How can elimination of therapeutics from the bloodstream or their early enzymatic degradation be avoided in systemic delivery? Chinese scientists have new developed a method to bind an established cancer therapeutic, floxuridine, with natural serum albumin for its transport and delivery to target cancer cells. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, the authors demonstrate the automated synthesis...
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Opening up a drug delivery route — Discovery of a new vehicle peptide
TOKYO MEDICAL AND DENTAL UNIVERSITY Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) study identifies promising lead compound for delivery of therapeutically effective peptides IMAGE: THIS IS A CYCLIC DECAPEPTIDE, WHICH MIMICS THE DIMERIZATION ARM OF THE EGF RECEPTOR (EGFR), WAS PREVIOUSLY FOUND TO BE CAPTURED INTO CELLS. THE AUTHORS HAVE FOUND THE PROMISING POTENTIAL. Tokyo – In...
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Dying cancer cells make remaining glioblastoma cells more aggressive and therapy-resistant
The dying cells send signals to recipient tumor cells to increase aggressiveness, motility, and resistance to radiation or chemotherapy UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A surprising form of cell-to-cell communication in glioblastoma promotes global changes in recipient cells, including aggressiveness, motility, and resistance to radiation or chemotherapy.Paradoxically, the sending cells in this...
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Crowding inside cells may influence many functions and major diseases
NYU LANGONE HEALTH / NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Among the most studied protein machines in history, mTORC1 has long been known to sense whether a cell has enough energy to build the proteins it needs to multiply as part of growth. Because faulty versions of mTORC1 contribute to the abnormal growth seen in cancer, drugs...
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Researchers uncover new target to stop cancer growth
ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY PRESS Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that a protein called Munc13-4 helps cancer cells secrete large numbers of exosomes–tiny, membrane-bound packages containing proteins and RNAs that stimulate tumor progression. The study, which will be published June 21 in the Journal of Cell Biology, could lead to new therapies that stop tumor growth...
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New study suggests viral connection to Alzheimer’s disease
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Of the major illnesses facing humanity, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains among the most pitiless and confounding. Over a century after its discovery, no effective prevention or treatment exists for this progressive deterioration of brain tissue, memory and identity. With more people living to older ages, there is a growing need to clarify...
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BCG vaccine leads to long-term blood sugar improvement in type 1 diabetes patients
Mass. General study finds novel mechanism underlying stable, durable blood sugar control MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL Long-term follow-up of participants in clinical trials of a generic vaccine to reverse advanced type 1 diabetes finds significant clinical benefits, including restoration of near-normal blood sugar levels. Three years after receiving two administrations of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine...
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Waking up is hard to do: Prefrontal cortex implicated in consciousness
Philosophers have pondered the nature of consciousness for thousands of years. In the 21st century, the debate over how the brain gives rise to our everyday experience continues to puzzle scientists. To help, researchers in the University of Michigan Medical School Center for Consciousness Science are working to identify areas of the brain that help us wake...
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LincRNAs identified in human fat tissue
A large team of researchers from the U.S. and China has succeeded in identifying a number of RNA fragments found in human fat tissue. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine the group describes their study of the fragments they found and their possible links with obesity. A hairpin loop from a pre-mRNA. Highlighted are the...
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Dry mouth problems may be associated with disease in the eyelids
If you suffer from a dry mouth, the chances are that you also have dry eyes. The problem may be due to the sebaceous glands in the eyelids. Ida Grunnan Fostad found a connection between dryness of the mouth and dry eyes in her doctoral project. Credit: OD, UiO/Margit Selsjord "If you suffer from adry...