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.

Scientists identify first gene linked to childhood-onset familial dilated cardiomyopathy

Scientists at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, along with collaborators at institutions in India, Italy, and Japan, have identified the first gene linked to childhood-onset familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), one of the most common heart muscle diseases in children.

29 Apr 2014

Multiple lines of targeted therapy extend life for mRCC patients

Overall survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma is extended the more lines of targeted therapy they receive, shows an evaluation of a large retrospective multicentre database.

22 Apr 2014

Docs who treat patients with severe LAM face agonizing treatment decision

Doctors who treat patients with a severe and progressive respiratory disease called lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) can face an agonizing treatment decision.

18 Apr 2014

Protein expression predicts postop NSCLC recurrence, survival

US-based researchers have identified a panel of 12 proteins that may help predict overall survival and the risk of recurrence in patients treated with surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer.

15 Apr 2014

Two candidate mTOR therapy biomarkers identified in RCC

Two genes, TSC1 and MTOR, warrant further investigation as biomarkers for treatment benefit with rapalogs in patients with renal cell carcinoma, indicate study results published in Clinical Cancer Research.

14 Apr 2014

New therapeutic agent reduces age-related sleep problems in fruit flies

Elderly flies do not sleep well - they frequently wake up during the night and wander around restlessly. The same is true of humans. For researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, the sleeplessness experienced by the fruit fly Drosophila is therefore a model case for human sleeping behaviour.

2 Apr 2014

Protein known to promote cancer appears to give blood vessels strength and shape, researchers report

A protein known to promote cancer appears to give the blood vessels strength and shape, researchers report. When yes-associated protein, or YAP, is deleted from vascular smooth muscle cells during development, the protein makes thin-walled blood vessels that over-dilate in response to the usual pressure of blood flow, said Dr. Jiliang Zhou, vascular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

25 Mar 2014

Researchers demonstrate new approach to treating muscular dystrophy

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have demonstrated a new approach to treating muscular dystrophy. Mice with a form of this muscle-weakening disease showed improved strength and heart function when treated with nanoparticles loaded with rapamycin, an immunosuppressive drug recently found to improve recycling of cellular waste.

12 Feb 2014

Everolimus fails to boost advanced NSCLC response

Phase II trial findings have ruled out a combination of erlotinib and everolimus for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with progression after chemotherapy.

28 Jan 2014

Opioid receptor-triggered spinal mTORC1 activation contributes to morphine tolerance, hyperalgesia

Currently, opioids are the standard treatment for chronic pain. Patients on opioids for long periods of time become desensitized to these drugs or become paradoxically hypersensitive to pain (hyperalgesia); however, the adaptive mechanisms are not well understood.

3 Jan 2014

Scientists identify protein complex essential for jumpstarting immune response during infection

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified a protein complex that is essential for jumpstarting the immune response during the critical first 24 hours of an infection. The research appears in the current issue of the scientific journal Immunity.

17 Dec 2013

Names of 2014 Breakthrough Prize winners in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences unveiled

The names of the 2014 Breakthrough Prize winners in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences were unveiled at an exclusive ceremony at the NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA. At a total awarded amount of $21 million, sponsored by Sergey Brin & Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma & Cathy Zhang, Yuri & Julia Milner and Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan, the prizes aim to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career.

13 Dec 2013

Low sodium levels linked to poor targeted therapy outcomes in RCC

Low serum sodium levels in patients receiving targeted therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) may signal a poor outcome, study findings indicate.

11 Dec 2013

mTOR protein: A key mediator of antidepressant effects of ketamine

Two years ago, mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR, a signaling protein, was identified as a key mediator of the antidepressant effects of ketamine, the first rapidly acting antidepressant medication to be identified.

20 Nov 2013

Research sheds light on how protein keeps people organized by promoting orderly skeletal growth

Most people think that their planners or their iPhones keep them organized, when proteins such as liver kinase b1 (Lkb1) actually have a lot more to do with it. New research from postdoctoral fellow Lick Lai in the lab of USC scientist Andy McMahon published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) sheds light on how this important protein keeps people organized on a basic level by promoting orderly skeletal growth and preventing skeletal tumors.

15 Nov 2013

Svelte completes enrollment in drug-eluting coronary stent Integrated Delivery System study

Svelte Medical Systems today announced enrollment of the final patient in the DIRECT II (Direct Implantation of Rapamycin-Eluting stents with bioabsorbable drug Carrier Technology) clinical study. DIRECT II is a prospective, randomized study comparing the safety and efficacy of the Svelte drug-eluting coronary stent Integrated Delivery System (IDS) to the Medtronic Resolute Integrity drug-eluting stent in 159 patients at 19 investigative sites.

From Medtronic 14 Nov 2013

Investigators find potential new target for treatment of low-grade gliomas

Investigators at Johns Hopkins have found a known genetic pathway to be active in many difficult-to-treat pediatric brain tumors called low-grade gliomas, potentially offering a new target for the treatment of these cancers.

7 Nov 2013

Gene mutated in rare hereditary disorder also prevents mTORC1 pathway activation

Whitehead Institute scientists report that the gene mutated in the rare hereditary disorder known as Birt-Hogg-Dub- cancer syndrome also prevents activation of mTORC1, a critical nutrient-sensing and growth-regulating cellular pathway.

5 Nov 2013

Study highlights new treatment options for neurodevelopmental disorders like TSC

Clemson University scientists are working to determine how neurons are generated, which is vital to providing treatment for neurological disorders like Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC).

23 Oct 2013

Scientists highlight novel way to develop universal influenza vaccine that can protect against multiple flu strains

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists highlights a new approach for developing a universal influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple flu strains, including deadly pandemic strains. The research appears today in the advance online edition of the scientific journal Nature Immunology.

22 Oct 2013