Cardiac experts find novel approach to treat heart failure A teenage girl faced with sudden rapid heart deterioration,
a man in the prime years of his life suffering from debilitating heart failure and a former NFL athlete crippled by end-stage heart failure were treated all successfully with a surgical approach pioneered by cardiac experts at University of California, San diego School of medicine.
The work, recently published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, demonstrated significant benefits of implanting a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in the right atrium to provide better blood flow through the lungs,
and death for a person waiting for a transplant or suffering from advanced heart failure.""An LVAD relieves symptoms,
or short of breath in patients with advanced heart disease,"said Victor Pretorius, MBCHB, lead author of the report and surgical director of cardiac transplant and mechanical circulatory support at UC San diego Health."
""This opens up huge possibilities for the future including the development of technology you can control with your mind as well as enabling the development of methods for helping those with paralysis to have direct brain control to the affected areas
#New computational strategy finds brain tumor-shrinking molecules Patients with glioblastoma, a type of malignant brain tumor,
. Since there are no effective treatments for the deadly disease, University of California, San diego researchers developed a new computational strategy to search for molecules that could be developed into glioblastoma drugs.
In mouse models of human glioblastoma, one molecule they found shrank the average tumor size by half.
whose binding is essential for the tumor's survival and growth. This study is the first to demonstrate successful inhibition of this type of protein,
Phd, research scientist at UC San diego Moores Cancer Center, as well as the San diego Supercomputer Center and Department of Neurosciences at UC San diego."
and created a new strategy for drug design--one that we expect many other researchers will immediately begin implementing in the development of drugs that target similar proteins, for the treatment of a variety of diseases."
leading to quick-growing tumors. In order to work, transcription factors must buddy up, with two binding to each other and to DNA at same time.
They then tested the molecules for their ability to kill glioblastoma tumors in the Moores Cancer Center lab of the study's senior author
The most effective of these candidate drug molecules, called SKOG102, shrank human glioblastoma tumors grown in mouse models by an average of 50 percent."
#World first lab-in-a-briefcase Academics at Loughborough University hope to boost early detection rates of cancer in developing countries with their portable lab-in-a-briefcase that can operate even at high temperatures.
Believed to be the first kit of its kind dedicated to the portable measurement of cancer biomarkers,
The number of people dying from cancer in developing countries is on the increase, partly due to steadily ageing populations
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for over 8 million deaths per year,
and 70%of the world's cancer deaths occur in Africa, Asia and Central and South america.
The number of new cancer cases is expected to rise by 70%over the next two decades 1. With the help of his Research Associate Ana Isabel Barbosa,
A new affordable and disposable microfluidic test strip--comprising of tiny tubes about the size of a human hair--is used specifically for the quick measurement of different types of cancer biomarkers in a whole blood sample.
has already been used successfully by Dr Reis in a separate study that detected prostate cancer with the help of a smartphone camera.
and this is what makes it a truly life-changing concept for the screening and monitoring of different types of cancer."
boosting levels of cancer detection in developing countries where ordinarily people would not have such easy access to early diagnostics.
I envisage that our lab-in-a-briefcase could also be developed further in the future to allow for rapid testing of infectious diseases and allergens."
Although the study focused on rapid detection for prostate cancer, Dr Reis said the microfluidic test strip is versatile enough to measure several cancer biomarkers simultaneously from one whole blood sample. 1 World health organization World Cancer Report 201 1
#Detecting diabetes in a saliva sample with a smart phone With the participation of Mexican and international experts,
the device will present immediate results and will be used for diagnosis within low-income populations. A device that detects in saliva a biological indicator of a possible risk of TYPE II DIABETES is the development of a technological and scientific team of the Tec de Monterrey (Mexican University) in collaboration with the University of Houston.
if the patient has diabetes.""It's as simple as pregnancy tests, where the specific marker shows in a few seconds,"explains project coordinator Dr. Marco Antonio Rite Palomares, director of the Biotechnology Center of the Tec de Monterrey FEMSA.
and at least one relative, is believed also to play a role in cell division and cancer. Arrayin collaboration with Dutch colleagues, the authors now show how important VRAC is, particularly in cancer.
They investigated cell lines to determine the role played by VRAC and its subunits in the transport of cisplatin and carboplatin into the cell.
From the researchers'point of view, this goes some way into explaining why some people are resistant to some forms of cancer therapy.
Researchers led by Sven Rottenberg of the Cancer Research Centre in Amsterdam also identified LRRC8D as a relevant gene in a genome-wide screen for cellular cytostatic resistance.
They studied the genetic data of ovarian cancer patients, who had been treated with cisplatin or carboplatin, with regard to their survival time.
By switching off LRRC8D, it will now be possible to specifically investigate physiological and pathological roles of taurine release by VRAC.
#DNA in blood can track cancer development, response in real time Scientists have shown for the first time that tumour DNA shed into the bloodstream can be used to track cancers in real time as they evolve
and respond to treatment, according to a new Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Nature Communications.
Over three years, researchers at the University of Cambridge took surgical tumour samples (biopsies) and blood samples from a patient with breast cancer that had already spread to other parts of her body.
and timing of genetic changes appearing as the cancer developed and responded to treatment. The results provide the first proof-of-principle that analysing tumour DNA in the blood can accurately monitor cancer within the body.
Study author Professor Carlos Caldas, senior group leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said:"
"This definitively shows that we can use blood-based DNA tests to track the progress of cancer in real time.
The findings could change the way we monitor patients, and may be especially important for people with cancers that are difficult to reach,
as taking a biopsy can sometimes be quite an invasive procedure.""The patient in the study had had breast cancer that already spread to a number of other organs.
and Nitzan Rozenfeld laboratories at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute--were even able to distinguish between the different secondary cancers
"We were able to use the blood tests to map out the disease as it progressed. We now need to see if this works in more patients and other cancer types,
but this is an exciting first step.""Dr Kat Arney, science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said:"
"Spotting tumour DNA in the bloodstream is a really promising area of research, and has the potential to give doctors valuable clues about a patient's disease without having to take repeated tumour samples."
"For now, surgical biopsies still play an important role in diagnosing and monitoring cancers. But this work gives us a window into the future,
where we'll use less invasive techniques to track the disease in real time
#Sound waves levitate cells to detect stiffness changes that could signal disease Utah Valley University physicists are literally applying rocket science to the field of medical diagnostics.
With a few key changes, the researchers used a noninvasive ultrasonic technique originally developed to detect microscopic flaws in solid fuel rockets, such as space shuttle boosters,
to successfully detect cell stiffness changes associated with certain cancers and other diseases. Brian Patchett, a research assistant and instructor within the Department of physics at Utah Valley University, will describe the group's method,
which uses sound waves to manipulate and probe cells, during the Acoustical Society of America's Fall 2015 Meeting, held Nov 2-6, in Jacksonville, Fla.
and how they change during the process of cancer and disease development.""The stiffness of the cell is the primary change detected with our high-frequency ultrasound;
and how it changes in certain diseases, "Patchett said. The group's method can also help distinguish between different types of cancer--such as aggressive breast cancer vs. less aggressive forms."
"By isolating the cells in a monolayer of fluid via acoustic levitation, we're providing a better method for the detection of cell stiffness,
"This method can be used to explore the aspect of cells that changes during Alzheimer's disease, the metastasis of cancer,
and characterize cancer or other diseases.""Our method identifies aggressive types of breast cancer, for example, while in the operating room,"Patchett noted."
"Faster than current pathology methods, it will enable doctors to ensure speedier assessments and more effective treatment plans for patients--personalized to their specific needs,
which is part of the immune response to an illness.""We're collaborating with the Huntsman Cancer Institute--part of the University of Utah healthcare system--to explore various types of breast tissues under levitation to refine our pathology detection methods,
"Patchett said.""Our goal is to provide potentially lifesaving, personalized medical treatments based on our ability to quickly and effectively detect cancers and diseases in patients
#Preventing dental implant infections One million dental implants are inserted every year in Germany, and often they need to be replaced due to issues such as tissue infections caused by bacteria.
In the future, these infections will be prevented thanks to a new plasma implant coating that kills pathogens using silver ions.
Bacterial infection of a dental implant is dreaded a complication, as it carries with it a high risk of jawbone degeneration.
Implanting an artificial dental root sets off a race between infectious pathogens and the body's own cellular defenses.
If the bacteria win they form a biological film over the titanium to protect themselves from antibiotics.
Once the implant is colonized by germs, the result is an inflammatory reaction, which can result in bone atrophy.
To lower the risk of infection and improve the long-term effectiveness of the implant, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Bremen have developed a new type of implant coating in cooperation with industry partners.
The Dentaplas coating helps prevent the growth of bacteria, thus allowing the implant to properly take hold
such as unusual bleeding and blood in the urine. Purity is also an important issue. It is not unheard of for the contaminant oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) to slip into the heparin supply chain.
This same type of approach potentially also could be used to make other currently plant-based medicines for fighting cancer
infectious diseases and chronic illnesses. A similar"synthetic biology"technique is used already to make artemisenin, a key malaria-drug ingredient that was derived previously from trees (see Reuters story of August 12, 2014, http://reut. rs/1j2ovkj).
The scientists said they altered the yeast's genetic make-up in a way that coaxed the cells to convert sugar into two opioids-hydrocodone and thebaine-in three to five days."
Waterborne diseases, such as typhoid or diarrhoeal illnesses, kill 1. 5 million people a year globally.
the researchers found that gaps caused by brain injury can be bridged. The findings raise hopes that a euro prostheticthat automatically enhances flagging memory could aid not only brain-injured soldiers,
both groups are studying people with epilepsy who already have implanted electrodes. The researchers can use these electrodes both to record brain activity
Although the ultimate goal is to treat traumatic brain injury these people might benefit as well, says biological engineer Theodore Berger at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los angeles. That is
researchers asked 12 people with epilepsy to look at pictures and then recall up to 90 seconds later which ones they had seen.
) USC biomedical engineer Dong Song, a member of the team, says that the group has tried the stimulation on a woman with epilepsy,
or whether they are under stress. The team has found again by working with people with epilepsy, that stimulating a region called the medial temporal lobe,
which houses the hippocampus, improves memory that is functioning poorly. But when memory is functioning well,
In the case of paralysis, however, robotic arms wired directly to the brain via an implant have been primarily one-way devicesllowing action but not yielding sensory information.
The volunteer, who was paralyzed by a spinal cord injury ten years ago, was not only able to control the hand,
such as a free mobile app where users help find data patterns in cancer research by playing games.
#Designed by a 16-year-old, these headphones are meant to save your hearing Wee going deaf using headphones.
or youl go deaf! his father, Rayman, would shout, trying to be heard over the racket.
he realized the danger of hearing loss by listening to music too loudly isn just something parents say
The same data says that 12 percent of children aged 6-19 suffer from hearing loss caused by bad headphone use.
Along with serial entrepreneur Anthony Lye, the startup they co-founded, Aegis Acoustics, is on a mission to prevent further hearing loss among kids who love consuming their music with headphones.
#New Incisionless Surgery to Treat Enlarged Prostate By age 60, more than 50 percent of men in the United states suffer from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition that leads to annoying changes
including low testosterone, erectile dysfunction and Peyronie disease. He is recognized also a expert in treating male infertility,
#Study finds cystic fibrosis decreases muscle strength Patients with cystic fibrosis have a muscle deficiency that gets worse with age, according to the findings of a joint study by researchers at the University of Georgia and Georgia Regents University.
and results showed cystic fibrosis patients had 15 percent less capacity than the control group -and that capacity grew worse with age.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 Americans, producing mucus that makes it difficult to breathe
The average life span of a patient with cystic fibrosis is less than 40 years. By including children in the study,
researchers opened a door to similar tests on a range of childhood diseases. The Mito Test uses near infrared spectroscopy, a special type of light beamed through the skin
points to this decrease of muscle strength as one reason why cystic fibrosis patients are less likely to exercise as they get older,
complicating their health problems. Mccully, who developed the Mito Test, said the excessive muscle weakness that is common in cystic fibrosis patients now can be attributed to some degree to defects in muscle mitochondria.
Mccully and other UGA researchers will continue to work with Georgia Regents University to determine what is keeping cystic fibrosis patients#muscles from properly functioning,
as well as use the Mito Test in Athens, Augusta and elsewhere to study other childhood diseases that may affect muscle mitochondria.#
#This is the start of a collaboration; we agree there is something in the muscles that accumulates,
noting the shortened life span of cystic fibrosis patients.##We#re interested in optimizing that life,
Colorectal cancer commonly referred to as colon cancer is one of the three most common cancers worldwide and the most common in Singapore.
Almost 95 per cent of colorectal cancers are from malignant tumours. The research team found that Imatinib,
Professor of Metabolic Disease at NTU Lee Kong Chian School of medicine and senior principal investigator with the National Cancer Centre Singapore. ur work has important clinical implications,
and cancer progression in patients predisposed to develop colorectal cancer, said Prof Pettersson, who is also a Professor of Host-Microbe Interactions at Karolinska Institutet.
which had late-stage tumours and rectal bleeding. The same effects were shown also when Imatinib was tested on colon tumour tissues taken from human patients.
#Unusual Chance to Study Patient's Residual Tumor Leads to New Finding Capitalizing on a rare opportunity to thoroughly analyze a tumor from a lung cancer patient who had developed resistance to targeted drug treatment,
the researchers were able to durably wipe out cancer cells in mice implanted with cells from the drug-resistant tumor. ven in cancers that are responding to targeted therapy by conventional criteria,
the senior author of the new study, Trever Bivona, MD, Phd, assistant professor of medicine and member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC).
n this work we have begun to crack open the question of why residual disease persists after targeted therapy.
which drug-resistant cells that survive treatment form residual, often lethal, tumors. Understanding the biological basis of acquired resistance has proved difficult,
leaving scientists with few drug-resistant tumors to use in research. But as described in the online edition of Cell Reports on Thursday, April 2, 2015,
a team of UCSF researchers recently had unusual access to a surgically resected tumor from an EGFR-mutant lung cancer patient who had experienced a substantial,
and Evangelos Pazarentzos, Phd, a postdoctoral fellow, the research group analyzed cells from this tumor using next-generation genome sequencing in an effort to understand how the cells sidestepped erlotinib treatment.
They found that the tumor cells retained the EGFR mutation targeted by erlotinib and had acquired not additional cancer-driving mutations,
or any other mutations known to confer drug resistance. These results suggested that the cells were still potentially susceptible to erlotinib,
when cells from the tumor were implanted in mice that were treated then with erlotinib. The drug effectively inhibited EGFR activity,
and they discovered that this increase is mediated by a previously unknown biochemical complex formed within the tumor cells.
a growing body of work has tied the NF-KAPPA-B pathway to various forms of cancer. An experimental drug known as PBS-1086 directly targets the NF-KAPPA-B pathway,
the implanted tumors shrank significantly, suggesting that combining a compound like PBS-1086 with erlotinib at the outset of therapy may help to prevent acquired drug resistance in EGFR-mutant NSCLC.
Combined drug regimens designed to overcome drug resistance at the outset of therapy are now the norm in treating certain forms of melanoma,
we see tumors shrink. In lung cancer patients treated with these drugs, and that a substantial number of patients, this could be a very powerful companion therapy to minimize
or eliminate residual disease. i
#Engineers gain control of gene activity; new therapies may be ahead Duke researchers have developed a new method to precisely control
or the risk for genetic disease and it could provide a new avenue for gene therapies and guiding stem cell differentiation. he epigenome is associated everything with the genome other than the actual genetic sequence,
But the real excitement from their results is an emerging ability to probe millions of potential enhancers in a way never before possible. ome genetic diseases are straightforwardf you have a mutation within a particular gene,
then you have said the disease Isaac Hilton, postdoctoral fellow in the Gersbach Lab and first author of the study. ut many diseases, like cancer,
cardiovascular disease or neurodegenerative conditions, have a much more complex genetic component. Many different variations in the genome sequence can affect your risk of disease
and this genetic variation can occur in these enhancers that Tim has identified, where they can change the levels of gene expression.
With this technology, we can explore what exactly it is that theye doing and how it relates to disease or response to drug therapies.
Gersbach added, ot only can you start to answer those questions, but you might be able to use this technique for gene therapy to activate genes that have been silenced abnormally
#Scientists discover new treatment for dementia Pushing new frontiers in dementia research, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have found a new way to treat dementia by sending electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain to enhance the growth of new brain cells.
which mitigates the harmful effects of dementia-related conditions and improves short and long-term memory. Their research has shown that new brain cells,
The increase in brain cells reduces anxiety and depression, and promotes improved learning, and boosts overall memory formation and retention.
The research findings open new opportunities for developing novel treatment solutions for patients suffering from memory loss due to dementia-related conditions such as Alzheimer and even Parkinson disease.
and reduces anxiety. emory loss in older people is not only a serious and widespread problem, but signifies a key symptom of dementia.
At least one in 10 people aged 60 and above in Singapore suffer from dementia and this breakthrough could pave the way towards improved treatments for patients.
Growing new brain cells For decades, scientists have been finding ways to generate brain cells to boost memory and learning,
but more importantly, to also treat brain trauma and injury, and age-related diseases such as dementia. As part of a natural cycle, brain cells constantly die
and get replaced by new ones. The area of the brain responsible for generating new brain cells is known as the hippocampus
#Biologists identify brain tumor weakness Biologists at MIT and the Whitehead Institute have discovered a vulnerability of brain cancer cells that could be exploited to develop more-effective drugs against brain tumors.
The study, led by researchers from the Whitehead Institute and MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, found that a subset of glioblastoma tumor cells is dependent on a particular enzyme that breaks down the amino acid glycine.
Without this enzyme, toxic metabolic byproducts build up inside the tumor cells, and they die. GLDC caught the researchersattention as they investigated diseases known as nborn errors of metabolism
which occur when cells are missing certain metabolic enzymes. Many of these disorders specifically affect brain development;
the most common of these is marked phenylketonuria by an inability to break down the amino acid phenylalanine.
Such patients must avoid eating phenylalanine to prevent problems such as intellectual disability and seizures. Loss of GLDC produces a disorder called nonketotic hyperglycinemia,
which causes glycine to build up in the brain and can lead to severe mental retardation. GLDC is also often overactive in certain cells of glioblastoma,
the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumor found in humans. The researchers found that GLDC,
These regions are often found at the center of tumors, which are inaccessible to blood vessels.
which makes them better suited to survive in the ischemic tumor microenvironment, Kim says. However, this highly active SHMT2 also produces a glut of glycine,
#In first human study, new antibody therapy shows promise in suppressing HIV infection In the first results to emerge from HIV patient trials of a new generation of so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies,
or even preventing HIV infection. hiv antibodies In a person infected with HIV, there is an ongoing arms race between the virus and the body immune system.
but only after several years of infection. By that time the virus in their bodies has evolved typically to escape even these powerful antibodies.
researchers are able to harness them as therapeutic agents against HIV infections that have had less time to prepare.
or suppress infection in mouse and nonhuman primate models of HIV. But these animal models are very rough approximations of human infections,
explains Caskey. The mice must be engineered genetically to be susceptible to HIV and therefore lack an intact immune system,
which can in turn lead to better control of the infection. In addition, antibodies like 3bnc117 may be able to kill viruses hidden in infected cells,
or antiretroviral drugs to keep infections under control. ne antibody alone, like one drug alone, will not be sufficient to suppress viral load for a long time
it might be enough to block the HIV infection before it can be established. Ongoing clinical research in Nussenzweig lab and The Rockefeller University Hospital aims to address the impact of additional broadly neutralizing antibodies, alone or in combination, on viral load in HIV-infected patients.
#Wearable device Slows Deadly Brain tumors, Clinical Trial Finds A wearable device that emits low-level electrical fields can slow the progression of glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer,
and extend patientslifespans, a major clinical trial at the University of Virginia School of medicine and more than 80 other institutions has found.
noting that glioblastoma is notoriously difficult to treat. his is a tumor type that it been very hard to make real progress against.
he said. ut this trial in newly diagnosed disease is a different kettle of fish. Because this trial clearly shows an improvement both in time until the tumor starts growing but more importantly in overall survival.
And if you can make a difference in overall survival, youe really doing something. Prolonged Survival Median survival among the 210 newly diagnosed patients who wore the device was 19.6 months
in part because the underlying causes for different subtypes of autism are diverse and not well-understood. here is no better example than early language development,
professor of neurosciences and co-director of the Autism Center of Excellence at UC San diego. ome individuals are minimally verbal throughout life.
more individualized treatments, said co-author Karen Pierce, Phd, associate professor of neurosciences and co-director of the Autism Center of Excellence.
and underlie later good versus poor language outcome in autism. These findings said researchers, will open new avenues of progress towards identifying the causes and best treatment for these two very different types of autism. or the first time,
our study shows a strong relationship between irregularities in speech-activation in the language-critical superior temporal cortex and actual,
but not all, on the autism spectrum. t
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