Today, the scientific journal Genes and Development has published the findings of a study performed by Dr. Libera Berghella, describing a new molecular mechanism regulating the muscle fiber maturation process and its response to nerve-transmitted signals. These studies, while having no therapeutic application yet, represent a major step forward an improved knowledge of the muscle tissue function.

Why quantify and characterize exosomes in human body fluids?

Exosomes are small vesicles of endosomal origin with a size of 30-120nm, externally released following the fusion of multivesicular body with the plasma membrane. These structures are secreted from both normal cells and cells from patients with various diseases, including tumors. The importance of exosomes in human pathology is increasing day-by-day not only for their relevance as etiopathological agents in various disease, but also as new possible disease markers needing new approaches for a better quantification and characterization. However, a central problem in obtaining useful in vivo data on these microvesicles is the low level of efficiency of the available methods to obtain exosomes in order to quantify and characterize them from human body fluids, particularly from plasma.

Contact: Jennifer Berman
NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine

Finding may be used to sensitize cells to chemotherapy

In the life of a cell, the response to DNA damage determines whether the cell is fated to pause and repair itself, commit suicide, or grow uncontrollably, a route leading to cancer. In a new study, published in the July 25th issue of Cell, scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified a way that cells respond to DNA damage through a process that targets proteins for disposal. The finding points to a new pathway for the development of cancer and suggests a new way of sensitizing cancer cells to treatment.

Source: ScienceDaily.com

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions.

The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120. This protein is essential for HIV attachment to host cells, which initiate infection and eventually lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS. Normally the body’s immune defenses can ward off viruses by making proteins called antibodies that bind the virus. However, HIV is a constantly changing and mutating virus, and the antibodies produced after infection do not control disease progression to AIDS. For the same reason, no HIV preventative vaccine that stimulates production of protective antibodies is available.

Source: Reimbursement Intelligence

CHATHAM, NEW JERSEY – This week’s front page headlines read: "Pricey Drugs Put Squeeze on Doctors" and "Costly Cancer Drug Offers Hope, but Also a Dilemma" in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, respectively.

Cancer therapies are no longer affordable for patients nor the physicians who prescribe them. According to The Wall Street Journal, "American doctors rarely used to let costs factor into their treatment decisions. But rising prices […] are dramatically changing that ethos in the field of oncology." It is for this reason, that reimbursement plays such a critical part in evaluating oncology development.

GTCbio is happy to announce the 2nd Annual Protein Therapeutics Discovery and Development Conference to be held in San Diego, CA on Sept. 8-9, 2008. This conference brings together leaders, directors, vice presidents, heads, managers, academics and researchers, from all over the world to collaborate and discuss the latest developments in Protein Therapeutics.

Protein discovery is a crucial step toward drug discovery. Over the past few years, new technologies and methodologies, such as bioinformatics, x-ray crystallography and protein microarrays, have been used to determine the structures and mechanisms of novel proteins. Now that new proteins have been discovered, the question is, how do we use them?

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Direct link to video available here.

Dr. Ogan Gurel interviews Arthur Rhodes, MD MPH, Professor of Dermatology at Rush University Medical Center.

Dr. Ogan Gurel is chairman of the Aesis Group which provides consulting services in the life sciences and healthcare sectors to clients that have included biopharma/medtech companies, hospitals & health systems, private equity firms, venture capital groups and hedge funds. Dr. Gurel is also Medical Producer at InTimeTV – one of the world’s only peer-to-peer professional internet TV talk show networks. At InTimeTV, he is host to three shows – Insights in Medicine, Eye on Harvard and Nanotech Today which broadcast worldwide.

Please Note: ActiveX Windows Media Player plug-in required for video playback.

Direct link to video available here.

Welcome to Nanotech Today at InTimeTV.com. Nanotech Today is hosted by Ogan Gurel, MD/MPhil and combines two 21st century technologies – internet TV and nanotech – to communicate globally advances and trends in Nanotechnology worldwide.

This week's episode of Nanotech Today features Phillip Messersmith PhD Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University.

Source: NANOtechwire.com

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have shown that an MGH-developed, microchip-based device that detects and analyzes tumor cells in the bloodstream can be used to determine the genetic signature of lung tumors, allowing identification of those appropriate for targeted treatment and monitoring genetic changes that occur during therapy. A pilot study of the device called the CTC-chip will appear in the July 24 New England Journal of Medicine and is receiving early online release.

By: Ben Adkins, Business First Staff Writer

A panel of national cancer experts today discussed issues surrounding the disease during a symposium entitled "Discovery to Delivery: A Public Forum about the Future of Cancer Research."

The event was co-hosted by the University of Louisville's James Graham Brown Cancer Center and Friends of Cancer Research, an Arlington, Va.-based non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and providing public education on cancer research.

Source: NANOtechwire.com

Recent findings by medical researchers indicate that naturally occurring nanotubes may serve as tunnels that protect retroviruses and bacteria in transit from diseased to healthy cells — a fact that may explain why vaccines fare poorly against some invaders.

To better study the missions of these intercellular nanotubes, scientists have sought the means to form them quickly and easily in test tubes.

Sandia National Laboratories researchers have now learned serendipitously to form nanotubes with surprising ease.

How human clones are being made - for medical research.

Arguments for and against human cloning research.

Why investors are moving away from human cloning and why human cloning now looks a last-century way to fight disease.

Why some people want to clone themselves or even to clone the dead (and not just cloning pets).

Source: Plos ONE

ABSTRACT

Several lines of evidence indicate the existence of genetic factors influencing male homosexuality and bisexuality. In spite of its relatively low frequency, the stable permanence in all human populations of this apparently detrimental trait constitutes a puzzling ‘Darwinian paradox’. Furthermore, several studies have pointed out relevant asymmetries in the distribution of both male homosexuality and of female fecundity in the parental lines of homosexual vs. heterosexual males. A number of hypotheses have attempted to give an evolutionary explanation for the long-standing persistence of this trait, and for its asymmetric distribution in family lines; however a satisfactory understanding of the population genetics of male homosexuality is lacking at present.

Source: Plos ONE

ABSTRACT

Background: Emerging evidences suggest that nucleolin expressed on the cell surface is implicated in growth of tumor cells and angiogenesis. Nucleolin is one of the major proteins of the nucleolus, but it is also expressed on the cell surface where is serves as a binding protein for variety of ligands implicated in cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, mitogenesis and angiogenesis.

Source: Plos ONE

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ABSTRACT

According to World Health Organization reports, some three quarters of the world population does not have accss to medical imaging. In addition, in developing countries over 50% of medical equipment that is available is not being used because it is too sophisticated or in disrepair or because the health personnel are not trained to use it. The goal of this study is to introduce and demonstrate the feasibility of a new concept in medical imaging that is centered on cellular phone technology and which may provide a solution to medical imaging in underserved areas. The new system replaces the conventional stand-alone medical imaging device with a new medical imaging system made of two independent components connected through cellular phone technology.

Rodman & Renshaw and MedKnowledge present the latest in a series of medical expert conference calls.

Senior Biotechnology Analysts Michael G. King, Jr. & Vernon Bernardino host the call, featuring Silvio E. Inzucchi, MD, Professor of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Yale University (Clinical Director, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Director of Yale Diabetes Center)

Vernon T. Bernardino, Senior BioTech Analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, hosted a call with Sherwyn L. Schwartz (pictured right), MD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer, Diabetes and Glandular Disease Research Inc., and Giovanni Solinas, PhD, Director of the Laboratory of Medical Stress Biology, Dept. of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Posted by Reason, Fightaging.com

Regenerative medicine holds great - albeit not unlimited - promise for extending healthy life by replacing age-damaged tissue, and ultimately replacing age-damaged organs. However, as for everything involving our biology, the path forward is not as simple as it might appear. Repairing the damage of aging by simply replacing tissue - even assuming you've repaired any age-related damage in the stem cells taken from the patient to use in therapy - runs into the interconnected nature of the body's systems:

Tissue engineering for a new heart, plus the necessary understanding to repair any damage in your stem cells? One problem you quickly run into in this sort of thought experiment is that everything of importance is influenced by everything else. New cells will be damaged by the old intracellular environment, as well as by the actions of old cells next door. An age-damaged immune system can't protect rejuvenated cells in a new heart.

Come join us at the Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics Conference on August 6th, 2008 in Boston, MA !!

Pharma Connections Worldwide will be hosting a Business Networking event on Wednesday, August 6th, 5:30-7:30PM at Anthony's Pier4 Restaurant, within walking distance of the IBC USA Event at the World Trade Center in Boston (being held August 4-7). It will be co-hosted by several business partners attending the show as well.

Diabetes is a manageable but serious illness characterized by high blood sugar. People who suffer from diabetes cannot absorb glucose in their cells and must monitor their blood sugar levels.

The World Health Organization recognizes three main forms of diabetes mellitus: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (occurring during pregnancy), which have different causes and population distributions. While, ultimately, all forms are due to the beta cells of the pancreas being unable to produce sufficient insulin to prevent hyperglycemia, the causes are different. Type 1 diabetes is usually due to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance in target tissues. This causes a need for abnormally high amounts of insulin and diabetes develops when the beta cells cannot meet this demand. Gestational diabetes is similar to type 2 diabetes in that it involves insulin resistance; the hormones of pregnancy can cause insulin resistance in women genetically predisposed to developing this condition.