EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY (ELTE), FACULTY OF SCIENCE First-in-class antispastic drug candidate to reach clinical phase is published in the prestigious life science journal, Cell. Drug candidate MPH-220 could mean new hope for millions of patients suffering from spasticity. Chronic muscle spasticity after nervous system defects like stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and painful...
Month: <span>October 2020</span>
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Peptides+antibiotic combination may result in a more effective treatment for leishmaniasis
UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA IMAGE: SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF HOW THE CONJUGATE OF THE PEPTIDE + THE DRUG MANAGES TO ENTER INSIDE THE CELL OF THE PARASITE TO ELIMINATE IT (UAB) Leishmaniasis is caused by the protozoan Leishmania parasites which are transmitted by the bite of an infected sandfly. Although in rich countries this disease mainly...
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USC study reveals one-two punch of symptoms that exacerbate Alzheimer’s
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA A new Alzheimer’s study found that impaired blood flow in the brain is correlated with the buildup of tau tangles, a hallmark indicator of cognitive decline. The work, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that treatments targeting vascular health in the brain — as well as amyloid plaques and tau...
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A promising new tool in the fight against melanoma
EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY IMAGE: EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ELIN GRAY An Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has revealed that a key blood marker of cancer could be used to select the most effective treatment for melanoma. The discovery, which has the potential to improve melanoma survival rates, was published today in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal...
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Vanderbilt researchers make counterintuitive discoveries about immune-like characteristics of cells
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY IMAGE: AN IMAGE OF SKIN CELLS BEFORE AND AFTER DNA DAMAGE, ADDED THROUGH CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS, SHOWS STEM CELL OVERGROWTH. Vanderbilt University researchers have reported the counterintuitive discovery that certain chemotherapeutic agents used to treat tumors can have the opposite effect of tissue overgrowth in normal, intact mammary glands, epidermis and hair follicles. The researchers also are the...
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Lamenting the Incomplete Understanding of Human Immunosenescence
The immune system is inconveniently complicated. Aging is also inconveniently complicated. The overlap between the two is a particularly dark forest for the research community, with few well-tracked paths. The fine details of how exactly the immune system becomes dysfunctional with age, and the sizable variation in those details between individuals, will keep research teams occupied for decades to come. It seems...
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An Example of the Beneficial Role of Senescence in Injury
Researchers here provide an interesting demonstration of the beneficial role of transient cellular senescence in injury. Applying senolytics to selectively destroy senescent cells immediately following traumatic injury greatly worsens the consequences. Senescent cells are harmful when they build up and linger in tissues over the course of later life. The signaling they generate is useful in the short-term, such as by mobilizing...
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GENETIC DELETION BOOSTS SCHIZOPHRENIA RISK BY 30X
Researchers have found that a common genetic deletion increases the risk of schizophrenia by 30-fold. Generating nerve cells with the deletion has showed the researchers why that is. When nerve cells aren’t busy exchanging information, they’re supposed to keep quiet. If they’re just popping off at random, like in a noisy classroom, it obscures the signals they’re supposed...
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Researchers call for nutritional guidelines and regulations on use of vitamin D
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.,Oct 13 2020 The professional perception of vitamin D as a medicine, rather than as a key nutrient, is constraining practice and jeopardizing the health of elderly care home residents in England, conclude researchers in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health. At a time when the vulnerability of elderly care home residents is...
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Remdesivir and interferon fall flat in WHO’s mega study of COVID-19 treatments
Patients get tested for COVID-19 in India, one of 30 countries that took part in the Solidarity trial. One of the world’s biggest trials of COVID-19 therapies released its long-awaited interim results yesterday—and they’re a letdown. None of the four treatments in the Solidarity trial, which enrolled more than 11,000 patients in 400 hospitals around...