Computer-designed vaccine elicits potent antibodies against RSV
A first-of-its-kind nanoparticle vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been designed in an international research effort. RSV is second only to malaria as a cause of infant mortality worldwide. The new vaccine elicits potent neutralizing antibodies against RSV in both mice and monkeys. The animal research findings, reported March 7 in the journal Cell, pave the way for human clinical trials.
Read more ...
Novel treatments offer new hope for patients with autoimmune disease
Autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, arise when the body's immune cells attack itself. Current treatments eliminate these misfunctioning immune cells, but also destroy normal, protective immune cells, leaving patients susceptible to immune deficiency and opportunistic infections. Researchers at University of Utah Health have developed a new approach that targets the misfunctioning immune cells while leaving normal immune cells in place.
Read more ...
How celastrol sensitizes brains to leptin, curbing hunger and obesity
Celastrol's potent anti-obesity effects were widely reported in 2015. Derived from the roots of the thunder god vine, the drug curbed food intake in obese mice by nearly 80 percent, producing up to a 45 percent weight loss. Celastrol increases the brain's sensitivity to leptin, the hormone that signals we've had enough to eat, but until now, no one knew how. In today's Nature Medicine, a study led by Umut Ozcan, MD, at Boston Children's Hospital finally solves the mystery.
Read more ...
Protein content as a marker for response to therapy in brain cancer
Brain tumors vary widely in how they respond to treatment. However, early assessment of therapy response is essential in order to choose the best possible treatment for the patient. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now been able to show in a study using non-invasive high-resolution 7-Tesla MRI scans that the protein content of tumors correlates with response to treatment and survival.
Read more ...
Could medical marijuana help grandma and grandpa with their ailments?
Medical marijuana may bring relief to older people who have symptoms like pain, sleep disorders or anxiety due to chronic conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, neuropathy, spinal cord damage and multiple sclerosis, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019.
Read more ...
New treatment offers potentially promising results for the possibility of slowing, stopping, or even reversing Parkinson's disease
A pioneering clinical trials program that delivered an experimental treatment directly to the brain offers hope that it may be possible to restore the cells damaged in Parkinson's disease. The study investigated whether boosting the levels of a naturally-occurring growth factor, Glial Cell Line Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), can regenerate dying dopamine brain cells in patients with Parkinson's and reverse their condition, something no existing treatment can do.
Read more ...
Artificial lung cancer tissue could help find new drug treatments
A 3D hydrogel created by researchers in U of T Engineering Professor Molly Shoichet's lab is helping University of Ottawa researchers to quickly screen hundreds of potential drugs for their ability to fight highly invasive cancers. Cell invasion is a critical hallmark of metastatic cancers, such as certain types of lung and brain cancer. Fighting these cancers requires therapies that can both kill cancer cells as well as prevent cell invasion of healthy tissue.
Read more ...