Toxin News and Research

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Scientists aim to develop business plan to guide drug development for potential use in patients

What if an experimental treatment for an aggressive breast cancer had the potential to save women's lives, but nobody could use it because there was no money to develop and test it? With funding sources for research and development more scarce than in the past, it is not an unusual situation. It's a problem that Sourav Sinha, a Master's degree candidate at Rutgers' Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, is working to tackle head-on.

24 Jan 2014

Human body odor contains an early chemosensory cue of sickness

Humans are able to smell sickness in someone whose immune system is highly active within just a few hours of exposure to a toxin, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

24 Jan 2014

Allee effect in bacteria may cause tradeoff between population spread and survival

In 1859 an Australian farmer named Thomas Austin released 24 grey rabbits from Europe into the wild because it "could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting."

21 Jan 2014

Study: HIV-specific poison kills persisting HIV-infected cells during antiretroviral therapy

A team including University of North Carolina and NIH scientists has demonstrated in a mouse model that an HIV-specific poison can kill cells in which the virus is actively reproducing despite antiretroviral therapy.

10 Jan 2014

Researchers deploy potential new weapon against HIV

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have deployed a potential new weapon against HIV - a combination therapy that targets HIV-infected cells that standard therapies cannot kill.

10 Jan 2014

Mutations in small proteins that help convey electrical signals may influence nerve health

Mutations in small proteins that help convey electrical signals throughout the body may have a surprisingly large effect on health, according to results of a new Johns Hopkins study study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in December using spider, scorpion and sea anemone venom.

7 Jan 2014

Researchers reveal mechanism behind persistent bacteria

The mechanism by which some bacteria are able to survive antibacterial treatment has been revealed for the first time by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers. Their work could pave the way for new ways to control such bacteria.

31 Dec 2013

Research could pave way for more effective treatments for bacterial infections

30 Dec 2013

Genetic screening identifies genes driving resistance with guide RNA library

Researchers have developed a method to create a comprehensive library of mutations across all genes in the mouse genome. This library can be used to examine the role of every gene in different cell types.

23 Dec 2013

Sorrento Therapeutics acquires Concortis Biosystems

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Concortis Biosystems, Corp., providing Sorrento with a comprehensive technology platform to create a new generation of homogenous antibody drug conjugates with site-specific toxin conjugation and consistent drug-antibody ratios. With the close of the deal, Sorrento has issued an aggregate of 1,331,978 shares of its common stock to the Concortis shareholders. Based on the closing share price on December 18, 2013, the transaction is valued at $11.3 million.

19 Dec 2013

Scientists establish a goal of creating vaccine gene chip to speed up vaccine testing

Testing the efficacy of vaccines in clinical trials takes years, even decades. Yet challenging infections like HIV, malaria and dengue are striking today. To speed up vaccine testing, scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center have established a goal of creating a "vaccine gene chip."

17 Dec 2013

Researchers see links between high levels of perfluorinated compounds in blood and diabetes

Perfluorinated compounds are environmental toxins that are found in fire extinguishing foam and water-repellent textiles and, for example. In a new study, a research team led from Uppsala University has seen links between high levels of perfluorinated compounds in the blood and diabetes.

12 Dec 2013

Antibody-toxin compound shows compelling antitumor activity in non-Hodgkin lymphomas patients

A toxin linked to a targeted monoclonal antibody has shown "compelling" antitumor activity in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas who were no longer responding to treatment, according to a report from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

11 Dec 2013

Penn researchers identify protein that could clear Alzheimer's plaques

The body is structured to ensure that any invading organisms have a tough time reaching the brain, an organ obviously critical to survival. Known as the blood-brain barrier, cells that line the brain and spinal cord are tightly packed, making it difficult for anything besides very small molecules to cross from the bloodstream into the central nervous system. While beneficial, this blockade also stands in the way of delivering drugs intended to treat neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's.

9 Dec 2013

New research offers fresh insights to drug designers searching for better pain treatments

In a technical tour de force, UC San Francisco scientists have determined, at near-atomic resolution, the structure of a protein that plays a central role in the perception of pain and heat.

5 Dec 2013

C. difficile doesn’t harm infants, but serves as a reservoir to affect adults

Infants and toddlers frequently carry toxigenic Clostridium difficile, usually with no harm to themselves, but can serve as a reservoir and spread the bacteria to adults in whom it can cause severe disease, according to a study by a team of Swedish researchers published ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

4 Dec 2013

TSRI scientists discover natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria, the tiny but essential "power plants" that provide chemical energy for cells throughout the body. Damage to mitochondria is thought to be a significant factor in common neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and even the aging process. The TSRI researchers' discovery could lead to new methods for protecting mitochondria from such damage, thereby improving human health.

4 Dec 2013

Nanosponge vaccine blocks adverse effects of alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA

Nanosponges that soak up a dangerous pore-forming toxin produced by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) could serve as a safe and effective vaccine against this toxin. This "nanosponge vaccine" enabled the immune systems of mice to block the adverse effects of the alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA-both within the bloodstream and on the skin. Nanoengineers from the University of California, San Diego described the safety and efficacy of this nanosponge vaccine in the December 1 issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

2 Dec 2013

PCBs banned by the US 3 decades ago hurt seniors' cognitive performance

Although PCBs have been banned in the United States since 1979, University of Montreal and CHU Sainte-Justine researcher Maryse Bouchard has found that higher levels of the toxin was associated with lower cognitive performance in seniors.

25 Nov 2013

Advanced cytotoxins help bacteria survive antibiotics treatment

In spite of the fact that the first antibiotics were discovered almost a century ago, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, encephalitis and meningitis are still serious diseases for humans in the twenty-first century. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are more than 8 million new cases of tuberculosis per year on a global scale, and that more than 300,000 of these are due to multidrug-resistant strains that are not only difficult to treat, but are also emerging rapidly in regions such as Eastern Europe.

20 Nov 2013