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.

Researchers find drug combination that reduces risk of skin graft rejection

A research team bringing together José Cohen and Philippe Grimbert (Inserm Unit 955/Université Paris Est Créteil [UPEC] and the Centre for Clinical Investigation - Biotherapies 504 [CIC-BT 504]), and their collaborators at Institut Curie and AP-HP (George Pompidou European Hospital) has succeeded in finding a combination of drugs that reduces the risk of rejection following a skin graft.

19 Nov 2014

Toxicity profiles for everolimus, temsirolimus differ in advanced RCC

Non-infectious pneumonitis and stomatitis occur more frequently in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with everolimus than temsirolimus, whereas temsirolimus is associated with a higher incidence of fatigue, rash and asthenia, a retrospective study reports.

13 Nov 2014

Rapamycin and dasatinib combination may be beneficial in treating breast cancer, say scientists

The uncontrolled growth of cancer cells arises from their ability to hijack the cell’s normal growth program and checkpoints. Usually after therapy, a second cancer-signaling pathway will open after the primary one shuts down — creating an ingenious escape route for the cancer cell to survive. The answer, say Case Western Reserve researchers, is to anticipate and block that back-up track by prescribing two drugs from the start.

29 Oct 2014

TSRI scientists discover signaling pathway that contribute to Huntington's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a major contributor to Huntington's disease, a devastating progressive neurological condition that produces involuntary movements, emotional disturbance and cognitive impairment.

29 Oct 2014

Research: MHCI protein moonlights in nervous system to regulate synapses

When it comes to the brain, "more is better" seems like an obvious assumption. But in the case of synapses, which are the connections between brain cells, too many or too few can both disrupt brain function.

21 Oct 2014

Research finding could potentially lead to new strategies to improve cancer therapies

Cells are generally able to repair spontaneous damage that arises in their genetic material. Unfortunately, the DNA repair process is not perfect and sometimes, damaged DNA gets passed on to newly made cells. A team of researchers at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University has recently discovered that in yeast cells, the amount of nutrients that cells are exposed to can affect DNA surveillance and repair mechanisms and therefore the quality of their DNA.

8 Oct 2014

Brain cancer patients can benefit from Rapamycin drug

Every day, organ transplant patients around the world take a drug called rapamycin to keep their immune systems from rejecting their new kidneys and hearts.

30 Sep 2014

Study compares FK506 and rapamycin for Schwann cell migration, peripheral nerve regeneration

FK506 possesses a well-studied neuroregenerative effect, stimulating neurite extension in the presence of nerve growth factor in vitro, and enhancing nerve regeneration following nerve crush injury and isografting.

30 Aug 2014

Children and adolescents with autism have surplus of synapses in brain

Children and adolescents with autism have a surplus of synapses in the brain, and this excess is due to a slowdown in a normal brain "pruning" process during development, according to a study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

22 Aug 2014

Research sheds light on role of hepatic mTORC1 in whole body physiology

The protein mTOR is a central controller of growth and metabolism. Deregulation of mTOR signaling increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

12 Aug 2014

First-line sunitinib superior to everolimus for metastatic RCC

Results for the RECORD-3 trial support the current strategy of first-line sunitinib followed by second-line everolimus for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

11 Aug 2014

New use for old drug provides hope for patients with pancreatic cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists have found a new use for an old drug by showing that it shrinks a particular type of pancreatic cancer tumour and stops it spreading, according to research published in Gut.

4 Aug 2014

Study reveals intricate mechanisms involved in enzyme that governs DNA duplication

In a study published today in Genes & Development, Dr Christian Speck from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre's DNA Replication group, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), New York, reveal the intricate mechanisms involved in the enzyme that governs DNA duplication during cell division.

4 Aug 2014

Identification of new molecular mechanism indicates new ways to block uncontrolled cell division

1 Aug 2014

Targeting CXCR4–CXCL12–CXCR7 axis combats mTOR inhibitor resistance in renal cancer

There is considerable crosstalk between the CXCR4–CXCL12–CXCR7 axis and the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway in human renal cell carcinoma, and targeting the axis may overcome drug resistance to mTOR inhibitors, researchers suggest.

22 Jul 2014

Protein may predict outcome of targeted mccRCC therapy

Levels of carbonic anhydrase 9 increase with the use of vascular endothelial growth factor-targeted therapy for metastatic clear-cell renal cancer, and high expression of this protein is associated with increased survival, show study results reported in European Urology.

3 Jul 2014

Study reveals mechanism underlying abnormal fat accumulation in HIV patients

Building upon their earlier research on the biology of fat metabolism, Joslin scientists discovered that microRNAs -small RNA molecules that play important roles in regulation in many types of tissue - play a major role in the distribution and determination of fat cells and whole body metabolism.

3 Jul 2014

Cancer drug shows promise in treating blood cell disorders

Scientists working to make gene therapy a reality have solved a major hurdle: how to bypass a blood stem cell's natural defenses and efficiently insert disease-fighting genes into the cell's genome.

27 Jun 2014

Combination of metformin and rapamycin shows potential in treating aging and related diseases

A proven approach to slow the aging process is dietary restriction, but new research in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University helps explain the action of a drug that appears to mimic that process - rapamycin.

21 May 2014

New dual-pronged approach for treating Niemann-Pick type C disease

By studying nerve and liver cells grown from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a potential dual-pronged approach to treating Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, a rare but devastating genetic disorder.

16 May 2014