Tag Archives: processing

Furin: The answer to the ebola crises?

Furin is responsible for activating certain proteins and is involved in the processing and maturation of viral and bacterial preproteins. Indeed, the strength of Furin activity has already been recognised, and used previously by scientists to propose broad anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer treatments. This study used the binding site of human Furin in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Author of the study, Omotuyi Olaposi, a lecturer in Biochemistry at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria, explains that the experiment ‘may provide further insight to the design of novel drugs for Ebola virus disease treatment’…

Fertility preservation option for young boys with cancer

The research, conducted by the Medical Center’s Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) under the direction of Anthony Atala, M.D., institute director, gives boys who have a high risk of becoming sterile the option to “bank” a small piece of testicular tissue prior to treatment. “The average survival rates for childhood cancer are around 80 percent, but a side effect of some treatments can be permanent sterility,” said Thomas W. McLean, M.D., a pediatric cancer specialist, who co-leads the experimental biological bank with Hooman Sadri-Ardekani, M.D., Ph.D., a male infertility specialist at WFIRM. …

Noninvasive detection, diagnosis of oral cancer

The imaging technique, which is detailed in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, is being developed by Kristen Maitland, assistant professor in the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. It combines two separate technologies — confocal microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging — to noninvasively evaluate both the structural changes of tissue as well as molecular changes that take place on a cellular and tissue level…