In a demonstration of vaccine therapy’s potential for treating lung cancer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists and their associates report that a prototype vaccine boosted the natural immune response to tumors in a small group of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Moreover, the vaccine was found to be non-toxic and well-tolerated.
Published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, findings from the Phase I clinical trial will provide an impetus
In a discovery with far-reaching potential for advances in infertility treatment, scientists at the University of Leeds have identified what makes sperm wriggle and swim. The answer lies in a protein called dynein. The scientists have taken the first photographs of individual molecules of dynein, also found in lungs, the nervous system and elsewhere in the human body. In an article in this week’s Nature, the researchers explain how the protein creates movement.
Project leader Dr Peter Knight
New findings may offer roadmap to predicting how the body will respond to a deadly habit
First- or second-hand exposure to cigarettes can lead to a variety of diseases, including tissue destruction found in pulmonary emphysema and osteoporosis. Also included among cigarette smoking-induced diseases are disorders in which an excessive deposition of fibrotic scar occurs, such as with atherosclerosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Collagen is the major protein of the white f
Differences in people seem to run in the blood, according to a recent study that examines which genes are active in blood cells. The work, published in this week’s online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the levels of several genes used by blood cells vary from person to person.
“Nobody had taken this broad a look at genetic variation in the blood of healthy people,” said David Relman, MD, associate professor of medicine at Stanford and a co-autho
Green fluorescence allows isolating the beta cells for study of their behavior and number in the pancreas
Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects at least 16 million Americans, ranks seventh as a cause of death in the United States, and costs the national economy over $100 billion yearly. About 95 percent of persons with DM have type 2.
Type 2 DM is characterized by insulin resistance in peripheral tissues as well as a defect in insulin secretion by beta cells. Insulin regulates ca
Study findings may offer prevention for avoiding those annoying spots caused by macular degeneration
The primary function of the retina is to capture light and initiate neural signals. The retina contains the photoreceptors, which are the site of sensory transduction in the visual pathway. Major landmarks in the retina are the fovea and macula, where light has a direct pathway to the receptors. An interruption of the blood supply to these landmarks can lead to age-related macular d
Scientists from the University of Leicester are taking revolutionary research further with the potential to offer new hope for knee-injury victims.
They are following up international research that aims to improve knee cartilage repair techniques, termed ‘chrondrocyte implantation’. The procedure, developed in Sweden ten years ago, involves growing a patient’s knee cartilage cells in a laboratory, which are then implanted through open knee surgery. Recent exciting developments revolve
A team of scientists supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and other parts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the private sector, have discovered a genetic “signature” present in some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who develop such life-threatening complications as blood disorders, central nervous system damage and kidney failure.
Using DNA microarrays — small silicon chips that contain tiny amounts of tho
Researchers at Oxford University’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics have located a variant form of a polynucleotide sequence in the MHC region of chromosome 6p and identified its association with an increased secretion of TNF. Potential applications for this discovery include the diagnosis of asthma in patients, or a predisposition to asthma, and a patients’ suitability for treatment with anti-TNF therapy.
Asthma is a disease in which the airways become inflamed leading to blockage a
UH Research Suggests Possible Therapies for Eye Disorders, Injury
A new study designed to find out why cells in the eye die when exposed to lead may provide novel therapies for retinal damage caused by injury or diseases such as diabetes and retinitis pigmentosa.
The study, published in the Feb. 4 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focused on identifying how low-level lead exposure during development in mice injures and eventually kills rod-shaped
Scientists study those vaccinated more than 60 years ago versus one year ago
Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying the effectiveness of the smallpox vaccine in patients who received inoculations decades ago compared with those vaccinated more recently. The universal belief has been that smallpox vaccinations provide protection for only three to five years. Until now scientists and physicians assumed that anyone vaccinated more than five years ago had little to n
Allowing calcium to get inside colorectal cancer cells may be one way to stop their growth.
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia knew that the same bacterial toxin that causes traveler’s diarrhea can stem the growth of metastatic colorectal cancer cells. Now, they may have found out how.
The scientists discovered that the toxin appears to open a cellular door, permitting calcium into tumor cells, which
Researchers in Oxford University’s Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory have found that they can intercalate a range of pharmaceutically active molecules between the layers of a layered inorganic host.
While working on the ion-exchange abilities of a family of inorganic materials known as Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs), researchers have recognised that many commonly prescribed drugs and other over-the-counter medicines are either anions or can be conveniently and reversibly converted into an an
Campaign against unproven products might have unintended consequences
Why are research scientists speaking out against anti-aging medicine, and what are the potential consequences?
The campaign against anti-aging medicine has recently been launched by an international group of some 50 biogerontologists – biologists who conduct research on the basic processes of aging. Proclaiming that there is “no truth to the Fountain of Youth” in Scientific American and other publications,
May have potential value in treating patients with hematologic cancers
Researchers have developed a novel approach to genetically instruct human immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells in a mouse model. The investigators plan to ultimately apply this strategy in a clinical trial setting for patients with certain forms of leukemias and lymphomas.
Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) genetically engineered an antigen receptor, introduced it into
An international research team, led by Dr. Erwin Schurr and Dr. Thomas Hudson, Scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, have identified a gene on human chromosome 6 that makes people vulnerable to leprosy. The study will be published in the March 2003 issue of Nature Genetics.
“This discovery will now allow us to study how the gene works and how it influences the infectious process. This is an important step toward the development of innovative prevention
Feedback
