#Cell that replenishes heart muscle found by researchers Regenerative medicine researchers at UT Southwestern Medical center have identified a cell that replenishes adult heart muscle by using a new cell lineage-tracing technique they devised.
Most cardiomyocytes don't replenish themselves after a heart attack or other significant heart muscle damage. The UT Southwestern researchers were able to devise a new cell-tracing technique,
Dr. Hesham Sadek, Assistant professor of Internal medicine and with the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine.
"said Dr. Joseph Hill, Chief of the Division of Cardiology and Professor of Internal medicine at UT Southwestern,
who holds the James T. Willerson, M d. Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular diseases and the Frank M. Ryburn, Jr.
as well as in cancers, the researchers said. Traditional fate mapping, which is somewhat like developing a family tree for cells, labels cells based on the expression of a certain gene.
Instead, the researchers developed a sophisticated protein-tracking technique based on the presence of a hypoxia-responsive protein called Hif-1alpha.
"This fate-mapping approach, based on protein stabilization rather than gene expression, is an important tool for studying hypoxia in the whole organism.
and even in cancer,"said Dr. Sadek, whose lab focuses on cardiac regeneration and stem cell metabolism m
'said Professor Shankar Balasubramanian of the Department of chemistry and the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, who led the research.'
and the role that these modifications may play in the development of certain diseases, 'said Balasubramanian.'
'The research was supported by Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council UK K
gastric cancer Researchers have devised a breath test that can help doctors diagnose the early signs of esophageal and gastric cancer in minutes.
and will now be tested in a larger trial involving three hospitals in London. Researchers analysed breath samples of 210 patients using the test.
They found that the test can discriminate between malignant and benign esophageal cancer in patients for the first time.
The test can also be applied to detect gastric (stomach) cancer tumours. According to the researchers, economic modelling showed that the test could save the NHS £145 million a year
Esophageal and gastric malignancies account for 15 per cent of cancer-related deaths globally. Both cancers are diagnosed usually in the advanced stages
because they rarely cause any noticeable symptoms when they first develop. As a result, the long-term survival rate is 13 per cent for esophageal cancer and 15 per cent for gastric cancer in the UK.
However diagnosis of these cancers at an early stage can improve survival rates. Doctors diagnose esophageal and gastric cancers by carrying out an endoscopy.
This is a procedure where the inside of the body is examined using a probe with a light source and video camera at the end via the mouth and down the gullet.
However, the procedure is invasive and costs the NHS around £400-£600 per endoscopy. Only two per cent of patients who are referred for an endoscopy by GPS are diagnosed with esophageal or gastric cancer.
The first study, published in the Annals of Surgery was carried out by an international team led by scientists at Imperial College London and clinicians at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Researchers from UCL (University college London), Keele University Medical school, Heyrovsky Institute of Physical chemistry and Academy of Sciences of the Czech republic were involved also in the study.
Now, 400 patients at UCLH (University college London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust,
and Guy's and St thomas'NHS Foundation Trust will take part in a further trial. The researchers hope to use the findings from the clinical trial to create a sensor device that can signal to clinicians
"Esophageal and gastric cancers are on the rise in the UK with more than 16,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
The current method for detecting these cancers is expensive, invasive and a diagnosis is made usually at a late stage
and often the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. This makes it harder to treat and results in poor long-term survival rates.
Our breath test could address these problems because it can help diagnose patients with early nonspecific symptoms as well as reduce the number of invasive endoscopies carried out on patients,
which often lead to negative results. Diagnosis at an early stage could give patients more treatment options and ultimately save more lives."
"The test looks for chemical compounds in exhaled breath that are unique to patients with esophageal and gastric cancer.
The cancers produce a distinctive smell of volatile organic compounds (VOC), chemicals that contain carbon and are found in all living things,
which can help doctors detect early signs of the disease. Researchers were able to identify for the first time the number of VOCS in breath samples by using a selected ion flow tube mass spectrometer,
an analytical instrument used to identify what chemicals are present in a sample. This quantitative technology identified VOCS that were present at significantly higher concentrations in patients with esophageal and gastric cancer than in non-cancerous patients.
The researchers say that the results could be used to set a biomarker, a biological feature used to measure the presence or progress of a disease.
To take the test, patients breathe into a device similar to a breathalyser which is connected to a bag.
The researchers used breath samples of patients with esophageal and gastric cancer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust from 2011 to 2013.
Patients who are at risk of developing these cancers and those who had benign tumours were tested also.
#New mechanism that regulates tumor initiation, invasion in skin basal cell carcinoma Researchers at the Université libre de Bruxelles,
ULB uncover a new mechanism that regulates tumour initiation and invasion in skin basal cell carcinoma.
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer found in human with several million of new patients affected every year around the world.
directly controls skin cancer formation by regulating the expansion of tumor initiating cells and the invasive properties of cancer cells.
In collaboration with Pr Véronique Del Marmol (Department of Dermatology, Erasme Hospital, ULB) and the group of Pr François Fuks (Laboratory of cancer epigenetics, Faculty of medicine, ULB), Larsimont and colleagues demonstrated that
Sox9 begins to be expressed in pre-cancerous lesions and is maintained in invasive tumors. Deletion of Sox9 prevents skin cancer formation demonstrating the essential role of Sox9 during tumorigenesis
and leads to the progressive disappearance of the oncogene expressing cells.""It was really exciting to see that the deletion of only one gene was sufficient to completely prevent tumor formation.
It was even more surprising to observe that in absence of Sox9, pre-cancerous cells disappear over time,
suggesting that we can eliminate oncogene expressing cells before cancer formation"comments Jean-Christophe Larsimont, the first author of this study.
as well as the gene network regulated by Sox9 during the early steps of skin tumor initiation
cell adhesion and cytoskeleton dynamics required for tumor invasion. These results have important implications for the development of novel strategies to block tumor formation and invasion in the most frequent cancer in humans."
"Given that the majority of human cancers express Sox9, it is likely that the results of this study will be relevant for other cancers in humans
and will help to define new strategies to prevent cancer formation and block tumor invasion"comments Cédric Blanpain, the last and corresponding author of this study.
This work was supported by the FNRS, Fondation Contre le Cancer, Foundation ULB, ERC the Fonds Gaston Ithier, the Fond Yvonne Boël, the foundation Bettencourt Schueller,
and the foundation Baillet-Latour. Cédric Blanpain is an investigator of WELBIO o
#X marks the spot: Novel method for controlling plasma rotation confirmed Such a method could prove important for future facilities like ITER,
the huge international tokamak under construction in France that will demonstrate the feasibility of fusion as a source of energy for generating electricity.
and proliferation of these neuron-damaging compounds--a discovery that may accelerate the development of new drugs to treat this incurable disease.
The researchers added that the cell-to-cell"seeding"property of these mutant proteins seems to be a critical part of the disease's progression.
Study results appear online in Molecular Psychiatry. Huntington's disease is based a genetically, severe neurodegenerative disorder that results in progressive motor, cognitive and psychiatric impairment and, ultimately, death.
There is no effective treatment for Huntington's, which--like many neurodegenerative diseases--is characterized by an accumulation of misfolded mutant proteins that interfere with brain function.
As part of their study, the researchers introduced a new screening test that measures mutant huntingtin protein seeding in cerebrospinal fluid,
"Determining if a treatment modifies the course of a neurodegenerative disease like Huntington's or Alzheimer's may take years of clinical observation,
"said study leader Dr. Steven Potkin, UCI professor of psychiatry & human behavior.""This assay that reflects a pathological process can play a key role in more rapidly developing an effective treatment.
Seeding measurements can also aid in determining the optimal dosage of a new therapy. Additionally, gauging the seeding property of misfolded proteins may prove to be useful in the development of new treatments for other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, ALS and Parkinson's.
UCI is a leading center for research on Huntington's disease and other related neurodegenerative disorders. Its scientists have helped identify mechanisms underlying HD
and are actively pursuing the creation of novel therapies. Earlier this year, study contributor Leslie Thompson of UCI's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research center and UCI MIND received a $5 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative medicine to continue her CIRM
-funded effort to develop stem cell treatments for Huntington's disease. In this project, Thompson and her colleagues plan to create a therapy employing human embryonic stem cells that can be evaluated in clinical trials s
#New manufacturing approach slices lithium-ion battery cost in half An advanced manufacturing approach for lithium-ion batteries, developed by researchers at MIT and at a spinoff company called 24m,
promises to significantly slash the cost of the most widely used type of rechargeable batteries while also improving their performance
While conventional lithium-ion batteries are composed of brittle electrodes that can crack under stress, the new formulation produces battery cells that can be bent,
safety and reliability of the device that restores vision in those blinded by a rare, degenerative eye disease.
and quality of life for people blinded by retinitis pigmentosa. They are being published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Retinitis pigmentosa is an incurable disease that affects about 1 in 4 000 Americans and causes slow vision loss that eventually leads to blindness.
The Argus II system was designed to help provide patients who have lost their sight due to the disease with some useful vision.
Through the device, patients with retinitis pigmentosa are able to see patterns of light that the brain learns to interpret as an image.
The system uses a miniature video camera stored in the patient's glasses to send visual information to a small computerized video processing unit which can be stored in a pocket.
This computer turns the image to electronic signals that are sent wirelessly to an electronic device implanted on the retina
-or surgery-related serious adverse events. After three years, there were no device failures. Throughout the three years, 11 subjects experienced serious adverse events, most
"This study shows that the Argus II system is a viable treatment option for people profoundly blind due to retinitis pigmentosa--one that can make a meaningful difference in their lives
M d.,lead author of the study and director of the clinical retina research unit At wills Eye Hospital."
including treatment for other diseases and eye injuries
#UVA fertilization discovery may lead to male contraceptive Groundbreaking new reproductive research has identified key molecular events that could be playing a critical role as sperm
bio-inspired process unlike current approaches that rely on high temperatures, pressures, toxic solvents and expensive precursors,
In particular, current chemical synthesis methods use high temperatures and toxic solvents, which make environmental remediation expensive and challenging.
or chemical environment to provide unique functionality in a wide range of applications from energy to medicine.
In rare instances, the internal chemical response of a cell can cause unregulated cell growth, leading to cancer.
They then deliver a third drop containing fluorescent antibodies that stick only to the proteins modified in the cascade.
Looking at the antibodies in a microscope provides a snapshot of what has changed and what hasn't. By building up a series of snapshots at different time intervals,
or proteins that could be targeted by drugs, eventually leading to new medicines to fight cancer r
#First hospital light fixture to kill bacteria safely, continuously becomes commercially available in North america Indigo-Clean#is a light fixture manufactured through an exclusive licensing agreement with the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland,
Indigo-Clean#was unveiled just before the annual meeting of theassociation for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in Nashville."
"It bolsters current disinfection efforts by infection preventionists and environmental services professionals in the fight against HAIS."
it is lethal to pathogens but is safe for use in the presence of patients and staff."
"Breaking the chain of infection, from an infected patient, to the environment, to new patient, is vitally important,
a large teaching hospital operated by NHS (National Health service) Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The technology and its effectiveness have been the subject of more than 20 peer-reviewed academic publications and 30 conference presentations since 2008.
and developing HINS-light technology for the purpose of reducing the environmental transmission of pathogens
We chose Kenall because of its extensive experience in providing lighting for the most challenging healthcare environments where infection prevention is a key consideration."
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports around 1 in 25 hospital patients in the US have at least one infection contracted in the health care setting.
and 99,000 deaths in acute care hospitals in the U s. and add $35-45 billion in excess health care costs each year.
HAIS can also result in significant financial penalties for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act.
those providers scoring poorly in the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) program receive lower Medicare reimbursements.
This technology has led to the identification for the first time of pathological mutations in the RNASEH1 gene in six subjects from three unrelated families.
These alterations cause impaired energy production in the cells and therefore, lead to the disease. The clinical manifestations of affected individuals are chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (CPEO), a slowly progressive paralysis of the extraocular muscles,
and exercise intolerance in early adulthood, followed by cerebellar and brain stem atrophy and a general weakness of the muscles affecting locomotion,
The identification of a new mitochondrial disease gene not only provides valuable basic information about the biological function
but also widens out knowledge on the mechanisms leading to disease and provide the basis for developing new and more effective therapies s
#Iron: A biological element? Arrayclark Johnson, a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
#Gel that can make drugs last longer A drug-delivering hydrogel has been developed to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C a liver disease that kills around 500,000 people worldwide every year.
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR have developed a drug-delivering hydrogel to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C a liver disease that kills around 500,000 people worldwide every year."
and well-being of patients suffering from chronic diseases such as hepatitis C,"said IBN Executive director Professor Jackie Y. Ying.
The standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C infections includes a weekly injection of a protein drug called PEGYLATED interferon.
The frequent injections increases patient discomfort, is time-consuming, and can cause depression and fatigue.
The study by the IBN researchers showed that a onetime administration of the hydrogel containing the PEGYLATED interferon medication was as effective as eight injections of the medication alone
"Our hydrogels can significantly extend the half-life of hepatitis C drugs by up to 10 times longer than current treatment.
This work improves the therapeutic efficiency of the drugs, while reducing the need for frequent injections,
"said Dr Kurisawa. The study was published recently in the leading journal, Biomaterials, and conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Molecular and Cell biology of A*STAR.
Up to 150 million people globally suffer from chronic hepatitis C infections according to the World health organization.""I believe that our method can pave the way for more effective and safe treatment of hepatitis C. We are also testing the microstructured gel for the treatment of other chronic diseases besides hepatitis C,"added Dr Kurisawa.
Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR.
and responds specifically to remove non-self pathogens invading our body. T cells play a central role in the immune response to non-self pathogens.
The T-cell repertoire is shaped by"education"that occurs in the thymus. A huge number of immature T cells, each of which can recognize a single antigen,
are generated first, and these immature T cells are sorted out through positive selection, which keeps potentially useful cells able to detect non-self pathogens alive,
and negative selection, which kills self-reactive cells. The research group has revealed previously that the thymoproteasome,
and may provide clues to the development of therapies for infectious diseases, cancers and immune diseases.,"
identification of gutter oils mainly involves detection of certain food residue markers or toxic and carcinogenic chemicals in the sample.
#Discovery could lead to personalized colon cancer treatment approach A UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center discovery of just how a certain tumor suppressor molecule works to prevent tumor growth could lead to a personalized treatment
In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers reported that the tumor-suppressing protein AIM2,
or Absent in Melanoma 2, helps prevent colon cancer by restricting a signaling molecule called Akt.
With this finding, the researchers believe theye found a possible drug target for colon cancer patients who lack the tumor suppressor AIM2. everal studies
and clinical evidence suggest AIM2 functions as a tumor suppressor, but until now, wee had very little direct evidence to explains how this occurs,
said Justin E. Wilson, Phd, the study first author and a postdoctoral fellow at UNC Lineberger,
the UNC School of medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Department of Genetics. e found that AIM2 inhibits tumorigenesis in multiple animal models of colorectal cancer by restricting the pro-survival signaling molecule, Akt,
which is commonly hyperactive in many human cancers. The study builds on previous findings suggesting that AIM2 limits cancer cell growth in colon cancer cell lines,
but we have identified a possible personalized therapeutic strategy to help them, said Jenny Ting, William R. Kenan Jr.
Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of medicine Department of Genetics and a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center member.
And in mouse models lacking AIM2, the researchers found that they had smaller tumors and precancerous colon polyps when blocked Akt.
Wilson said the researchers believe their findings mean that drugs used to inhibit Akt could be used as a personalized therapy for people who don have AIM2. ur research paves the way for future clinical trials that screen for AIM2 expression in colon cancer
and possibly other cancers to identify patients who may potentially benefit from personalized anti-Akt therapy,
This could be useful for medical servers, government data communications, financial markets and military communication channels, as well as quantum cloud communications and distributed quantum computing."
#Stretchy mesh heater for sore muscles If you suffer from chronic muscle pain a doctor will likely recommend for you to apply heat to the injury.
along with an international team, have come up with an ingenious way of creating therapeutic heat in a light, flexible design.
while deformed and under stress on knee and wrist joints. It is lightweight, breathable and generates heat over the entire surface area of the material.
In addition, PLA is biocompatible and thus suitable for medical use, for instance in absorbable suture threads.
and the most common end-stage disease is when an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures. If this occurs in one of your large coronary arteries,
This is what causes most heart attacks. The clot can also dislodge and cause a stroke if it lodges in a blood vessel in the brain.
"Until now, doctors have believed that smooth muscle cells--the cells that help blood vessels contract and dilate--were the good guys in the body's battle against atherosclerotic plaque.
"Eighty-two percent of the smooth muscle cells within advanced atherosclerotic lesions cannot be identified using the typical methodology
since the lesion cells down-regulate smooth muscle cell markers. As such, we have underestimated grossly how many smooth muscle cells are in the lesion."
"Suddenly, the role of smooth muscle cells is much more complex, much less black-and-white. Are they good or bad?
which cell is which within the lesion."("The research also shows other subsets of smooth muscle cells were transitioning to cells resembling stem cells and myofibroblasts.
in order to see where those cells were later in disease.""Further, Shankman identified a key gene, Klf4,
and exhibited features indicating they were more stable--the ideal therapeutic goal for treating the disease in people.
Of major interest, loss of Klf4 in smooth muscle cells did not reduce the number of these cells in lesions
but resulted in them undergoing transitions in their functional properties that appear to be beneficial in disease pathogenesis. That is,
Shankman's findings raise many critical questions about previous studies built on techniques that failed to assess the composition of the lesions accurately.
Moreover, her studies are the first to indicate that therapies targeted at controlling the properties of smooth muscle cells within lesions may be highly effective in treating a disease that is the leading cause of death worldwide.
#Researchers develop world's most sensitive test to detect infectious disease, superbugs Researchers at Mcmaster University have developed a new way to detect the smallest traces of metabolites, proteins or fragments of DNA.
In essence, the new method can pick up any compound that might signal the presence of infectious disease,
researchers developed a molecular device made of DNA that can be switched'on'by a specific molecule of their choice--such as a certain type of disease indicator
"This invention will allow us to detect anything we might be interested in, bacterial contamination or perhaps a protein molecule that is a cancer marker.
simple answers that appear on test paper indicating the presence of infection or contamination in people, food or the environment t
#Two biomarkers linked to severe heart disease found Arrayarrayinterestingly, Nichols and his colleagues did not set out to pinpoint the two key biomarkers.
They wanted to create an insulin resistant animal model that mimicked human heart disease. They chose pigs,
But only about half of the pigs developed the most severe form of the disease.
Sure enough, all the pigs with severe heart disease had elevated levels of fructosamine and oxidized LDL.""Also, this correlation was more common in females,
"Clemmons found a study from Finland published in 2005 showing that elevated glycated protein levels were associated strongly with advanced heart disease and increased mortality in women but not in men."
"A next step could be to study the affected heart tissue to find abnormal biochemical reactions in the cellular pathways involved in glycated proteins and severe coronary disease.
Clemmons added,"We could also study what's different about these female pigs that make them much more susceptible to severe heart disease,
a discovery that could pave the way to new treatments for the disease. The researchers at the Medical Research Council's (MRC) Toxicology Unit based at the University of Leicester
and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine identified a key protein, called a protein kinase,
that if targeted stops the disease. The study is published in Nature Communications. Malaria is caused by a parasite that lives inside an infected mosquito
and is transferred into the human through a bite. Once inside the body parasites use a complex process to enter red blood cells
and survive within them. By identifying one of the key proteins needed for the parasite to survive in the red blood cells,
The discovery could be the first step in developing a new drug to treat malaria. The scientists--funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC)
but with limited toxicity, making them safe enough to be used by children and pregnant women.
Co-lead author of the study Professor Andrew Tobin from the MRC Toxicology Unit which is located at the University of Leicester,
"This is a real breakthrough in our understanding of how malaria survives in the blood stream
and if it can be targeted by drugs we could see something that stops malaria in its tracks without causing toxic side-effects."
& Tropical Medicine, said:""It is a great advantage in drug discovery research if you know the identity of the molecular target of a particular drug and the consequences of blocking its function.
and also helps to avoid drug resistance which is a major problem in the control of malaria worldwide."
"According to the World health organization malaria currently infects more than 200 million people world wide and accounts for more than 500,000 deaths per year.
Most deaths occur among children living in Africa where a child dies every minute of malaria and the disease accounts for approximately 20%of all childhood deaths.
Professor Patrick Maxwell, chair of the MRC's Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board, said:""Tackling malaria is a global challenge,
with the parasite continually working to find ways to survive our drug treatments. By combining a number of techniques to piece together how the malaria parasite survives,
and exploit the disease's weak spots but with limited side-effects for patients
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