gooブログはじめました!

写真付きで日記や趣味を書くならgooブログ

Researchers develop reliable, accurate blood test for alzheimer's - motorcycle fog lights

2012-08-09 15:05:05 | 旅行
Scientists from Durin Technologies, Inc., and the University ofMedicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-School of OsteopathicMedicine have developed a blood test that uses human proteinmicroarrays to detect the presence of specific antibodies in theblood that can be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease with unprecedented accuracy. The test has a diagnostic sensitivityof 96 percent and a specificity of 92.5 percent and has thepotential to spot Alzheimer's in its earliest stages, years beforesymptoms such as memory loss, poor judgment or erratic behaviorappear. The same test also demonstrated the ability to distinguishAlzheimer's from Parkinson's disease , a closely related neurodegenerative disorder. The research team'sfindings appear online in PLoS ONE. More than 100 years after it was first described, Alzheimer'saffects nearly 36 million people worldwide, yet there remains onlyone definitive way to diagnose the disease the direct examinationof brain tissue following the patient's death. yellow fog light bulbs

"There's a dire need for an accurate, relatively non-invasive andinexpensive diagnostic test for Alzheimer's," said Robert Nagele,PhD, founder of Durin Technologies, Inc., and a professor at theUMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. "A test that can not onlydiagnose the disease in individuals showing telltale symptoms, butpossibly also detect the disease years before these symptoms appearwould make early therapeutic intervention possible. This would be asignificant breakthrough as pharmaceutical companies are nowworking feverishly to develop new drugs that can stop or slow theprogression of Alzheimer's." An investment in Durin Technologies, Inc., by Foundation VentureCapital Group (FVCG), LLC, a New Jersey Health Foundation affiliatethat invests in start-up companies founded by researchers at UMDNJ,provided necessary funding to move Nagele's research forward. Nagele says this discovery may have a profound clinical impact andcould ultimately be well-suited for inclusion in routine healthcare, especially if it can also be applied to detection of otherdiseases. motorcycle fog lights

"Because this method requires only a small blood sample,it avoids the expense and patient discomfort of other proposedAlzheimer's diagnostic tests such as those involving neuroimagingtechniques, more invasive procedures and hospitalization. Discoveryof other disease-specific autoantibody signatures could alsoconceivably lead to the development of successful and relativelyinexpensive diagnostics for a wide variety of diseases," he said. An early diagnostic test could also serve to rule out Alzheimer'sdisease for some patients who are experiencing mild or intermittentmemory loss. In about 20 percent of these cases, the patient'smemory problems result from another condition such as anxiety , depression or a reaction to medication. fog lights bulbs Manufacturer

Source: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Additional References Citations.

Groundbreaking research identifying innovative delivery systems andmethods to treat breast cancer

2012-08-09 14:54:41 | 日記
"What's novel about our work is we're developing a carrier forpeptide therapeutics," said Dr. Gene Leflore Bidwell of Universityof Mississippi Medical Center. "Peptides are easier to rationallydesign for a specific target than small molecules are. You candesign peptides to modulate pathways of interest for certain typesof breast cancer, but the problem with peptides is they needcarriers to be made into good drugs.

We generated a carrier to dothat using thermal targeting, so the carrier we use specificallyresponds to heat." Selectively Targeted Therapeutics for Breast Cancer Principal Investigators: Andras Lacko, PhD and Nirupama Sabnis,PhD, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth In the United States, six percent of women with breast canceralready have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis.2 Despiteimproved response rates to currently available treatments, drugresistance continues to be an issue. A multi-site study wasconducted to investigate a highly innovative approach forselectively targeting breast cancer by using biocompatiblenanoparticles. Researchers developed a novel drug delivery model utilizingsynthetic and reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) or goodcholesterol nanoparticles that is uniquely effective in selectivelyencouraging cancer cells to accept therapeutic treatments. The anti-cancer agent usedin the study was siRNA directed against the STAT-3 transcriptionfactor and focal adhesion kinasse (FAK).

3 The drug carrying thenanoparticles was 20 times more efficient in suppressing the growthof breast cancer cells than the drug on its own, and in vivostudies in mice led to the suppression of the growth of humanbreast tumors by more than 70 percent. The system targets malignantcells and tumors via the scavenger receptor type B1 (SR=B1). Thenormal function of the SR-B1 receptor includes the extraction ofcholesteryl esters from high density lipoproteins (HDL). Thisreceptor has been shown to be markedly overexpressed in malignantcells and tissues, apparently because of their need for excesscholesterol due to their high proliferative rates. API Ball Valve

Researchers havefound the SR-B1 receptor is also the major gateway for the entry ofanti-cancer drugs into malignant cells. During the study, theaccumulation of the siRNA (delivered via the rHDL nanoparticles)was undetectable in nearly all normal tissues, while it wassubstantial in tumor tissue, suggesting the selective drug deliveryto tumors via rHDL is feasible. "This novel drug delivery system has the potential to be compatiblewith most of the commonly used chemotherapy agents," said Dr.Andras Lacko of University of North Texas Health Science Center,Fort Worth. "This is a selectively targeted model, so cancer cellsare reached, and normal cells are spared. China High Pressure Needle Valve

We hope to contribute towhat could bring patients a more effective therapy with reducedside effects." Therapeutic Eradication of DCIS Progenitor Cells Principal Investigator: Lance A. Liotta, MD, PhD, George MasonUniversity The true malignant nature of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS),breast cancer that begins inside the milk ducts 4, remains unclear,and therefore, it is often considered difficult to treat. Acollaborative study led by Dr. Lance A. Liotta of George MasonUniversity with Dr. API Check Valves

Kirsten Edmiston of Inova Health System andVirginia Espina of George Mason University was conducted to answerthe question: When does the propensity for breast cancer invasionfirst begin? Researchers also sought to investigate the potentialof autophagy, a cell survival mechanism used by DCIS malignantprogenitor cells growing within the breast duct, as a novel targetfor treating this type of disease. In this study, an initial culture sample of fresh human DCISlesions was shown to elicit cells with full malignant, orcancerous, properties in an animal model. Some of these cancerousproperties include invasion, spheroid formation, and the ability toproduce more tumors or tumorigenicity. Treatment with alysosomotropic inhibitor of autophagy (chloroquine phosphate [CQ])reversed all the invasive and tumorigenic properties, induced celldeath and eliminated genetically abnormal cells from the organculture.5 The mechanism of the suppression was the inhibition ofautophagy. Findings indicate that the malignant cells are survivingwithin the breast duct by using autophagy to digest cell componentsin lysosomes and generate energy.6 Lysosomotropic inhibitors 7 workby modifying lysosomal function and reducing the cell survivalmechanisms employed by malignant cells.

"Based on our findings, we are testing the safety and effectivenessof CQ in patients with DCIS," said Dr. Lance Liotta. "This trialwill investigate the applicability of autophagy as a noveltreatment target for DCIS, and if successful, could provide aneoadjuvant therapy option for this difficult to treat disease anda new approach to prevent breast cancer by killing preinvasivelesions." Additional References Citations.