Thanks to a leading-edge procedure performed at UT Southwestern Medical center Mrs. Henderson is now breathing
"said Dr. Steven Marso, Medical Director of Interventional Cardiology and Professor of Internal medicine.""People who wouldn't have had an option for treatment now have an option for treatment,
"I didn't wake up until the nurse woke me this morning, "Mrs. Henderson said, happily y
however for communicating with deaf people; they are for controlling your smartphone. By mimicking the firing of a pistol for example a user can switch to another browser tab change the map's view from satellite to standard
The new technology platform opens new possibilities for devising an approach to prevent HIV infection,
and antibodies that can shut it down, "he says.""We desperately need solutions to prevent HIV infection,
which, to date, has infected or killed more than 70 million people worldwide, "Dr. Blanchard says. If this technology proves useful in HIV management,
it could potentially be used to decode infection processes for other viruses, he says. Using Light to Watch HIV Dance In the Science study,
exposing the gp41 subunit that is essential for subsequent aspects of the mechanism that causes infection."
and why it is challenging for researchers to develop vaccines targeting the HIV envelope proteins,
They also saw that antibodies known to exhibit some effectiveness acted to prevent gp120 from opening,
when they introduced a small molecule now under development to prevent HIV infection.""The practical outcome from this technology is that we can begin to understand how the biological system moves.
We are working now to improve the technology to achieve the imaging precision we need to make broadly effective therapies,
Technologies Work Hand in hand The Nature study, led by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases,
professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell.""The antibodies used in the crystallography study are ones that we observed to stop the dance of the HIV envelope proteins,
pushing the trimer assembly into a quiescent, ground state, "Dr. Blanchard says.""This concrete, atomic resolution picture of
and where these antibodies bind provides an important step forward to understanding HIV's biology, "he says.
#Slime-producing molecules help spread disease from cats to endangered sea otters The spread of diseases from land animals to sea otters
These large complex molecules form slimy biofilms and bind waterborne organic matter into larger particles in which disease-causing microorganisms can become embedded
Using the parasite Toxoplasma gondii as a model they showed how these sticky polymers increase the chance that disease-causing organisms would be picked up by marine snails
Findings from the new study will be published Oct 8 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Discovering the role that these invisible polymers play in disease transmission in the ocean is a tremendous step forward in helping us better understand
Contamination of coastal waters with disease-causing microorganisms is known to pose a threat to the health of both humans
and animals but the mechanisms by which diseases are transmitted in marine ecosystems has remained until now a mystery.
Puzzled by the high rate of T. gondii infection in sea otters and other marine mammals the researchers set out to track the route of transmission.
Noting that T. gondii infections were 10 times more common among sea otters that fed heavily on kelp-grazing marine snails than among otters that fed on abalone
In laboratory tests the researchers discovered that the gelatinous polymers excreted by seaweed act in two ways to provide an environment conducive to transmission of infectious diseases.
when the snails are eaten by otters completing the intricate chain of disease transmission from land-based cats to the endangered coastal sea otters Other researchers on the study were Colin Krusor Patricia A. Conrad John L. Largier
and Ecology of Infectious disease program provided funding for the study y
#Colorectal cancer: New clues for early detection Researchers at the University of Luxembourg have identified potential new ways to test for the first signs of one of the most deadly types of cancer:
colorectal cancer. They have found new biomarkers: molecules whose increased presence or absence in tissue suggests the development of tumorous cells.
These indicators could help detect colorectal cancer at an early stage predict its severity or even offer new treatments.
Colorectal cancer is still one of the most frequent and deadliest cancers worldwide. But diagnosed in time it can be cured in 9 out of 10 cases said Professor Serge Haan from the Life science Research Unit at the University of Luxembourg.
Thus it is highly important to identify more sensitive and specific markers to improve early diagnosis as well as therapeutic strategies.
The research team around Prof. Serge Haan and Dr. Elisabeth Letellier studied over 800 detailed results of tissue-analysis of both patients with various stages of colorectal cancer and healthy individuals.
They completed this study with original analysis of patient material from the Ontario Tumor Bank in Canada and the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg.
The Luxembourg-based team were the first to see a significant reduction in certain proteins (specifically SOCS2 and SOCS6) in pre-cancerous and cancerous colorectal cells.
They concluded that especially SOCS2 could be a very sensitive early diagnostic biomarker. Further analysis also revealed that this protein could even give an early prediction of the cancer's severity.
SOCS stands for Suppressor Of Cytokine Signalling regulatory proteins which are essential for normal cell growth.
There is increasing evidence that the loss of SOCS proteins plays a role in many cancers as this induce uncontrolled cell growth and tumour development.
These findings have been published in The british Journal of Cancer. The research team included several Luxembourg biomedical research institutions:
The National Health Laboratory the Santé Public Research Centre and the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg.
This study was financed by the Luxembourg Cancer Foundation. Further work is needed now to expand on these findings before they can be used clinically l
#Worlds first novel method for label-free identification of stem cells will lead to more consistent, efficacious stem cell therapies,
doctors can be certain that the concentration of highly enriched MSC mixture is stated as, making it easier for them to develop stem-cell-based treatment that would be more consistent
Department of Reproductive Medicine at KKH, said, "This important discovery will allow us to identify
and select the best population of stem cells that we can use for treating different diseases such as brittle-bone disease
and found that these cells could repair both muscle and bone injuries, while marrow-derived cells identified as osteogenic stromal cells were able to repair bone but not muscle.
Researchers investigating the feasibility of 3d printed implant materials often turn to magnesium-aluminum (Mg-Al) alloys
"Our chemical analysis of the transport rates and distribution of vaporized species in the plume offers improved understanding of critical laser processes, including those used in additive manufacturing,
#Double blast to ward off pneumonia: Dry powder inhaler formulation Despite advances in vaccination and antimicrobial therapy, community-acquired pneumonia remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, even in highly developed countries.
Desmond Heng, Reginald Tan and co-workers at the A*STAR Institute of Chemical and Engineering sciences have developed now a dry powder inhalation formulation to treat bacterial infections associated with this disease1.
Community-acquired pneumonia, a type of lung inflammation contracted outside of a hospital or nursing-home setting, is caused most often by infections with bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.
The condition affects people of all ages but is particularly prevalent among infants, the elderly and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The formulation developed by the team contains two important ingredients: ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP), an antibiotic commonly used to eliminate pathogenic bacteria,
"Our follow-up microbial assays show that a concentration as low as one microgram per milliliter is enough to inhibit three of the bacteria known to cause this type of pneumonia.""
""We found that it is feasible to package the CIP-BP dry powder in an inhaler that can treat bacterial infections associated with community-acquired pneumonia,
The delivery of CIP and BP via dry powder inhalers may become a novel and useful strategy for treating patients with community-acquired pneumonia a
#Smallest world record has ndless possibilitiesfor bionanotechnology Scientists from the University of Leeds have taken a crucial step forward in bionanotechnology a field that uses biology to develop new tools for science technology and medicine.
and to aid our understanding of a range of diseases, "explained Evans. Aside from biological applications,
or to create artificial noses for the early detection of disease or simply to advise you that the milk in your fridge has gone off."
Key contributions to this work were provided by Dr. John Dye's laboratory at the U s army Medical Research Institute of Infectious diseases (USAMRIID), the lab of Christopher P. Hill, D. Phil.
initiating infection. Importantly, the researchers were able to demonstrate this peptide target is suitable for use in high-throughput drug screens.
Current experimental drugs generally target only one of Ebola's five species."The current growing epidemic demonstrates the need for effective broad-range Ebola virus therapies,
"Importantly, viral sequence information from the epidemic reveals rapid changes in the viral genome, while our target sequence remains the same.
Therefore, our target will enable the discovery of drugs with the potential to treat any future epidemic,
"Ebola is a lethal virus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with a 50 percent to 90 percent mortality rate.
"Although the current push of clinical trials will hopefully lead to an effective treatment for the Zaire species causing the present epidemic,
or new Ebola species. Development of a broadly acting therapy is an important long-term goal that would allow cost-effective stockpiling of a universal Ebola treatment."
and less expensive to produce compared to the current most promising approach, antibodies. The Utah group has developed previously highly potent and broadly acting D-peptide inhibitors of HIV entry, currently in preclinical studies,
and is now adapting this approach to Ebola using the mimics developed in this study. In collaboration with Navigen
#New lab-on-a-chip could revolutionize early diagnosis of cancer Scientists have been laboring to detect cancer and a host of other diseases in people using promising new biomarkers called exosomes.
Indeed Popular Science magazine named exosome-based cancer diagnostics one of the 20 breakthroughs that will shape the world this year.
Exosomes could lead to less invasive earlier detection of cancer and sharply boost patients'odds of survival.
Exosomes are minuscule membrane vesicles --or sacs--released from most if not all cell types including cancer cells said Yong Zeng assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas. First described in the mid-'80s they were thought once to be'cell dust
Now Zeng and colleagues from the University of Kansas Medical center and KU Cancer Center have published just a breakthrough paper in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal describing their invention of a miniaturized biomedical testing device for exosomes.
Zeng and his fellow researchers have developed the lab-on-a-chip for early detection of lung cancer--the number-one cancer killer in the U s. Today lung cancer is detected mostly with an invasive biopsy after tumors are larger than 3 centimeters in diameter and even
Unlike some cancer types such as breast or colon cancer no widely accepted screening tool has been available for detecting early-stage lung cancers.
Diagnosis of lung cancer requires removing a piece of tissue from the lung for molecular examination.
Tumor biopsy is often impossible for early cancer diagnosis as the developing tumor is too small to see by the current imaging tools.
and more sensitive thus suitable for large population screening to detect early-stage tumors. Zeng said the prototype lab-on-a-chip is made of a widely used silicone rubber called polydimethylsiloxane
In order to avoid other interfering species present in plasma the bead surface was modified chemically with an antibody that recognizes
Beyond lung cancer Zeng said the lab-on-a-chip could be used to detect a range of potentially deadly forms of cancer.
Our technique provides a general platform to detecting tumor-derived exosomes for cancer diagnosis he said.
In addition to lung cancer we've also tested for ovarian cancer in this work. In theory it should be applicable to other types of cancer.
Our long-term goal is to translate this technology into clinical investigation of the pathological implication of exosomes in tumor development.
Such knowledge would help develop better predictive biomarkers and more efficient targeted therapy to improve the clinical outcome.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Kansas. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and may be key to developing new drugs and therapies. Specifically principal investigator Albert R. La Spada MD Phd professor of cellular and molecular medicine chief of the Division of Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics and associate director of the Institute for Genomic
Medicine at UC San diego and colleagues found that a microrna known as let-7 controls autophagy through the amino acid sensing pathway which has emerged as the most potent activator of mtorc1 complex activity.
Autophagy is a fundamental process used by cells to degrade unnecessary components in times of starvation releasing energy stores that help promote cell survival.
Cells have adapted further autophagy for other purposes as well including recycling dysfunctional components immune response to pathogen invasion surveillance against cancer
and is very surprisingsaid La Spada. s let-7 is known to be a tumor suppressor its ability to activate autophagy could be a major component of its anti-tumor forming activitythough La Spada noted that autophagy may also contrarily promote tumor progression
by supporting the altered metabolism of growing cancers. With let-7 revealed to be a master regulator of metabolism helping to modulate anabolic growth (the creation of new molecules in cells) with catabolic destruction (the breakdown of molecules in cells) researchers say the overall picture
and overall homeostasis or a healthy equilibrium. he therapeutic potential of let-7 remains to be explored.
and colleagues have shown that a lentivirus encoding let-7 injected into mouse neurons promotes the autophagic turnover of toxic misfolded proteins associated with neurodegenerative disease. e also demonstrate that treatment with anti-let-7 can block autophagy
It is possible that modulation of let-7 could be pursued for therapeutic application using very carefully targeted delivery systems
and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have discovered a small molecule that blocks a form of cell death that triggers inflammation opening the door for potential new treatments for inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis Crohn's disease
and psoriasis. The researchers made the discovery while investigating how a protein called MLKL kills cells in a process known as necroptosis.
while warning the immune system that something has gone wrong such as during viral infection. However when necroptosis is activated inappropriately it can promote inflammation and the development of inflammatory disease.
Dr Joanne Hildebrand Ms Maria Tanzer Dr James Murphy Associate professor John Silke and colleagues studied how MLKL changes shape to trigger cell death.
Understanding how it becomes active can help uncover new ways to treat disease. Dr Hildebrand said the research team found that a particular part of the protein became'unlatched
Dr Murphy said institute scientists would now embark on a collaborative project with Catalyst Therapeutics to develop a potent new drug based on the small molecule identified in the study.
and improve treatments for inflammatory disease e
#Anorexia/bulimia: Bacterial protein implicated Eating disorders (ED) such as anorexia nervosa bulimia and binge eating disorder affect approximately 5-10%of the general population
but the biological mechanisms involved are unknown. Researchers at Inserm Unit 1073 Nutrition inflammation and dysfunction of the gut-brain axis (Inserm/University of Rouen) have demonstrated the involvement of a protein produced by some intestinal bacteria that may be the source of these disorders.
Antibodies produced by the body against this protein also react with the main satiety hormone
These results are published in the journal Translational Psychiatry in the online issue of 7 october 2014.
Anorexia nervosa bulimia and binge eating disorder are all eating disorders (ED) . If the less well defined and atypical forms are included ED affect 15-20%of the population particularly adolescents and young adults.
Despite various psychiatric genetic and neurobiological studies the molecular mechanism responsible for these disorders remains mysterious.
Where this protein is present antibodies are produced against it by the body. These will also bind to the satiety hormone because of its structural homology to Clpb
The sensation of satiety is reached (anorexia) or not reached (bulimia or overeating). Moreover the bacterial protein itself seems to have anorexigenic properties.
Food intake and level of antibodies against melanotropin in the 1st group of mice which were given mutant E coli bacteria (not producing Clpb) did not change.
In contrast antibody level and food intake did vary in the 2nd group of animals which received E coli producing Clpb protein.
Plasma levels of antibodies to Clpb and melanotropin were higher in these patients. Furthermore their immunological response determined the development of eating disorders in the direction of anorexia or bulimia.
These data thus confirm the involvement of the bacterial protein in the regulation of appetite and open up new perspectives for the diagnosis and specific treatment of eating disorders.
Correcting the action of the protein mimicking the satiety hormonewe are presently working to develop a blood test based on detection of the bacterial protein Clpb.
According to our initial observations it would indeed be possible to neutralise this bacterial protein using specific antibodies without affecting the satiety hormone they conclude.
#New pathway discovered regulating autoimmune diseases The main function of the immune system is to protect against diseases and infections.
which can result in diseases such as multiple sclerosis type 1 diabetes lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. There are currently no existing cures for these diseases.
Now in a new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) a potential treatment maybe on the horizon.
and food protects against autoimmune diseases by altering the immune response and turning destructive cells into protective cells.
The molecule is also able to reverse disease progression by restoring damaged tissue caused by the autoimmunity process.
and restore tissue integrity by activating stem cells said Abdallah Elkhal Phd BWH Division of Transplant Surgery and Transplantation Surgery Research Laboratory senior study author.
and may serve for the development of novel therapeutics. The study is published online October 7 2014 in Nature Communications.
The scientists performed preclinical trials using experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis a preclinical model for human multiple sclerosis.
Mice receiving CD4+T cells along with NAD+present had delayed a significant onset of disease as well as a less severe form
not only autoimmune diseases but other acute or chronic conditions such as allergy chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sepsis and immunodeficiency said Stefan G. Tullius MD Phd BWH Chief of Transplant Surgery
and Director of Transplantation Surgery Research lead study author. Moreover the researchers demonstrated that NAD+can restore tissue integrity
which may benefit patients that have advanced tissue damage caused by autoimmune diseases. In terms of next steps Elkhal notes that the lab is currently testing additional pathways and the clinical potential of NAD+.
Thus we hope that its potential as a powerful therapeutic agent for the treatment of autoimmune diseases will facilitate its use in future clinical trials.
The above story is provided based on materials by Brigham and Women's Hospital. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Thyroid carcinoma: Biomarker reveals cancer cause The expression of the protein CLIP2*provides information on
whether a papillary thyroid carcinoma was induced by radiation or had a sporadic origin. With this discovery, scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München have identified a new biomarker for the diagnosis of the cancer cause.
Their findings have been published in the journal Oncogene. CLIP2 serves as a radiation marker: After exposure to radiation from radioiodine, both the genetic activity and the protein expression are increased,
as the scientists'studies were able to substantiate. CLIP2 appears to be particularly significant in the development of tumours in the thyroid gland after radiation exposure.
Dr. Horst Zitzelsberger from the Radiation Cytogenetics Research Unit at the Helmholtz Zentrum München discovered a connection between high CLIP2 levels and the radiation history of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma."
"In our study, we were able to verify radiation-associated CLIP2 expression at the protein level in three different cohorts of patients with thyroid carcinoma,"reports first author Selmansberger.
The research paper was prepared at the Helmholtz Zentrum München in cooperation with the Institute of Radiation Protection and the Analytical Pathology Research Unit.
Radiation marker CLIP2 allows distinction of cancer cause and risk assessment"CLIP2 serves as a radiation marker
and allows us to distinguish between radiation-induced and sporadic thyroid carcinomas, "adds study leader Heß.
and to evaluate the risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to high level radiation, for instance, following a radiation accident,"reports Heß.
The Helmholtz Zentrum München focuses its work in health research on major widespread diseases. In addition to diabetes and lung diseases, this also includes cancer.
The objective of the Helmholtz Zentrum München is the rapid further development of the results of basic research
*CAP-GLY domain containing linker protein 2. The exact function of CLIP2 in the carcinogenesis of thyroid carcinoma is unknown.
#Non-coding half of human genome unlocked with novel sequencing technique An obscure swatch of human DNA once thought to be nothing more than biological trash may actually offer a treasure trove of insight into complex genetic-related diseases such as cancer
and diabetes thanks to a novel sequencing technique developed by biologists at Texas A&m University.
We know that there is hidden variation there like disease proclivities or things that are evolutionarily important
and as a whole--would be packed with complex genes with the potential to answer some of the most pressing questions in medical biology.
and disease and finding personalized therapies Maggert said. However this topic is incomplete unless biologists can look at the entire genome.
#New device for heart failure safely improves heart function, quality of life, study shows A new implantable device to control heart failure is showing promising results in the first trial to determine safety and effectiveness in patients according to lead researcher Dr. William Abraham of The Ohio State university Wexner
Medical center. Results of the study are published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology Heart failure.
Heart failure is one of the fastest growing forms of heart disease and it's one of the most common reasons people are hospitalized said Abraham director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Ohio State's Wexner Medical center.
The optimal drug therapies we have today often aren't enough to manage this disease for some patients
so we are always looking for new types of therapies. Abraham and other cardiovascular researchers at seven U s. centers examined an extra-aortic counterpulsation system called C-Pulse made by Sunshine Heart Inc. It's a cuff that wraps around the aorta
and syncs with the patient's heartbeat rapidly inflating and deflating a small balloon to help squeeze blood through the aorta to circulate throughout the body.
It's powered through a wire that exits the abdomen and connects to an external driver worn by the patient.
The driver can be plugged in or battery-powered. In the pilot study 20 patients with New york Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or ambulatory functional class IV heart failure were implanted with the device.
Patients were evaluated at six months and one year. At both times 16 of the patients showed significant improvements in NYHA functional class.
At the one year mark three of the patients had mild or no symptoms of heart failure.
I effectively reversing their heart failure Abraham said. Additionally patients were able to walk an average 100 feet farther during standardized measures
Drug and device therapies that are currently available for heart failure improve that same quality of life score by only five or 10 points.
The most common adverse effect during the trial was infection of the exit site experienced by 8 out of 20 participants.
and antibiotic therapy could reduce that risk in future studies. There were no hospitalizations among the participants for stroke thrombosis sepsis or bleeding
which often occurs in patients using left ventricular assist devices (LVADS). The researchers said this is due to the device remaining outside the bloodstream.
The above story is provided based on materials by Ohio State university Wexner Medical center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
In a new study that should make it easier to develop such stem-cell-based therapies a team of researchers from MIT
and calling stem cells are producing a beneficial therapeutic outcome but many of the cells that you're putting in are not Van Vliet says.
You can now find the needles in the haystack and use them for human therapy.
To test this hypothesis the researchers used a device Han had developed previously to capture circulating tumor cells based on their size.
and bone injuries while cells identified as osteogenic stromal cells were able to repair bone but not muscle.
and purification of bone marrow-derived stem cells for tissue repair in human patients suffering from a range of tissue-degenerative diseases The team is now working on high-speed methods for separating MSCS.
Creating more pure populations of such cells should lead to more effective stem-cell treatments for tissue injuries Van Vliet says.
which could prove useful for treating bone injuries. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Massachusetts institute of technology.
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