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Landmark Data Presented At The British Society For Allergy And Clinical Immunology Shows Hay Fever Vaccine Could Be A Reality
New data presented at the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) annual meeting demonstrate that Grazax® is the first tablet treatment to provide sustained disease control in patients with grass pollen rhinoconjunctivitis (hay fever) after the treatment period ended. This is the first time disease modification by sublingual allergy immunotherapy tablets has been achieved; effectively re-setting the immune system to reduce future allergic reactions to grass pollen.

Sugar Substitute Appears To Prevent Early-Childhood Cavities
Children given an oral syrup containing the naturally occurring sweetener xylitol may be less likely to develop decay in their baby teeth, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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Toxic Immune-Suppressing Drugs Replaced By Post-Transplant Combo In Monkeys
Transplant patients rely on drugs to prevent graft rejection, but at the cost of serious side effects. The class of immunosuppressive drugs known as calcineurin inhibitors (examples are cyclosporine and tacrolimus) can damage patients" kidneys and lead to high blood pressure, among other problems.
Public Health

Inflammation-Regulating Protein May Prove Relevant To Controlling Sepsis

Scientists at Singapore"s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), have identified the protein, WIP1, as the molecular "brake" that curbs severe inflammation in the body. The findings may prove relevant to developing more effective treatments against sepsis, the severe inflammatory condition caused by bacterial infection that afflicts many patients in intensive care units (ICU). In their paper, "WIP1 phosphatase is a negative regulator of NFíºB signaling," published in the May 2009 issue of Nature Cell Biology (NCB), the IMCB scientists described their results showing the importance of WIP1 as an effective suppressor of inflammation and explained how the body was able to cope with an excess of inflammation brought on by the hyperactivation of the NFíºB protein complex, a signaling molecule that plays a key role in triggering inflammation. "We have shown that WIP1 plays a critical role in suppressing the activity of NFíºB and keeping NFíºB levels within a safe range," said IMCB principal investigator Vinay Tergaonkar, Ph.D., who headed the research team. "In doing so, WIP1 minimizes the extent of inflammatory response that could lead to septic shock and subsequent death of patients." Dr. Tergaonkar and his colleagues compared the inflammatory response in mice lacking in WIP1 and in a control group of mice with normal WIP1 levels. The inflammatory response was higher in the WIP1 deficient animals. Correspondingly, the inflammatory response in mice with high WIP1 levels was suppressed. In separate research, a second group of scientists led by Dr. Tergaonkar found further evidence linking chronic inflammation to the development of cancers such as that of the stomach and liver. Dr. Tergaonkar and his colleagues discovered that the kinase enzyme IíºB kinase 2 (IKK2), which is known for causing inflammation through the activation of NFíºB, is also responsible for "ordering" the destruction of the tumour suppressor protein p53. This discovery, published in the February 2009 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and entitled, "Phosphorylation of p53 by IíºB kinase 2 promotes its degradation by í²-TrCP," provides fresh insight about how cells that have become inflamed due to exposure to high IKK2 activity, can become more susceptible to tumour development. "Our recent discoveries have provided an explanation on the beneficial and harmful effects of inflammation that have baffled scientists for years," added Dr Tergaonkar. "While the natural inflammatory response serves to help the body clear infection, excessive inflammation, on the other hand, promotes cellular changes that lead to the uncontrolled growth of cells that characterizes cancer and enables its spread. These new insights involving NFíºB, WIP1 and IKK2 are fostering new anti-inflammatory therapeutic approaches to human ailments ranging from inflammation (like sepsis) to cancer." Shen Han-Ming, Ph.D., an expert in cancer cell biology at the National University of Singapore"s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, said, "Taken together, the work in Dr Tergaonkar"s lab has significantly advanced our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of NFíºB and expanded the functional scope of NFíºB. More important, such findings offer new opportunities for modulation of the NFíºB signaling pathway and for exploring new therapeutic strategies in various human diseases such as cancer and sepsis." The research findings were published in the following two journal papers: "WIP1 phosphatase is a negative regulator of NF-íºB signalling", Nature Cell Biology, May 2009, 11(5), 659 - 666. Authors: Chew J, Biswas S, Shreeram S, Humaidi M, Wong ET, Dhillion MK, Teo H, Hazra A, Fang CC, Lö³pez-Collazo E, Bulavin DV and Tergaonkar VB. "Phosphorylation of p53 by IíºB kinase 2 promotes its degradation by í²-TrCP," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Feb 2009, 106(8), 2629-2634. Authors: Xia Y, Padre RC, De Mendoza TH, Bottero V, Tergaonkar VB, Verma IM. Cathy Yarbrough Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore


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