#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
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
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.
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,
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,
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,
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.
and brings the risk of needle-related diseases and injuries. The new microneedle patch is made of dissolvable material,
The researchers compared the new system to traditional needle delivery by vaccinating two groups of people against three strains of influenza:
This breakthrough was published in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens and will be presented at the upcoming IAS 2015 conference in Vancouver.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.
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,
The Bruchas lab studies circuits that control a variety of disorders including stress, depression, addiction, and pain.
easily calculate the odds of recurrence of the disease. More and more women in The netherlands have to face breast cancer.
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.
where the risk of recurrence of the disease in a specific patient has to determine the follow-up course of action.
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
#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 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.
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,
the new-and-improved device could detect malignancies from just a single droplet. ecause of the sensitivity, apart from faster results,
thus providing earlier diagnosis and prognosis of conditions such as cancer, said Dr. Andreas Holzinger, another researcher involved in the study.
The sensor has shown yet its value in detecting cholera without error, and, as the authors wrote in the current study,
#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,
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,
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.
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
However, these devices, often created with nondegradable elastic polymers, bear an inherent risk of intestinal obstruction as a result of accidental fracture or migration.
Now, researchers at MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have created a polymer gel that overcomes this safety concern
as there is a greater risk for fracture if a device is too large or too complex.
The researchers also say that single-administration delivery systems for the radical treatment of malaria
and other infections could significantly benefit from these technologies. Source: MIT, written by Kevin Leonard e
Because these immune-system cells play important roles in a wide range of diseases, from diabetes to AIDS to cancer, the achievement provides a versatile new tool for research on T cell function,
as well as a path toward CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies for many serious health problems. Using their novel approach,
a protein that has attracted intense interest in the burgeoning field of cancer immunotherapy, as scientists have shown that using drugs to block PD-1 coaxes T cells to attack tumors.
The CRISPR/Cas9 system has captured the imagination of both scientists and the general public, because it makes it possible to easily
as these cells not only stand at the center of many disease processes, but could be gathered easily from patients,
which include autoimmune diseases as well as immunodeficiencies such as ubble boy disease, will enter the clinic in the future. here actually well-trodden ground putting modified T cells into patients.
Evaluating this drug-induced liver injury is a critical part of pharmaceutical drug discovery and must be carried out on human liver cells.
#Nonsurgical approach helps people with paralysis voluntarily move their legs In a study conducted at UCLA,
The results are reported in the Journal of Neurotrauma. hese findings tell us we have to look at spinal cord injury in a new way,
he now believes that it is possible to significantly improve quality of life for patients with severe spinal cord injuries,
because youe not going to recover function below the lesion, 'he said. hey have been told that for decades,
The finding led Edgerton to believe the same approach could be effective for people with complete paralysis. In the new research,
a drug often used to treat anxiety disorders. Researchers placed electrodes at strategic points on the skin, at the lower back and near the tailbone and then administered a unique pattern of electrical currents.
stepping and voluntary control of movements after paralysis. t was said remarkable. dgerton most experts, including himself, had assumed that people who were paralyzed completely would no longer have had neural connections across the area of the spinal cord injury.
The researchers do not know yet whether patients who are paralyzed completely can be trained to fully bear their weight and walk.
and when the subjects see their legs moving for the first time after paralysis, they say it a big deal. he men in the newest study ranged in age from 19 to 56;
their injuries were suffered during athletic activities or, in one case, in an auto accident. All have been paralyzed completely for at least two years.
the Walkabout Foundation and the Russian Scientific Fund. hese encouraging results provide continued evidence that spinal cord injury may no longer mean a lifelong sentence of paralysis
but not complete, paralysis. heye likely to improve even more, he said. The scientists can only work with a small number of patients, due to limited resources,
Almost 6 million Americans live with paralysis, including nearly 1. 3 million with spinal cord injuries. person can have hope, based on these results,
Edgerton said. n my opinion, they should have hope. s
#Scientists decipher the molecular basis of an as yet incurable leukemia in children Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of cancer in children.
It can occur in various forms, differing by specific changes in the genetic material of the leukemia cells,
but also by their response to therapies. An international team of scientists from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hannover, Heidelberg, Kiel,
and Zurich has succeeded in decoding the molecular characteristics of an as yet incurable subtype of leukemia,
resulting in the formation of a new oncogenic protein encoded by parts of the genes TCF3 and HLF, respectively (TCF3-HLF-positive leukemia cells).
which has shown already efficiency in other type of cancers. Source: MP s
#Paralyzed men move legs with new noninvasive spinal cord stimulation Five men with complete motor paralysis were able to voluntarily generate step-like movements thanks to a new strategy that non-invasively delivers electrical
stimulation to their spinal cords, according to a new study funded in part by the National institutes of health. The strategy, called transcutaneous stimulation, delivers electrical current to the spinal cord by way of electrodes strategically placed on the skin of the lower back.
A man with complete motor paralysis moves his legs voluntarily while receiving electrical stimulation to his spinal cord via electrodes placed on his back.
nevertheless, the results signal significant progress towards the eventual goal of developing a therapy for a wide range of individuals with spinal cord injury. hese encouraging results provide continued evidence that spinal cord injury may no longer mean a lifelong
sentence of paralysis and support the need for more research, said Roderic Pettigrew, Ph d.,M d,
. and Claudia Angeli, Ph d.,from the University of Louisville, Kentuckyeported that four men with complete motor paralysis were able to generate some voluntary movements while receiving electrical stimulation to their spinal cords.
believing it could greatly expand the number of paralyzed individuals who could potentially benefit from spinal stimulation. here are a lot of individuals with spinal cord injury that have gone already through many surgeries
and has been shown to induce locomotion in mice with spinal cord injuries. While receiving the stimulation, the men were instructed at different points to either try to move their legs
The researchers suggest that this change was due to the ability of electrical stimulation to reawaken dormant connections that may exist between the brain and the spinal cord of patients with complete motor paralysis. Surprisingly, by the end of the study,
noninvasive stimulation can help individuals regain some autonomic functions lost due to paralysis such as the ability to sweat,
Edgerton also wants to test noninvasive stimulation on individuals who have partial paralysis. e have focused on individuals with complete paralysis throughout this whole process
that those individuals with partial injuries have even more room for improvement, said Edgerton. Though a noninvasive stimulation could offer advantages over a surgically implanted device
Alternatively, Edgerton speculates it may be possible early after an injury for noninvasive stimulation to help patients achieve a certain level of motor control that then allows them to continue to improve with physical rehabilitation
and someone with schizophrenia would be a leap in our understanding of how our brains shape who we are (or vice versa).
like schizophrenia or Parkinson disease (see racking the Brain Codesand hining a Light on Madness.
Further down the road, the concept could lead to a better way to deliver therapeutic stimulation to address neurodegenerative diseases,
and used to treat Parkinson disease. The therapy involves inserting electrodes into certain regions of the brain
This approach is also being studied as a treatment for other disorders, such as epilepsy. Today technology is limited, not by the electronics,
for instance, a pollution sensor to keep tabs on asthma, or just a simple phone with basic capabilities.
who plans to use the handheld device to study mosquitoes that transmit malaria and other diseases in the Amazon."
giving the option of more personalised diagnosis and treatment to cancer patients.""It's not ready for prime time yet,
and treat diseases. They've published the details of a series of sensors, memory switches and circuits that can be encoded into the human gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron.
Eventually, it's hoped that the resulting gut computers could help the early detection and treatment of disorders like inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer r
#Tasty Visuals To help those with visual impairments make out the shape and movement of objects, a company has developed a device that takes visual information
and director of Northwestern Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer Disease Center, said in a statement. Neuroscientist Carl Wernicke discovered in 1874 that some stroke victims with damage to the left sides of their brains suffered language impairment,
which came to be known as Wernicke aphasia. Because those patients could often speak clearly, though nonsensically,
Instead of working with stroke victims, Mesulam and his colleagues studied patients with a rare form of language-affecting dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA.
realized that PPA patients with damage to Wernicke area did not exhibit the same same trouble with word meaning as stroke victims with similar brain damage.
we saw a different map of language by comparing two different models of disease, one based on strokes that destroy an entire region of brain, cortex as well as underlying pathways,
and the other on a neurodegenerative disease that attacks mostly brain cells in cortex rather than the region as a whole, Mesulam said in the press release.
PCR-based assays to diagnose infection. The test required an entire vial of a patient blood,
but overall the results bode well for Reebov continued use as a quick Ebola diagnostic in West Africa. his is an important proof-of-principle that the test can really be used in a field setting, infectious disease doctor Charles Chiu of the University of California, San francisco,
an infectious disease doctor at Boston Children Hospital, told Science. t was more sensitive than I expected for a rapid antigen diagnostic test. his test can be done in very austere environments,
#Lab on chip device to shed light on how cancer spreads 19 may 2015these rare circulating tumour cells (CTCS) can be found at low levels in a cancer patient bloodstream
the spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. The new device-which is described in a Nature Methods paper is expected to enable researchers to capture clusters of these cells
melanoma or prostate cancer successfully captured CTC clusters in from 30 to 40 percent of samples from each group.
an observation that could have important implications with the increased attention to immune-system-based cancer therapies. e are only at the beginning of our quest to understand the role and biology of CTC clusters,
offering high-quality artificial legs to people who have lost limbs, often through injuries from landmines. n
The mind control technology could ultimately give people with severe disabilities, motor neurone disease or locked in syndrome the ability to control digital media by thought alone, according to Cyrus Saihan,
head of business development at BBC Digital. or anybody who can use standard remote controls for any reason,
#Cold plasma technique helps wounds heal quicker 29 june 2015medical researchers in Germany have developed a technique which,
will help open wounds to heal more quickly. A particular problem in older people, open wounds such as ulcers, complications from diabetes and skin conditions like dermatitis and psoriasis are painful, often difficult to treat,
and create a path for further infections. The treatment method uses cold plasma as a healing agent, the first time this has been used on human beings.
It uses the skin itself as an electrode in an electrical discharge process. The treatment device
and the skin lectrodecreates an electrical field that ionises the air in the gap, bathing the wound in a nonthermal
Parents could care for the wound using a small Plasmaderm stick instead of iodine. And I could even imagine the device itself being able to measure
California-based Second sight and previously implanted into to patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa, converts video images from a miniature camera installed in Flynn glasses.
How it works Argus II is Second sight second-generation implantable device intended to treat profoundly blind people suffering from degenerative diseases.
scientists develop machines that adapt to injury Intelligent robots that can adapt to injury, or even become more powerful under attack,
robots that can dapt like animalsto injuries and recover within minutes. The ability for robots to cope with unforeseen challenges is seen as a crucial step towards the widespread use of smart machines everywhere from the home to the battlefield,
Clune and his colleagues have managed to reproduce this nimal-likeability to adapt to injury in a six-legged walking robot
About $70 million will go to the National Cancer Institute, a subsection of the NIH, so it can increase its efforts to identify genetic mutations that contribute to a person's cancer risk.
The FDA, for its part, will receive $10 million to improve its databases, as well as the technologies used to analyze DNA.
But in many parts of the world they carry deadly diseases and are major threat to the health of a population.
000 cases of yellow fever each year. And of these, 30,000 result in death. There has been a number of efforts over the years to solve this problem,
Aedes aegypti isn't known for carrying malaria but it is responsible for spreading other deadly diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever,
and the chikungunya virus.""When we injected Nix into mosquito embryos, we found that more than two-thirds of the female mosquitoes developed male genitals
we'll have our best weapon yet in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases s
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