T Cell News and Research

Latest T Cell News and Research

New study finds liver instead of the brain as source of Alzheimer’s plaques

Unexpected results from a Scripps Research Institute and ModGene, LLC study could completely alter scientists' ideas about Alzheimer's disease—pointing to the liver instead of the brain as the source of the "amyloid" that deposits as brain plaques associated with this devastating condition. The findings could offer a relatively simple approach for Alzheimer's prevention and treatment.

4 Mar 2011

Triptolide isolated from Chinese medicinal plant blocks gene control machinery in cells

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered that a natural product isolated from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant commonly known as thunder god vine, or lei gong teng, and used for hundreds of years to treat many conditions including rheumatoid arthritis works by blocking gene control machinery in the cell. The report, published as a cover story of the March issue of Nature Chemical Biology, suggests that the natural product could be a starting point for developing new anticancer drugs.

4 Mar 2011

Dentists need to take a closer look at potential hazards of exposing patients to zinc

Dentists need to take a closer look at potential hazards of exposing patients to zinc, a common ingredient of many dental products, according to a report by Amar Patel, DDS, resident and colleagues at the University of Maryland Dental School in the March/April 2011 issue of the journal General Dentistry.

4 Mar 2011

BioSante vaccine increases median survival of resected pancreatic cancer patients

BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced publication of results from a Phase II clinical study that show BioSante's Pancreas Cancer Vaccine increased the median survival of resected pancreatic cancer patients from 15 to 20 months, as reported in published data, to 24.8 months, an increase of more than 25 percent.

4 Mar 2011

Ekomed to collaborate with Immune Network and Immunitor for further research of Immunoxel/Dzherelo

Immune Network Ltd. advises that Ukrainian company Ekomed LLC has agreed to collaborate with Immune Network and Immunitor for further clinical research of a tableted form of Ekomed's well-known immunomodulator herbal product Immunoxel/Dzherelo.

4 Mar 2011

New computer-controlled system to create cell assembly line

Borrowing a page from modern manufacturing, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have built a microscopic assembly line that mass produces synthetic cell-like compartments.

4 Mar 2011

Researchers demonstrate potential neurochemical mechanism of weight loss

An interdisciplinary group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has, for the first time, identified the neurological and cellular signaling mechanisms that contribute to satiety - the sensation of feeling full - and the subsequent body-weight loss produced by drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes. More comprehensive knowledge of these mechanisms could form the basis for anti-obesity medications.

4 Mar 2011

Lactate plays critical role in formation of long-term memory

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that lactate, a type of energy fuel in the brain, plays a critical role in the formation of long-term memory. These findings have important implications for common illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, other neurodegenerative disorders, aging-related memory impairment and diabetes. The research is published in the March 4th issue of the journal Cell.

4 Mar 2011

Enhancing function of protein CNT1 increases effectiveness of cancer-killing drugs in pancreatic tumors

New University of Georgia research has identified a protein that can be modified to improve the effectiveness of one of the most common drugs used to treat pancreatic cancer.

4 Mar 2011

Executioner enzyme may short circuit second form of cell death

An enzyme viewed as an executioner, because it can push cells to commit suicide, may actually short circuit a second form of cell death, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.

4 Mar 2011

Hemispherx, Chronix jointly file US patent application for CFS blood test

Chronix Biomedical announced today that it filed a provisional United States patent application jointly with Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. on a blood test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

4 Mar 2011

Allos reaches SPA agreement with FDA for FOLOTYN Phase 3 trial in PTCL

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the Company has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under its Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) process for the design of the Company's Phase 3 clinical trial of FOLOTYN® (pralatrexate injection) in patients with previously undiagnosed peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

4 Mar 2011

Stem cell research updates

Two studies have been published this Wednesday in the journal Nature that show that work remains before so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ready for use in laboratory studies or clinical therapies. These iPS cells are body cells that are programmed to unwind back into an embryonic state. Like embryonic stem cells, they have potential to develop into any other type of cell in the body. However researchers are showing that these cells do not reprogram perfectly.

3 Mar 2011

Scientist receives $4 million Australia fellowship to continue cancer origin research

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute cancer researcher Professor Jane Visvader has received a $4 million fellowship from the Australian Government to continue her work into the origin of breast, ovarian and lung cancers.

3 Mar 2011

DNA methylation patterns can accurately detect early bowel cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered for the first time that DNA methylation patterns - a key process in cell development - could accurately detect early bowel cancer, according to research published in Gut, today.

3 Mar 2011

New study provides fascinating insight into genetic basis of bipolar disorder

A new study provides fascinating insight into the genetic basis of bipolar disorder, a highly heritable mood disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression.

3 Mar 2011

Scientists uncover genetic pathway that affects breast cancer development

Using recent advances in genomics, researchers have uncovered a genetic pathway that affects the development of breast cancer, work that could help predict which patients are at risk of relapse for the disease.

3 Mar 2011

Feet first? Old mitochondria might be responsible for neuropathy in the extremities

The burning, tingling pain of neuropathy may affect feet and hands before other body parts because the powerhouses of nerve cells that supply the extremities age and become dysfunctional as they complete the long journey to these areas, Johns Hopkins scientists suggest in a new study. The finding may eventually lead to new ways to fight neuropathy, a condition that often accompanies other diseases including HIV/AIDS, diabetes and circulatory disorders.

3 Mar 2011

Genetics and cancer research

The 20th century was dominated by breakthroughs in physics and chemistry, but the 21st century will belong to genetics and biotechnology. Cancer research is just one area among many that is being transformed by the sequencing of the human genome. This was one of the topics discussed in our recent panel with leading cancer researchers, part of our Breakthroughs: Cancer series.

3 Mar 2011

Positive outcomes from Argos AGS-004 Phase 2a trial in patients with HIV

Argos Therapeutics announced today that its Arcelis immunotherapy for the treatment of HIV, AGS-004, demonstrated positive outcomes with the primary endpoint of viral load control and a favorable safety and immunogenicity profile in a final analysis of a Phase 2a clinical trial.

3 Mar 2011