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GW professor receives federal grant to study effects of microsporidia in HIV patients

Imtiaz A. Khan, M.D., professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, received a $1.6 million federal grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the effects of microsporidia-opportunistic inter-cellular pathogens-that cause morbidity and mortality in HIV patients.

27 Nov 2012

Experimental flu vaccine technique could reduce time needed to develop new shots for humans

"An experimental vaccine based on a molecule related to DNA protects animals against influenza and may one day offer an ultra-rapid way to develop new shots for humans, German scientists reported on Sunday," Reuters reports.

27 Nov 2012

Grove professor to investigate personalized therapies against breast cancer

For some time, researchers have known about disparities in diagnoses and outcomes among breast cancer patients based on race and age. However, they have been challenged to develop a set of criteria that can be used to reliably target drug delivery mechanisms based on an individual patient's tumor.

27 Nov 2012

Study compares effects of weight loss induced by gastric bypass and banding on metabolic response

Obesity is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, both of which can be significantly improved by weight loss. Gastric bypass and adjustable gastric banding are two bariatric surgery techniques that are frequently used to effect weight loss in obese patients, but it is unclear if the two procedures produce different outcomes.

27 Nov 2012

Antifibrinolytics inhibit glycine receptor activity in the brain and cause seizures

Antifibrinolytic drugs are frequently used to prevent blood loss during surgery, but sometimes cause convulsive seizures. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Beverly Orser at the University of Toronto investigated the molecular mechanisms that underlie this side effect.

27 Nov 2012

Paper illuminates importance of PKM2 in cancer development and progression

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have tracked down a cancer-promoting protein's pathway into the cell nucleus and discovered how, once there, it fires up a glucose metabolism pathway on which brain tumors thrive.

26 Nov 2012

CLCA1 molecule plays a special role in the mucus pathway

Respiratory conditions that restrict breathing such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common killers worldwide. But no effective treatments exist to address the major cause of death in these conditions - excess mucus production.

26 Nov 2012

Researchers discover LSD-1 enzyme as important target for treatment of Ewing sarcoma

Discovery of a new drug with high potential to treat Ewing sarcoma, an often deadly cancer of children and young adults, and the previously unknown mechanism behind it, come hand-in-hand in a new study by researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah. The report appears in today's online issue of the journal Oncogene.

26 Nov 2012

Max Planck scientists identify unknown proteins of the herpesvirus

The genome encodes the complete information needed by an organism, including that required for protein production. Viruses, which are up to a thousand times smaller than human cells, have considerably smaller genomes. Using a type of herpesvirus as a model system, the scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich and their collaboration partners at the University of California in San Francisco have shown that the genome of this virus contains much more information than previously assumed.

26 Nov 2012

Researchers discover molecular basis for potential cancer preventive effects of vitamin D

A team of researchers at McGill University have discovered a molecular basis for the potential cancer preventive effects of vitamin D. The team, led by McGill professors John White and David Goltzman, of the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Physiology, discovered that the active form of vitamin D acts by several mechanisms to inhibit both the production and function of the protein cMYC.

26 Nov 2012

New therapeutic technique to repair and rebuild muscle for degenerative muscle disorders

A study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Skeletal Muscle reports of a new therapeutic technique to repair and rebuild muscle for sufferers of degenerative muscle disorders. The therapy brings together two existing techniques for muscle repair - cell transplantation and tissue engineering - specifically, mesoangioblast stem cells delivered via a hydrogel cell-carrier matrix.

26 Nov 2012

USPTO grants patent for galactomannan-based carbohydrate galectin inhibitor compounds

Galectin Therapeutics, the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, today announced that it has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a divisional patent of Patent Number 8,236,780 "Galactose-prolonged polysaccharides in a formulation for antifibrotic therapies".

26 Nov 2012

FDA grants Seattle Genetics orphan drug designation for ADCETRIS to treat mycosis fungoides

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of mycosis fungoides (MF). MF is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

26 Nov 2012

Alnylam advances Tuschl II patent estate through the USPTO

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued Notices of Allowance for three patent applications from the company's exclusively held Tuschl II patent estate.

26 Nov 2012

New therapeutic approach for preventing Alzheimer's disease

Pathological changes typical of Alzheimer's disease were significantly reduced in mice by blockade of an immune system transmitter. A research team from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Zurich has just published a new therapeutic approach in fighting Alzheimer's disease in the current issue of Nature Medicine. This approach promises potential in prevention, as well as in cases where the disease has already set in.

26 Nov 2012

Inovio's SynCon DNA vaccine effective at inducing CD8+ T cell responses specific to CMV

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that testing of multiple synthetic vaccine constructs for cytomegalovirus (CMV) induced robust T cells in mice, demonstrating the potential for a SynCon DNA vaccine to treat this virus that causes infant death and congenital abnormalities, is associated with cerebral palsy and brain tumors, and is the most common viral infection in organ transplant recipients. CMV is also associated with numerous inflammatory diseases and cancers, and is implicated in hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

26 Nov 2012

Negative messages not having an impact in people with addictive behaviors

What types of public messages will most likely deter drug and alcohol abuse or dissuade people from engaging in risky behavior? Negatively framed messages may not be an effective way to reach those most in need of persuasion, suggests a new study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors by researchers from Indiana University and Wayne State University.

26 Nov 2012

Medical Science News

GW professor receives federal grant to study effects of microsporidia in HIV patients

Experimental flu vaccine technique could reduce time needed to develop new shots for humans

Grove professor to investigate personalized therapies against breast cancer

Study compares effects of weight loss induced by gastric bypass and banding on metabolic response

Antifibrinolytics inhibit glycine receptor activity in the brain and cause seizures

Paper illuminates importance of PKM2 in cancer development and progression

CLCA1 molecule plays a special role in the mucus pathway

Researchers discover LSD-1 enzyme as important target for treatment of Ewing sarcoma

Max Planck scientists identify unknown proteins of the herpesvirus

Researchers discover molecular basis for potential cancer preventive effects of vitamin D

New therapeutic technique to repair and rebuild muscle for degenerative muscle disorders

USPTO grants patent for galactomannan-based carbohydrate galectin inhibitor compounds

FDA grants Seattle Genetics orphan drug designation for ADCETRIS to treat mycosis fungoides

Alnylam advances Tuschl II patent estate through the USPTO

New therapeutic approach for preventing Alzheimer's disease

Inovio's SynCon DNA vaccine effective at inducing CD8+ T cell responses specific to CMV

Negative messages not having an impact in people with addictive behaviors

Cancer-killing viruses found safe but less effective than expected

Researchers reveal molecular mechanisms that lead to basal cell carcinoma initiation

Stroke patients may perform better in clinical tests when offered a reward

How microRNA is transforming science: From discovery to diagnostics

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

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