Rapamycin News and Research

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Rapamycin is a drug used to prevent the rejection of organ and bone marrow transplants by the body. Rapamycin is an antibiotic that blocks a protein involved in cell division and inhibits the growth and function of certain T cells of the immune system involved in the body's rejection of foreign tissues and organs. It is a type of immunosuppressant and a type of serine/threonine kinase inhibitor. Rapamycin is now called sirolimus.

Novel gene therapy can inhibit, reverse multiple sclerosis in mouse models

Multiple sclerosis can be inhibited or reversed using a novel gene therapy technique that stops the disease's immune response in mouse models, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

21 Sep 2017

Penn researchers identify new way to target enzyme crucial to tumor growth, develop new drugs

Opening up a new pathway to fight cancer, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to target an enzyme that is crucial to tumor growth while also blocking the mechanism that has made past attempts to target that enzyme resistant to treatment.

20 Sep 2017

Lab-grown miniature blood vessels mimic rare Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Biomedical engineers have grown miniature human blood vessels that exhibit many of the symptoms and drug reactions associated with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome -- an extremely rare genetic disease that causes symptoms resembling accelerated aging in children.

16 Aug 2017

Researchers demonstrate potential of new PET tracer for imaging prostate cancer

In the featured translational article in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers at the University of Michigan demonstrate the potential of a new PET tracer, Carbon-11 labeled sarcosine (11C-sarcosine), for imaging prostate cancer, and set the stage for its possible use in monitoring other cancers.

7 Aug 2017

Malaria drug effectively blocks Zika virus transmission to the fetus

Devastating consequences of Zika virus infection are suffered in the womb, where the virus can cause brain damage and sometimes death.

10 Jul 2017

Could the mTOR pathway be used to protect against cancer?

The mTOR pathway is probably the main pathway in humans and other animals that drives growth. That is, the accumulation of mass and adding mass to make an organism bigger by both making more cells, and making cells grow and become bigger.

22 Jun 2017

Drug used to treat bipolar disorder may help prevent brain cell damage in TBI patients

A drug used to treat bipolar disorder and other forms of depression may help to preserve brain function and prevent nerve cells from dying in people with a traumatic brain injury, according to a new Rutgers University study.

8 May 2017

Researchers find persistence of Zika virus in cerebrospinal fluid, lymph nodes of rhesus monkeys

Zika virus can persist in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), lymph nodes and colorectal tissue of infected rhesus monkeys for weeks after the virus has been cleared from blood, urine and mucosal secretions, according to a study published online in Cell.

28 Apr 2017

Spermidine supplement may prolong lifespan, prevent liver fibrosis and cancer

Spermidine-; a compound found in foods like aged cheese, mushrooms, soy products, legumes, corn and whole grains-; seems to prevent (at least in animal models) liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the most common type of liver cancer. There is also some evidence that it may prolong lifespan, according to a study published recently in the journal Cancer Research.

20 Apr 2017

Newly-discovered mechanism for compound may help prevent neurologic damage

Researchers at Oregon State University have found that a compound called rapamycin has unusual properties that may help address neurologic damage such as Alzheimer's disease.

5 Apr 2017

Short-term fasting during chemotherapy may counteract side effects of common cancer drugs

A short-term fast appears to counteract increases in blood sugar caused by common cancer drugs and protect healthy cells in mice from becoming too vulnerable to chemotherapy, according to new research from the University of Southern California.

4 Apr 2017

Researchers discover underlying cause for formation of granulomas

Granulomas are tissue nodules of immune cells that occur in diseases such as tuberculosis and sarcoidosis and can damage many organs.

16 Jan 2017

Scientists discover OGDHL and NRD1 genes linked to progressive loss of neurological function

An international team of scientists has discovered that the gene, OGDHL, a key protein required for normal function of the mitochondria -- the energy-producing factory of the cell -- and its chaperone, nardilysin (NRD1) are linked to progressive loss of neurological function in humans.

22 Dec 2016

Antibody drug offers new therapeutic approach for treating AML

An antibody drug that targets a surface marker on cancer stem cells could offer a promising new therapeutic approach for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a form of blood cancer that affects an estimated 50,000 people in Saudi Arabia.

24 Sep 2016

New drug delivery system slows and controls tumors not aiming for complete elimination

Researchers have created a new drug delivery system that could improve the effectiveness of an emerging concept in cancer treatment - to dramatically slow and control tumors on a long-term, sustained basis, not necessarily aiming for their complete elimination.

26 Aug 2016

Transient dose of rapamycin in middle age can increase life expectancy, improve measures of healthy aging

Geroscience researchers studying the biology of aging briefly treated middle-aged mice with the drug rapamycin to gauge the long-term effects of short-term therapy on health and longevity.

24 Aug 2016

Preclinical data on Selecta’s novel immune tolerance platform published in Nature Nanotechnology

Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted antigen-specific immune therapies for rare and serious diseases, announced today that Nature Nanotechnology has published an article that presents preclinical results from Selecta’s research which demonstrate the broad potential applicability of Selecta’s novel immune tolerance platform.

2 Aug 2016

Common drug for type 2 diabetes may play surprising role in preventing preterm birth

Metformin, a medication routinely used by millions of people with type 2 diabetes, may also play an unexpected role in blocking a significant cause of preterm birth, according to research findings published July 25.

26 Jul 2016

Transplant drug rapamycin may reduce nerve damage, neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury

New research in mice indicates that a drug commonly used to suppress the immune system in recipients of organ transplants may also reduce tissue damage and neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury. The findings are published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.

8 Jul 2016

Cabozantinib extends advanced RCC overall survival

Patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma derive a significant overall survival benefit from second-line treatment with the multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib relative to everolimus.

18 Jun 2016