damage can happen to DNA,
which is a hallmark of cancer. One common way that our genetic material can be harmed is from a phenomenon called oxidative stress.
When our bodies process certain chemicals or even by simply breathing, one of the products is a form of oxygen that can acutely damage DNA bases,
predominantly the G. In order to stay cancer-free, our bodies must repair this DNA. This is where the special vulnerability noted earlier comes in.
They scanned the sequences of known human oncogenes associated with cancer, and found that many contain the four G-stretches necessary for quadruplex formation
When they exposed these quadruplex-forming sequences to oxidative stress in vitro, a series of different tests indicated that the extra G allowed the damages to fold out from the quadruplex structure,
Role for the Fifth G-Track in G-Quadruplex Forming Oncogene Promoter Sequences during Oxidative Stress:
which the G4 sequences act as sensors of oxidative stress e
#New Cell Structure Finding Might Lead to Novel Cancer Therapies University of Warwick scientists in the U k. say they have discovered a cell structure
which could help researchers understand why some cancers develop. For the first time a structure called'the mesh'has been identified
which helps to hold together cells. They believe their study (he mesh is a network of microtubule connectors that stabilizes individual kinetochore fibers of the mitotic spindle,
which is found to change in certain cancers, such as those of the breast and bladder, according to Stephen Royle, Ph d.,team leader and associate professor and senior Cancer Research UK Fellow at the division of biomedical cell biology at Warwick Medical school."
"As a cell biologist you dream of finding a new structure in cells but it's so unlikely.
which has been linked to a range of tumors in different body organs. The mitotic spindle is responsible for sharing the chromosomes
TACC3, is overproduced in certain cancers. When this situation was mimicked in the lab, the mesh and microtubules were altered
According to Emma Smith, Ph d.,from Cancer Research UK, his early research provides the first glimpse of a structure that helps share out a cell's chromosomes correctly
and it might be a crucial insight into why this process becomes faulty in cancer
even though the American Society for Reproductive Medicine holds that infertility is due in equal measure to male and female factors.
and morphologyre useful mainly for the diagnosis of obvious cases of male infertility. The new test,
The scientific team presented their results July 8 in Science Translational Medicine, in an article entitled,
when using assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection. pon validation,
so as to reduce the stress on the couple. About 13%of couples of reproductive age experience fertility problems.
This was confirmed by their diagnosis noted the authors of the Science Translational Medicine article. According to Dr. Krawetz, the diagnostic potential of next-generation sequencing of sperm RNA indicates this method is suited"better to the task"of analyzing the male's role in infertility,
and is a step toward personalized precision reproductive medicine that may help guide the couple to their successful treatment.
Sperm RNA analysis at present is technically challenging, but it is being automated. The technique could become part of a routine examination as"we move toward personalized and precision medicine,"Dr. Krawetz asserted.
While the test is experimental it has the potential for cost savings for both the patients and the healthcare system.
#Dissolvable Microneedles May Herald New Age of Vaccine Delivery Scientists from Osaka University report that flu vaccines delivered using microneedles that dissolve in the skin can protect people against infection even better than the standard needle-delivered vaccine.
The authors of the study (linical study and stability assessment of a novel transcutaneous influenza vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch,
say their dissolvable patch could make vaccination easier, safer, and less painful. According to the World health organization, immunization prevents an estimated 2 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.""Our novel transcutaneous vaccination using a dissolving microneedle patch is the only application vaccination system that is readily adaptable for widespread practical use,
"said Shinsaku Nakagawa, Ph d.,one of the authors of the paper.""Because the new patch is so easy to use,
we believe it will be particularly effective in supporting vaccination in developing countries.""The new microneedle patch (Microhyala) is dissolvable in water.
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."
"We 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 Dr. Nakagawa. Previous research has evaluated the use of microneedles made of silicon or metal,
we think it could bring about a major change in the way we administer vaccines globally, "said Dr. Nakagawa a
#Cell cycle protein Reverses Metabolic Reprogramming of Cancer cells Understanding how cancers cells reprogram cellular metabolic pathways is critical toward the development of novel therapeutic compounds.
Cutting off a cancer cell ood supplyis a veritable lynchpin for the efficient removal of tumors and now researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center believe they may have found a protein that serves that very function.
and also serve to protect cells from the transformation into tumors.""We know that all cancers grow by learning how to reprogram their metabolism,
"said senior author Mong-Hong Lee, Ph d, . professor of molecular and cellular oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. ut exactly how this occurs has not been understood fully.
Our study showed that 14-3-3s opposes and reverses tumor-promoting metabolic programs.""The findings from this study were published recently in Nature Communications through an article entitled ell cycle regulator 14-3-3s opposes
and reverses cancer metabolic reprogramming. 14-3-3s is part of a family of conserved regulatory molecules that are expressed in all eukaryotic cells.
Moreover, the 14-3-3 proteins have been observed to be involved actively in regulating an array of signaling molecules such as kinases, phosphatases,
and transmembrane receptors. 14-3-3s has been shown previously to regulate cancer genes, such as p53 and suppress tumor growth,
but in this instance the investigators were able to observe the protein acting on metabolic pathways
Dr. Lee and his team showed that 14-3-3s opposed tumor-promoting metabolic programs by increasing the degradation of the transcription factor c-Myc.
Additionally, 14-3-3s demonstrated a suppressive effect on cancer glycolysis, mitochondrial biogenesis, as well as a range of other major metabolic processes of tumors."
"14-3-3s expression levels can help predict overall and recurrence-free survival rates, tumor glucose uptake,
and metabolic gene expression in breast cancer patients,"explained Dr. Lee.""These results highlight that 14-3-3s is an important regulator of tumor metabolism,
and loss of 14-3-3s expression is critical for cancer metabolic reprogramming.""The MD Anderson team is excited about the findings from this new study
and feels that it adds extended insight into the connective pathways between the cell cycle and cancer cell metabolism."
"We anticipate that pharmacologically elevating 14-3-3s's function in tumors could be a promising direction for targeted anticancer metabolism therapy development in the future,"concluded Dr. Lee r
which are linked closely to early embryonic development and to diseases such as cancer. In plants as in animals and humans, intricate molecular networks regulate important biological functions, such as development and stress responses.
The system can be likened to a massive switchboardhen the wrong switches are flipped, genes can be inappropriately turned on or off,
leading to the onset of diseases. Now, VARI scientists report that they have unraveled how a plant protein known as TOPLESS interacts with other molecules responsible for turning genes off.
and how they interact with other molecules in health and disease states.""Although the new study provides further insight into human molecular pathways,
and an earlier Science paper, both of which describe how plants respond to drought and temperature stress.
#Biopharma Demand Is Driving the Cell Culture Market The production of biologic therapies such as vaccines, blood factors,
Biopharmaceutical production is increasing not only through the introduction of novel therapeutics, but also through the introduction of biosimilars or generic biopharmaceuticals,
It will be maintained as the source of all cells used to produce the company drug through preclinical and clinical testing and then into commercial sale.
Market Drivers An important driver of the cell culture market is the production of seasonal influenza vaccines,
as well as pandemic vaccine candidates. Seasonal influenza vaccines have traditionally been produced using egg-based technology. However, this labor-intensive approach to vaccine development is currently being replaced by cell-culture systems.
Prefluce, the first cell culture-based vaccine, received European approval in March 2011 and was available for the 2011012 influenza season in the 13 participating European union countries.
On November 20 2012, the U s. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Flucelvax, which is the first U s.-licensed (trivalent inactivated) influenza vaccine manufactured using cell culture technology.
Stem cell research will also add to the robust growth of the cell culture market. The growing use
and diverse applications of stem cells are having a significant impact on the media market,
or producing designer therapeutics, and perhaps one day even non-biological polymers, point out Dr. Mankin."
#Merck-Newlink Genetics Ebola Vaccine Shows 100%Efficacy in Phase III Trial Merck & co. and Newlink Genetics said today that a single dose of their Ebola vaccine candidate rvsv
-ZEBOV showed 100%efficacy in an analysis of interim data from a Phase III ring vaccination trial in Guinea.
According to those findings, all individuals who received the vaccine were protected against Ebola virus infection within 6 to 10 days of vaccination. he results of this interim analysis indicate that rvsv-ZEBOV might be highly efficacious and safe in preventing Ebola virus disease
when delivered during an Ebola virus disease outbreak via a ring vaccination strategy, the study team concluded.
and July 20, 2015,4, 123 people were assigned randomly to immediate vaccination with rvsv-ZEBOV, while 3, 528 people were assigned randomly to delayed vaccination during the trial, named bola ça suffit, French for bola,
that enough. n the immediate vaccination group, there were no cases of Ebola virus disease with symptom onset at least 10 days after randomization,
whereas in the delayed vaccination group there were 16 cases of Ebola virus disease from seven clusters,
showing a vaccine efficacy of 100%,the researchers added. The international team carrying out the trial included researchers from the World health organization, the Norwegian Institute of Public health, the Health Ministry of Guinea,
and Médecins sans Frontières. he extraordinary efforts of the team in Guinea and other experts have yielded interim results that suggest a potential role for our rvsv-ZEBOV vaccine in the fight against Ebola disease, Roger
M. Perlmutter, M d.,Ph d, . president of Merck Research Laboratories, said a statement. Added Charles J. Link Jr.
M d.,Newlink Geneticschairman, CEO, and CSO: e hope that the interim data published today contribute to the successful registration of our vaccine candidate,
which we believe can play an important part in diminishing the threat of Ebola. The Guinea trial is one of three ongoing studies in
The Sierra leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola (STRIVE) Phase III study being conducted by the Sierra leone College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Sierra leone Ministry of Health,
and Sanitation and the U s. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); The Partnership for Research on Ebola Vaccines in Liberia (PREVAIL) Phase II study being conducted by a Liberia-NIH partnership in Liberia.
To date, the rvsv-ZEBOV vaccine has been administered to more than 9, 000 people in Phase I, II,
and III clinical trials. Vaccinated individuals have been shown to develop antibodies against the Ebola virus, but the significance and durability of this immune response have not been determined. rvsv-ZEBOV was engineered initially with support from the Public health Agency of Canada
and licensed to Newlink Genetics. To produce the vaccine, the vesicular stomatitis virus was weakened by removing a gene
and replacing it with a single Ebola virus gene that alone cannot cause the disease. In November 2014
during the West Africa outbreak of Ebola, Merck licensed exclusive rights to rvsv-ZEBOV from Newlink Genetics.
In February, Newlink Genetics said it received $20 million from Merck for achieving a key clinical development milestone.
Newlink also said it was tiered eligible for royalties on sales of the vaccine n certain markets, subject to certain conditions.
and the Public health Agency of Canada in helping conduct the studies have been NIH and its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases,
and the U s army Medical Research Institute of Infectious diseases. Major funding for these studies has come from sources that include the U s. Department of defense Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program, the U s. Department of health and Human Service Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority,
and the Wellcome Trust. Newlink Genetics released interim results on rvsv-ZEBOV the same day it disclosed its latest quarterly results.
and research related to the Ebola vaccine candidate, but primarily due to clinical trial expenses related to its pipeline of product candidates, including its Hyperacute immunotherapy cancer programs and its IDO pathway inhibitor (indoximod) programs
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