Monthly Archives: February 2012

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, certain cancers: Correct protein folding illuminated

Posted: Published on February 25th, 2012

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2012) — The gold standard for nanotechnology is nature's own proteins. These biomolecular nanomachines -- macromolecules forged from peptide chains of amino acids -- are able to fold themselves into a dazzling multitude of shapes and forms that enable them to carry out an equally dazzling multitude of functions fundamental to life. As important as protein folding is to virtually all biological systems, the mechanisms behind this process have remained a mystery. The fog, however, is being lifted. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), using the exceptionally bright and powerful x-ray beams of the Advanced Light Source, have determined the crystal structure of a critical control element within chaperonin, the protein complex responsible for the correct folding of other proteins. The incorrect or "misfolding" of proteins has been linked to many diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and some forms of cancer. "We identified, for the first time, a region within group II chaperonins we call the nucleotide-sensing loop, which detects the presence of the ATP molecules that fuel the chaperonin folding motion," says Paul Adams, a bioengineer with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division and leading authority on … Continue reading

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First researcher joins The Jackson Lab for Genomic Medicine in Conn.

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Bar Harbor – Yijun Ruan, Ph.D., an American geneticist who has pioneered new techniques to sequence and map DNA to better understand cancer growth and stem cell properties, will be the first scientist to join the new Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX Genomic Medicine) in Farmington, Conn. Ruan is currently associate director and senior group leader at the Genome Institute of Singapore and professor of biochemistry at the National University of Singapore. He is also an investigator with the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, an international consortium of research groups funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute. Ruan said he was attracted by The Jackson Laboratory’s famously collaborative research environment, and plans to “take a community approach to tackle genomic questions through intensive collaboration.” Through innovating new technologies and studying how the human and mouse genomes are regulated, he said his goal is to translate research findings into personalized medicine. Ruan has also been appointed director of JAX Genomic Sciences, and will be bringing his current research program and team with him to JAX Genomic Medicine. JAX Genomic Medicine will unite doctors, patients, scientists and industry to find new ways to tailor disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment … Continue reading

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MissionIR News – VistaGen Therapeutics Announces Engagement of MissionIR’s Investor Relations Services

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 23, 2012 MissionIR would like to highlight VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB: VSTA), a biotechnology company applying human pluripotent stem cell technology for drug rescue and cell therapy. VistaGen’s drug rescue activities combine its human pluripotent stem cell technology platform, Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™, with modern medicinal chemistry to generate new chemical variants of once-promising small-molecule drug candidates. These are once-promising drug candidates discontinued by pharmaceutical companies during development due to heart toxicity, despite positive efficacy data demonstrating their potential therapeutic and commercial benefits. In the company’s news earlier this week, VistaGen Therapeutics has engaged MissionIR, a national investor relations consulting firm, to develop and implement a strategic investor relations campaign. Through a network of investor-oriented online websites and full suite of investor awareness services, MissionIR broadens the influence of publicly traded companies and enhances their ability to attract growth capital and improve shareholder value. “VistaGen’s work with human stem cell technology is groundbreaking,” said Sherri Snyder, Director of Marketing at MissionIR. “The company’s versatile platform, Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™, provides clinically relevant predictions of potential heart toxicity of new drug candidates long before they are ever tested on humans. Guided … Continue reading

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ISSCR Honors Stem Cell Research Pioneer with Prestigious McEwen Award for Innovation

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Newswise — The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2012 McEwen Award for Innovation, a coveted prize in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The 2012 recipient is Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in recognition of his pioneering discoveries in the areas of genetic and epigenetic control of development in mice that directly impact the future potential of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells for therapeutic utility. The McEwen Award for Innovation is supported by the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The $100,000 award honors original thinking and groundbreaking research pertaining to stem cells or regenerative medicine that opens new avenues of exploration towards the understanding or treatment of human disease or affliction. “Rudolf Jaenisch has consistently contributed new and groundbreaking discoveries to stem cell biology and regenerative medicines that have changed the way stem cell research is conducted, said Fred H. Gage, PhD, ISSCR President. “Importantly, Rudolf not only has an uncanny sense of the next big question, but also conducts his experiments with … Continue reading

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Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Opens Cancer Transplant Institute

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

To: HEALTH, MEDICAL AND STATE EDITORS New hematopoietic stem cell transplant program in Scottsdale, Ariz. offers treatment for blood cancers SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare announced today it has added a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplant cancer treatment program (a/k/a bone marrow transplant) through its new Cancer Transplant Institute. Leaders of the new cancer treatment program expect it to attract transplant patients from greater Phoenix, across Arizona and the southwestern United States. HSC transplants are primarily used to treat patients with aggressive cancers such as myelomas, leukemias and lymphomas. The Cancer Transplant Institute at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center is located on the campus of Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, and includes an outpatient treatment unit and a 13-bed inpatient unit. Cancer patients needing HSC transplants receive very high doses of chemotherapy designed to kill aggressive tumors. In the process their own bone marrow is damaged, resulting in low blood counts and weakened immune systems. Stem cells that are collected prior to therapy are then given to "rescue" the patient from the effects of the high dose therapy. Stem cells can be collected from the patients themselves (autologous) … Continue reading

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AIDS – a syndrome or clever medical construct? – Video

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

23-02-2012 15:27 CDC Initial AIDS Definition(s) "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome" a Center's for Disease and Control (CDC) fake constructed medical syndrome". The word or acronym "AIDS" is one of the most complex, confusing and mysterious words in science, medicine and in the English language. It's impossible for a medical dictionary to accurately define it. No matter what anyone says, "AIDS" is not clear cut. Its four letters which make up the acronym are centered in a web of complexity, so much so it took 58-minutes, just to scratch the surface. In this clip we look at: 1) CDC: Initial AIDS Definition 2) Clinical AIDS: A New Disease 3) A Growing Family: AIDS Marker Diseases and Indicators [opportunistic Infections?] or "old and familiar " Original Infections? 4) Creating an African AIDS Definition Bangui: AIDS By Numbers 5) Bangui: Peripheral Psychological Damage 6) Bangui Redux: National Variations in AIDS Definitions 7)Through a Glass Darkly: African AIDS Statistics Bangui Westernized 8) Politics and Public Health: A Study in Conflict 9) CD4 T-Cell Count Marker: Medical Application 10) Addition by Subtraction: 1997 CDC Tables 11 and 12 Visit http://www.houseofnumbers.com for more information Go here to see the original: AIDS - a syndrome or clever … Continue reading

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ISSC highlights sensors and semiconductor technology in medicine

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Session 17 at this year’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) focused on the diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for health, leveraging the recent advances in sensor and semiconductor technologies.  Topics covered included: •    SoC solution for continuous electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring in epilepsy patients; •    chaos processor utilizing body channel communication interface for mental health monitoring; •    multimodal sensor with adaptive stimulator IC for compact electro-acupuncture (EA) system; •    battery-less energy harvesting system for body area sensor networks (BAN); •    IEEE 801.15.6/Bluetooth-compliant solution for biotelemetry in wireless body area network (WBAN); •    millimeter-scale remote-controlled wireless-powered implantable biomedical device; •    and CMOS impedance Cytometer single cell analysis in three dimensional flow real time analysis. In the article, more details are presented on continuous monitoring of EEGs enabled by a SoC that has an excellent potential for implementation in clinical and nonclinical settings with applications in body area networks. SoC solution for continuous EEG monitoring EEG, which is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp, measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain. It is a non-invasive recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a short period of time (a few tens of minutes) recorded from … Continue reading

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First researcher joins The Jackson Lab for Genomic Medicine in Conn.

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Bar Harbor – Yijun Ruan, Ph.D., an American geneticist who has pioneered new techniques to sequence and map DNA to better understand cancer growth and stem cell properties, will be the first scientist to join the new Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX Genomic Medicine) in Farmington, Conn. Ruan is currently associate director and senior group leader at the Genome Institute of Singapore and professor of biochemistry at the National University of Singapore. He is also an investigator with the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, an international consortium of research groups funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute. Ruan said he was attracted by The Jackson Laboratory’s famously collaborative research environment, and plans to “take a community approach to tackle genomic questions through intensive collaboration.” Through innovating new technologies and studying how the human and mouse genomes are regulated, he said his goal is to translate research findings into personalized medicine. Ruan has also been appointed director of JAX Genomic Sciences, and will be bringing his current research program and team with him to JAX Genomic Medicine. JAX Genomic Medicine will unite doctors, patients, scientists and industry to find new ways to tailor disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment … Continue reading

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ISSCR Honors Stem Cell Research Pioneer with Prestigious McEwen Award for Innovation

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Newswise — The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2012 McEwen Award for Innovation, a coveted prize in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The 2012 recipient is Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in recognition of his pioneering discoveries in the areas of genetic and epigenetic control of development in mice that directly impact the future potential of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells for therapeutic utility. The McEwen Award for Innovation is supported by the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The $100,000 award honors original thinking and groundbreaking research pertaining to stem cells or regenerative medicine that opens new avenues of exploration towards the understanding or treatment of human disease or affliction. “Rudolf Jaenisch has consistently contributed new and groundbreaking discoveries to stem cell biology and regenerative medicines that have changed the way stem cell research is conducted, said Fred H. Gage, PhD, ISSCR President. “Importantly, Rudolf not only has an uncanny sense of the next big question, but also conducts his experiments with … Continue reading

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Qnexa Gets FDA Approval: Facts on and Side Effects of the Newest Weight-Loss Drug

Posted: Published on February 24th, 2012

Shares of Vivus Inc. more than doubled early Thursday after a U.S. FDA advisory panel recommended the agency approve the company's new weight-loss drug Qnexa. Vivus jumped $9.45 to $20, leading other diet-drug developers such as Arena Pharmaceuticals and Orexigen Therapeutics higher. Qnexa is one of three drugs competing for the first U.S. approval of a prescription weight-loss drug since Roche's Xenical in 1999. Data so far indicates the drug is the most effective in helping patients lose up to 10 percent of their body weight, ABC News said. The FDA isn't required to follow the panel's recommendations, although it generally does. An official approval or a rejection of Qnexa is expected by April 17. The panel voted 20-2 vote for approval, saying Qnexa's benefits for the chronically obese outweighed potential risks the drug may pose, according to ABC News. Like us on Facebook Qnexa was presented before the advisory panel in 2010, but it recommended against the drug 10-6 before the FDA rejected it for further testing, according to The New York Times. Here are some things to know about Qnexa. Meaningful Efficacy Benefit "There is an urgent need for better pharmacologic options for individual patients," Elaine H. Morrato, … Continue reading

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