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Scientists discover new serine protease: NSP4

Neutrophil granulocytes comprise important defences for the immune system. When pathogenic bacteria penetrate the body, they are the first on the scene to mobilise other immune cells via signal molecules, thereby containing the risk. To this end, they release serine proteases - enzymes that cut up other proteins to activate signal molecules. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now discovered a new serine protease: neutrophil serine protease 4, or NSP4.

3 Apr 2012

Melanoma on the rise especially amongst the young

Women under 40 are hit hardest by the escalating incidence of melanoma, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, out today. Researchers examined records from a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, Minn., and looked for first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients 18-39 from 1970 to 2009. Melanoma cases increased eightfold among women in that time and fourfold for men, the authors say. However, death rates from melanoma fell during the same period, suggesting that early interventions may be helping to save some lives, said the researchers.

2 Apr 2012

Inovio awarded U.S. DOD grant to advance non-invasive surface electroporation delivery device

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today it has received a U.S. Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Grant to advance the development of a low-cost, non-invasive surface electroporation (EP) delivery device and test its utility in combination with Inovio's novel synthetic DNA vaccines against viruses with bioterrorism potential, including hanta, puumala, arenavirus and pandemic influenza.

2 Apr 2012

Clinical data for cabozantinib to be presented at ASCO annual meeting

Exelixis, Inc. announced today that its lead compound, cabozantinib, will be the subject of nine separate data presentations at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

2 Apr 2012

Scientists use DNA sequencing to identify 'driver' mutations in cancer

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient's tumor - considered key to personalizing cancer treatment - but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment.

2 Apr 2012

Studies use three genes to reprogram fibroblasts into myocytes

The latest research developments to reprogram scar tissue resulting from myocardial infarction (MI) into viable heart muscle cells, were presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2012 meeting, held 30 March to 1 April at the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College in London.

2 Apr 2012

Combination of Avastin and Metformin may effectively reduce melanoma growth

COMBINING the experimental drug Avastin (bevacizumab) with the diabetes drug Metformin almost doubles its ability to reduce skin cancer growth, according to a study in Cancer Discovery.

2 Apr 2012

Melanoma on the rise among young adults

Even as the rates of some cancers are falling, Mayo Clinic is seeing an alarming trend: the dramatic rise of skin cancer, especially among people under 40. According to a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the incidence of melanoma has escalated, and young women are the hardest hit.

2 Apr 2012

Dengue infection makes mosquito's blood feeding more efficient

Mosquitoes infected with dengue virus experience an array of changes in the activity of genes and associated functions of their salivary glands, and these changes may lead to increased virus transmission, according to a recent study led by George Dimopoulos, Ph.D., of the Malaria Research Institute and Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

31 Mar 2012

Differentiating between sneezing due to cold and allergies

One of the problems that parents may have during the springtime is deciphering whether their children's sneezing is due to a cold or allergies.

31 Mar 2012

Unapproved, misbranded drug products seized in Missouri

Dara Corrigan, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and David M. Ketchmark, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that U.S. Marshals have seized drugs being held by Notions-n-Things Distribution of Bogard, Mo. Yesterday's seizure follows a civil forfeiture complaint that was filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.

30 Mar 2012

Cancer cells grow and proliferate more robustly when exposed to human cells

New research from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute and the Rambam Medical Center may lead to the development of new methods for controlling the growth of cancer, and perhaps lead to treatments that will transform cancer from a lethal disease to a chronic, manageable one, similar to AIDS.

30 Mar 2012

Marfan syndrome researcher to receive March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award

A long-time clinician and researcher on Marfan syndrome who helped identify the syndrome's genetic cause and a potential treatment will be honored by the March of Dimes.

30 Mar 2012

Basidiobolomycosis appears to be emerging in the Southwestern U.S.

An emerging fungal infection of the gastrointestinal tract that mimics cancer and inflammatory bowel disease appears to be emerging in the Southwestern United States and other desert regions, according to Mayo Clinic researchers in Arizona investigating the disease. The invasive fungus, Basidiobolus ranarum, is typically found in the soil, decaying organic matter and the gastrointestinal tracts of fish, reptiles, amphibians, and bats.

30 Mar 2012

Radiation therapy increases complications of implant-based breast reconstruction

Breast cancer patients whose treatment includes radiation therapy are at higher risk of complications after implant-based breast reconstruction, reports a study in the April issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

30 Mar 2012

Researchers unravel critical regulatory mechanism behind angiogenesis

Max Planck researchers unravel a critical regulatory mechanism controlling blood vessel growth that might help solve drug resistance problems in the future.

30 Mar 2012

Lilly's ixekizumab Phase II trial on plaque psoriasis meets primary endpoint

New Phase II data, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that Eli Lilly and Company's ixekizumab, an anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibody, met its primary endpoint in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, with significantly more patients achieving at least a 75 percent improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores from baseline (PASI 75) compared with placebo at week 12.

29 Mar 2012

Elekta receives EU CE marking for Connexion modular couchtop

Elekta's Connexion modular couchtop is CE marked and successfully released for sale in the European Union. Connexion meets the clinic's need to tailor patient set-up to accommodate the unique therapy requirements of the individual patient.

From Elekta 29 Mar 2012

SafeStitch Medical's AMID Stapler to be presented at AHS 2012

SafeStitch Medical, Inc. will present the AMID Stapler® at the 5th International Hernia Congress in New York City, March 28-31, 2012.

29 Mar 2012

Sun damage revealed by UV photographs show skin cancer risk

Look at a middle school assembly - during their lifetime one in 50 of these kids will develop melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer that kills 48,000 people every year, worldwide. Now look at these kids again - which are at highest risk? You can't tell, but a study recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that UV photography might provide important information about risk, not visible to the naked eye.

29 Mar 2012