Tag Archives: professor

Using microRNA fit to a T (Cell)

The achievement in mice studies, published in this week’s online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may be the first step toward using genetically modified miRNA for therapeutic purposes, perhaps most notably in vaccines and cancer treatments, said principal investigator Maurizio Zanetti, MD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Laboratory of Immunology at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. "From a practical standpoint, short non-coding RNA can be used for replacement therapy to introduce miRNA or miRNA mimetics into tissues to restore normal levels that have been reduced by a disease process or to inhibit other miRNA to increase levels of therapeutic proteins," said Zanetti. "However, the explosive rate at which science has discovered miRNAs to be involved in regulating biological processes has not been matched by progress in the translational arena," Zinetti added. "Very few clinical trials have been launched to date…

Cancer-fighting technology progressing well

PNP confirmed that it has completed the first three cohorts of its Phase I clinical trial and is now recruiting for the fourth cohort. The company is looking ahead to Phase II trials and seeking an appropriate partner in the pharmaceutical industry. "We are pleased with the progress made by the product thus far," said William B. Parker, Ph.D., senior research fellow at Southern Research Institute. …

New technique improves accuracy, ease of cancer diagnosis

The technique, which uses a deformability cytometer to analyze individual cells, could reduce the need for more cumbersome diagnostic procedures and the associated costs, while improving accuracy over current methods. The initial clinical study, which analyzed pleural fluid samples from more than 100 patients, was published in the current issue of peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine. Pleural fluid, a natural lubricant of the lungs as they expand and contract during breathing, is normally present in spaces surrounding the lungs. …

Cancer researchers translate new findings to enhance melanoma treatment

Translational researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) have published results of two back-to-back studies in the journal Cancer Discovery that provide critical insights into two key areas of how tumors resist BRAF inhibitors: the key cell-signaling pathways BRAF-mutant melanoma cells use to learn how to become resistant to inhibitor drugs, and how the limited focus of BRAF inhibitors allows melanoma cells to evolve and develop drug resistance. The studies were published online ahead of print on November 21, 2013…

Epigenetic changes may explain chronic kidney disease

In a recent Genome Biology paper, Susztak, and her co-corresponding author John Greally from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, found, in a genome-wide survey, significant differences in the pattern of chemical modifications on DNA that affect gene expression in kidney cells from patients with chronic kidney disease versus healthy controls. This is the first study to show that changes in these modifications – the cornerstone of the field of epigenetics – might explain chronic kidney disease. Epigenetics is the science of how gene activity can be altered without actual changes in the DNA sequence. …

Tiny antisense molecules increase ‘good cholesterol’ levels in obese primates

"We have found that targeting both members of the miR-33 microRNA family with a tiny, 8-nucleotide anti-microRNA can increase HDL levels by almost 40 percent," says Anders Näär, PhD, of the MGH Center for Cancer Research, who led the study. "This sets the stage for new therapeutic strategies to treat cardiovascular disease in humans and provides a template for targeting other disease-associated microRNA families." Major regulators of gene expression, microRNAs are segments made up of 20- to 24-nucleotides that bind to complementary strands of messenger RNA, blocking their translation into proteins. A 2010 study led by Näär identified two related microRNAs — miR-33a and miR-33b — that inhibit a protein called ABCA1, which is essential for both the generation of HDL and for the transport of lipids to the liver. …

Blacks have less access to cancer specialists, treatment

The study, published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, noted there was no difference in risk of death when black patients received the same treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgery, as non-Hispanic white patients. "Other studies have looked at racial disparities in treatment and still others have focused on racial differences in survival rates of cancer patients, but our research attempted to go further by demonstrating the impact of race-based inequalities in cancer treatment on survival rates of black colorectal cancer patients," said James D. Murphy, MD, MS, assistant professor and chief of the Radiation Oncology Gastrointestinal Tumor Service at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. The researchers analyzed data from 11,216 patients over the age of 66 with stage IV colorectal cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database…

Smoking increases risk of death for nasopharyngeal carcinoma survivors

"While it is established that tobacco smoke is a risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma [the most common cancer arising from the upper part of the throat behind the nose and near the base of skull], its role in influencing survival of patients with established cancers is not known," said Fang-Yun Xie, M.D., professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China. …