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Houston Methodist researchers find pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria

Researchers at Houston Methodist have solved a 100-year-old mystery, providing them a possible key to unlock a pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria. This is timely news, given the current dangers lurking in the debris and destruction left behind by Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters that destroyed tens of thousands of homes in Texas.

19 Sep 2017

Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles that may have different functions during infection

Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles (MVs), which are small particles that can transport virulence factors to neighboring bacteria or to the cells of a mammalian host. This special MV-based system for delivering toxic proteins and nucleic acids in a protected manner to the target cells may have different specific functions depending on whether the bacterium acts as an extracellular or intracellular pathogen.

18 Sep 2017

Compounds derived from fire ant venom could lead to new anti-psoriasis therapy

Compounds derived from fire ant venom can reduce skin thickening and inflammation in a mouse model of psoriasis, Emory and Case Western scientists have shown.

11 Sep 2017

Sodium channels play important role in keeping tiny lung capillaries from leaking, worsening pneumonia

Sodium channels in the cells that line the tiny capillaries in our lungs play an important role in keeping those capillaries from leaking and potentially worsening conditions like pneumonia, scientists report.

6 Sep 2017

Research provides novel insights into bacterial toxins

A toxin produced by a bacterium that causes urinary tract infections is related to, yet different in key ways from, the toxin that causes whooping cough, according to new research.

5 Sep 2017

Reprogrammed stem cell therapy shows promise in Parkinson's

Japanese investigators have found that their experimental stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease actually works. In their experimental therapy, the team of researchers “reprogrammed” stem cells to make them neurons and implanted them into the brain of monkeys with a version of Parkinson’s disease. Stem cell therapy showed improvement of symptoms in these patients and was found to be safe. The study was published yesterday, 30th August 2017 in Nature.

30 Aug 2017

Research findings potentially open door to new treatments for eye trauma and retinal disease

Cells within an injured mouse eye can be coaxed into regenerating neurons and those new neurons appear to integrate themselves into the eye's circuitry, new research shows. The findings potentially open the door to new treatments for eye trauma and retinal disease.

28 Aug 2017

Scientists make progress in predicting conditions that lead to toxic algal blooms

The disastrous 2015-16 Dungeness crab season, delayed and shortened by an unprecedented bloom of toxic algae, is a bitter memory for the West Coast fishing industry.

23 Aug 2017

Compounds produced by creosote bush exhibit anti-parasitic activity against pathogenic protozoa

Researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that compounds produced by the creosote bush, a desert plant common to the Southwestern United States, exhibit potent anti-parasitic activity against the protozoa responsible for giardia infections and an amoeba that causes an often-lethal form of encephalitis.

16 Aug 2017

Scientists develop new technique for 3D printing of living tissues

Scientists at the University of Oxford and the University of Bristol have developed a new method to 3D-print laboratory- grown cells to form living structures.

16 Aug 2017

Poplar trees fortified with probiotic effectively clean up polluted sites

Trees have the ability to capture and remove pollutants from the soil and degrade them through natural processes in the plant. It's a feat of nature companies have used to help clean up polluted sites, though only in small-scale projects.

14 Aug 2017

Botulinum neurotoxin type X holds potential to open up new field of toxin therapeutics

Botulinum toxins are currently used on more than 80 medical conditions including Muscle spasms, Overactive bladder, Chronic migraine, Cervical dystonia, Sweating and Cerebral Palsy (CP).

3 Aug 2017

Vanderbilt researchers unravel how bacterial toxin prevents DNA replication

One of the most potent toxins known acts by welding the two strands of the famous double helix together in a unique fashion which foils the standard repair mechanisms cells use to protect their DNA.

2 Aug 2017

Researchers examine cheap, simple method for neurotoxin detection

There is a limited amount of data on the global health impacts of pesticides, but many injuries and deaths worldwide can be attributed to their misuse.

1 Aug 2017

Ultra-sensitive C. difficile toxin assay may be critical tool for improving diagnosis of infectious disease

Findings presented at the American Society for Microbiology's ASM Microbe conference show that the ultra-sensitive Clostridium difficile toxin A/B assay in development for use on the Sgx Clarity™ system offers excellent sensitivity and may be a critical tool for improving the diagnosis of this life-threatening infection.

29 Jul 2017

Toxin News and Research

Houston Methodist researchers find pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria

Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles that may have different functions during infection

Compounds derived from fire ant venom could lead to new anti-psoriasis therapy

Sodium channels play important role in keeping tiny lung capillaries from leaking, worsening pneumonia

Research provides novel insights into bacterial toxins

Reprogrammed stem cell therapy shows promise in Parkinson's

Research findings potentially open door to new treatments for eye trauma and retinal disease

Scientists make progress in predicting conditions that lead to toxic algal blooms

Compounds produced by creosote bush exhibit anti-parasitic activity against pathogenic protozoa

Scientists develop new technique for 3D printing of living tissues

Poplar trees fortified with probiotic effectively clean up polluted sites

Botulinum neurotoxin type X holds potential to open up new field of toxin therapeutics

Vanderbilt researchers unravel how bacterial toxin prevents DNA replication

Researchers examine cheap, simple method for neurotoxin detection

Ultra-sensitive C. difficile toxin assay may be critical tool for improving diagnosis of infectious disease

Research suggests novel approach for encouraging regeneration in mouse retina

Immune system controls eye tissue regeneration in zebrafish, research finds

Aflatoxin detection in milk research, the SYMPHONY project, is completed

TUM researchers decipher binding mechanism of antibody to environmental toxin

Antimicrobial peptide packaged in silicon nanoparticle could combat drug-resistant bacteria

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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