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.

Skin cream containing rapamycin reduces TSC-related facial tumors

Addressing a critical issue for people with a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex, doctors at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston reported that a skin cream containing rapamycin significantly reduced the disfiguring facial tumors affecting more than 90 percent of people with the condition.

23 May 2018

Study uncovers mechanism underlying brain malformation linked to severe epilepsy

One of the most frequent causes of drug-resistant epilepsy, considered a difficult disease to control, is a brain malformation known as focal cortical dysplasia.

16 May 2018

Scientists find fast way to manipulate cell's cilia

Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan say they have found a fast way to manipulate a cell's cilia, the tiny, fingerlike protrusions that "feel" and sense their microscopic environment.

16 May 2018

ONC201 disrupts mitochondrial function and kills breast cancer cells, reveals study

TRAIL, a member of the TNF family of ligands, causes caspase-dependent apoptosis through activation of its receptors, death receptor 4 and DR5.

9 May 2018

Researchers discover glutamine-dependent activation of cell growth and autophagy

The human body consists of about 35 trillion cells, so it could be said that overall body growth is the growth of individual cells.

3 May 2018

Non-aspirin NSAID use linked to shorter survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Ibuprofen, aspirin, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications are among the most commonly utilized medications in the United States. Primarily for treating pain, inflammation, and preventing cardiovascular disease, NSAIDs' promising anti-cancer properties have been highlighted by a growing body of data in recent years.

2 May 2018

Researchers develop highly specific apoptosis assay for pharmacodynamic analyses of tumor specimens

Existing microscopy-based methods of detecting apoptosis, such as TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling), have limited quantitative capabilities due to insufficient signal-to-noise ratios.

19 Apr 2018

Scientists develop new drug for treating skin lesions in rare intractable disease

Scientists at Osaka University developed a new drug treating skin lesions in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare intractable disease, a world first.

5 Apr 2018

Cell-penetrating 'nanodrills' could be new platform for intracellular drug delivery

Researchers at Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University have created new nanomaterials able to cross cell membranes, establishing a novel platform for the intracellular delivery of molecular drugs and other cargo.

27 Mar 2018

Precision oncology may improve overall survival, lower healthcare costs for advanced cancer patients

The use of advanced molecular diagnostic technologies, such as Next-Generation Sequencing-based gene panel testing, to select targeted therapies in advanced cancer patients is known as precision oncology.

13 Mar 2018

Calorie restriction improves intestinal-tissue regeneration after injury

Dramatic calorie restriction, diets reduced by 40 percent of a normal calorie total, have long been known to extend health span, the duration of disease-free aging, in animal studies, and even to extend life span in most animal species examined.

22 Feb 2018

Lab-grown cerebellar cells may help explain how ASD develops at molecular level

Increasing evidence has linked autism spectrum disorder with dysfunction of the brain's cerebellum, but the details have been unclear. In a new study, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital used stem cell technology to create cerebellar cells known as Purkinje cells from patients with tuberous sclerosis complex, a genetic syndrome that often includes ASD-like features.

19 Feb 2018

Small protein modification can trigger invasive properties of prostate cancer cells, research finds

A small protein modification can trigger the aggressive migratory and invasive properties of prostate cancer cells, according to new research published on the cover of Oncotarget. The findings give greater insight into how cancers can move from one location in the body to another, and could help develop more effective therapies in the future.

22 Nov 2017

Johns Hopkins scientists report first-ever creation of protein hydrogels inside living cells

Johns Hopkins cell biologists report what they believe is the first-ever creation of tiny protein-based gelatin-like clumps called hydrogels inside living cells.

7 Nov 2017

Research explains why mTOR inhibitors show limited ability to kill cancer

Anti-cancer drugs called mTOR inhibitors slow the growth of cancer cells but show limited ability to cause cancer cell death. New studies explain why.

6 Oct 2017

Researchers develop new method to create endocytosis on demand

A solution to the problem of creating endocytosis on demand is being compared to 'hotwiring' a car. A team at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, has managed to trigger clathrin-mediated endocytosis in the lab. They did it by using a chemical rapamycin which diffuses in to the cell allowing them to trigger endocytosis to occur all over the cell.

28 Sep 2017

Novel gene therapy can inhibit, reverse multiple sclerosis in mouse models

Multiple sclerosis can be inhibited or reversed using a novel gene therapy technique that stops the disease's immune response in mouse models, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

21 Sep 2017

Penn researchers identify new way to target enzyme crucial to tumor growth, develop new drugs

Opening up a new pathway to fight cancer, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to target an enzyme that is crucial to tumor growth while also blocking the mechanism that has made past attempts to target that enzyme resistant to treatment.

20 Sep 2017

Lab-grown miniature blood vessels mimic rare Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

Biomedical engineers have grown miniature human blood vessels that exhibit many of the symptoms and drug reactions associated with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome -- an extremely rare genetic disease that causes symptoms resembling accelerated aging in children.

16 Aug 2017

Researchers demonstrate potential of new PET tracer for imaging prostate cancer

In the featured translational article in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers at the University of Michigan demonstrate the potential of a new PET tracer, Carbon-11 labeled sarcosine (11C-sarcosine), for imaging prostate cancer, and set the stage for its possible use in monitoring other cancers.

7 Aug 2017