Tag Archives: technique

Test to predict early onset of heart attacks

The technique, which is described in the latest edition of IOP Publishing’s journal Physical Biology, works by identifying circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and has been successful in distinguishing patients undergoing treatment for a recent heart attack with a healthy control group. The researchers believe the technique can now be tested on patients who exhibit symptoms but are yet to experience a heart attack. …

Scientists control cells following transplantation, from inside out

Associate Professor Jeffrey Karp, PhD, and James Ankrum, PhD, demonstrate in this month’s issue of Nature Protocols how to load cells with microparticles that provide the cells cues for how they should behave over the course of days or weeks as the particles degrade. "Regardless of where the cell is in the body, it’s going to be receiving its cues from the inside," said Karp, a Harvard Stem Cell Institute Principal Faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. "This is a completely different strategy than the current method of placing cells onto drug-doped microcarriers or scaffolds, which is limiting because the cells need to remain in close proximity to those materials in order to function. Also these types of materials are too large to be infused into the bloodstream." Cells are relatively simple to control in a Petri dish. …

New technique targets specific areas of cancer cells with different drugs

"In testing on laboratory mice, our technique resulted in significant improvement in breast cancer tumor reduction as compared to conventional treatment techniques," says Dr. Zhen Gu, senior author of a paper on the research and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill. …

Key drug receptor: Atom-level simulation of a G protein-coupled receptor could lead to improved drug design

Roughly 40 percent of all medications act on cells’ G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). One of these receptors, beta 2 adrenergic receptor site (B2AR), naturally transforms between two base configurations; knowing the precise location of each of approximately 4,000 atoms is crucial for ensuring a snug fit between it and the drug. Now, researchers at Stanford and Google have conducted an unprecedented, atom-scale simulation of the receptor site’s transformation, a feat that could have significant impact on drug design. This is the first scientific project to be completed using Google Exacycle’s cloud computing platform, which allows scientists to crunch big data on Google’s servers during periods of low network demand…

Study finds known lung cancer oncogenes also drive colorectal cancer

"When you have known oncogenes that are already targeted by FDA-approved drugs, it just made sense to look for these oncogenes in other cancers," says Marileila Varella Garcia, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and professor at the CU School of Medicine. "By rethinking the way we understand cancers — as their genetic mutations and not just as the sites where they live in the body — we see that a therapy that targets a specific mutation may show benefit in treating any other cancer that shares the same mutation," says Dara Aisner, MD, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and molecular pathologist at the CU School of Medicine…

Results from first 59 leukemia patients who received investigational, personalized cellular therapy

Two of the first three chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who participated in the study, which started in the summer of 2010, remain in remission, with tests revealing reprogrammed cells still circulating in their bodies, on guard to combat tumor cells that may reappear in the future. Additional highlights of the new research results include an 89 percent complete response rate among adult and pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). "In a very short time, we’ve learned so much about how CTL019 works and how powerful it can be," said the research team’s leader, Carl H…

Balloon mis-positioning during prostate cancer treatment could affect success of radiation delivery

"Use of a balloon allows you to stabilize the anatomy. But what we show is that imprecision with balloon placement could reduce radiation dose coverage over the intended area," says Moyed Miften, PhD, FAAPM, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and chief physicist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology. Specifically, Miften and colleagues including Bernard Jones, Gregory Gan, and Brian Kavanagh studied the technique known as stereotactic body radiation, in which powerful, precisely-targeted radiation is delivered only to cancerous areas of the prostate with the hope of killing tumor tissue. An endorectal balloon is needed to hold the prostate in place while this high dose is delivered…