Body

New Rochelle, NY, June 2, 2011—Biotech scientists are working on novel protein kinase inhibitors that are targeting a host of conditions ranging from atherosclerosis to neurodegenerative diseases, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN).

Richmond, Va. (June 2, 2011) – Clinical researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have successfully completed a Phase I clinical trial evaluating a combination of the drugs Bortezomib and Alvocidib in patients with relapsed or refractory blood cancers, paving the way for a Phase II clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of the new therapy.

Most of us never considered eating the mud pies we made as kids, but for many people all over the world, dining on dirt is nothing out of the ordinary. Now an extensive meta-analysis forthcoming in the June issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology helps explain why.

According to the research, the most probable explanation for human geophagy—the eating of earth—is that it protects the stomach against toxins, parasites, and pathogens.

Metastatic prostate cancer patients who received an investigational vaccine made from their own frozen immune cells lived 10 months longer than those not treated with it, according to data being presented by researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago on Saturday, June 4. (ABSTRACT #4534)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Using a high-resolution single-molecule study technique, University of Illinois researchers have seen the very subtle differences between two branches of an important family of neurotransmitter-gated ion channels.

Professor Claudio Grosman and research scientist Gisela Cymes published their work in the journal Nature.

HOUSTON, June 2, 2011 – Working to better predict general patterns of evolution, a University of Houston (UH) biologist and his team have discovered some surprising things about gene mutations that might one day make it possible to predict the progression of chronic disease.

HOUSTON (June 2, 2011) – The protein MeCP2 is porridge to the finicky neuron. Like Goldilocks, the neuron or brain cell needs the protein in just the right amount. Girls born with dysfunctional MeCP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) develop Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder. Too much MeCP2 can cause spasticity or developmental delay with autism-like symptoms in boys.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Eating a high-fat diet during pregnancy increases the chance of stillbirth, according to new research at Oregon Health & Science University. The new data show eating a typical American diet, which is high in fat, decreases blood flow from the mother to the placenta, the temporary organ that nourishes the unborn fetus. Prior to this study, exactly how a fatty diet contributes to stillbirth was unclear. The findings are published in the June edition of the journal Endocrinology.

Baltimore, MD -- A multicenter clinical trial led by a researcher at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center will evaluate a new approach to treat triple-negative breast cancer, an often-aggressive type of cancer that is more common among African-Americans and young women. The study will help researchers determine if an experimental drug, entinostat, can reprogram tumor cells to express a protein called an estrogen receptor to make them sensitive to hormone therapy.

Two promising new treatments to aid people with autism have shown effectiveness in pilot studies conducted by an Arizona State University professor and private researchers.

Several studies indicate that children with autism often have abnormalities in critical biochemical functions that help maintain health – specifically methylation, glutathione, and mitochondrial functions.

Methylation turns proteins in the body on and off – including DNA and RNA – a function that controls gene activity.

Managers of northern Michigan forests may not see the birds for the trees – or at least are in danger of losing sight of songbird neighborhoods when looking out for timber harvests.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville researchers are one step closer to helping millions of people whose salivary glands no longer work because of disease or damage from treatment of diseases.

The scientific finding of Douglas Darling, PhD, professor, Department of Oral Health and Rehabilitation, UofL School of Dentistry, and his team identified a protein sorting mechanism used by the salivary gland. The National Institutes of Health supported study published on-line first this week in the Journal of Dental Research.

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a potentially important new therapeutic target that could prevent stress-related cell death, a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, as well as heart attack and stroke.

In the study, published recently in the journal ACS Chemical Biology, the scientists showed they could disrupt a specific interaction of a critical enzyme that would prevent cell death without harming other important enzyme functions.

The nation's system of freeing some terminally ill prisoners on grounds of compassionate release is so riddled with medical flaws and procedural barriers that many potentially medically eligible inmates are dying behind bars, say UCSF researchers in a new study.

The research, which calls for an overhaul of current practices, is published online this week in Annals of Internal Medicine.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – One of the beneficial compounds found in green tea has a powerful ability to increase the number of "regulatory T cells" that play a key role in immune function and suppression of autoimmune disease, according to new research in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

This may be one of the underlying mechanisms for the health benefits of green tea, which has attracted wide interest for its ability to help control inflammation, improve immune function and prevent cancer.