Public release date: 16-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Satu Mustjoki satu.mustjoki@helsinki.fi 358-947-171-898 University of Helsinki

LGL leukemia is a relatively rare, malignant blood disease of the mature T-cells and, in many cases, it is related to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The pathogenetic mechanism of the disease has been unknown and it has previously been unclear if the disease is an overreaction of the normal defense system or a malignant hematological disease.

One of the key symptoms of LGL disease is a low count of white blood cells (neutrophils), which may predispose the patients to life-threatening infections.

It was discovered that patients suffering from LGL leukemia have a mutation in the STAT3 gene in a very restricted SH2 area, which has a key effect on the function of the gene. This is not an inherited gene mutation but a so-called acquired mutation. The cause for the mutation is not known, but probably chronic viral infection or some other long-term antigen exposure can be predisposing factors. The STAT3 gene plays a key role in many cell signaling pathways.

After the finding, the prevalence of the mutation in LGL patients was verified using a larger patient group (77 patients) in cooperation with research groups at the Ohio (Prof. Maciejewski) and Pennsylvania (Prof. Loughran) Universities. It was discovered that 40% of all LGL patients present with the STAT3 mutation.

In the future, this result can be utilized in diagnosing the disease and possibly also in treatment, since the first STAT3 inhibitors are already undergoing early clinical trials. In addition, the research discovered that those LGL patients who had a mutation in the STAT3 gene were also more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Hence, the research group intends to clarify next if patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis can be found with similar gene mutations. If such mutations were to be found this would introduce new opportunities to the pathogenetic mechanisms of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

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Finnish researchers identified the cause for LGL leukemia

Foundation Medicine Inc.Posted on:17 May 12

Foundation Medicine, Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer genomic analysis to routine clinical care, today announced that new clinical data highlighting the companys comprehensive cancer genomic profile and next-generation sequencing approach in clinical oncology will be presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) being held June 1-5, 2012 in Chicago.

The data to be presented at ASCO support Foundation Medicines deep sequencing approach to simultaneously detect all classes of genomic alterations across hundreds of genes known to be related to cancer, said Michael J. Pellini, M.D., president and chief executive officer, Foundation Medicine. In our clinical experience abstract, this approach detected actionable alterations those associated with available targeted treatments or ongoing clinical trials for 74% of tumor samples in the study. Foundation Medicines test has also been shown to identify novel genomic alterations in multiple tumor types, including potentially druggable gene fusions. The combined evidence presented in these studies suggests that fully informative genomic profiling can now become a routine component of cancer patient care.

The schedule for Foundation Medicines oral presentation is as follows:

Date & Time:

Session:

Abstract Number:

Title:

Discovery of recurrent KIF5B-RET fusions and other targetable alterations from clinical NSCLC specimens.

Location:

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Press Release

Newswise New Brunswick, N.J., May 15, 2012 With recent advancements in technology and biomedical informatics, a more personalized approach to prescribing cancer treatment and developing these therapies is preferred over one-size-fits-all methods. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) has been on the cutting-edge of this movement and is now launching a more concrete effort that is poised to change the way that molecular and genetic information is being used to diagnose and treat cancer an initiative known as precision medicine also known to many as personalized medicine. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Research has shown that cancer is not one disease, but rather a collection of diseases. Each cancer sub-type boasts its own individual molecular makeup, which in many cases results in cancer growth and resistance to cancer-killing drugs. By further defining the molecular profile of various cancer subtypes, investigators hope to apply this information toward developing targeted therapies. Large scale efforts on the national and local levels including those at CINJ have been underway to collect correlating clinical and genomic data to use as a road map in determining diagnosis, prognosis and course of treatment. With CINJs newly-established precision medicine initiative, specialized investigators will further integrate that information using state-of-the-art technology to better catalogue and expedite the flow of data from researcher to doctor to patient and in turn back to the researcher.

Leading CINJs initiative for precision medicine is Lorna Rodriguez, MD, PhD, who served as CINJs chief of gynecologic oncology from 2000 until this year before being asked to take on this new role. Dr. Rodriguez has years of experience running her own investigator-initiated clinical trials including research on cancer metastasis, drug resistance and the CD44 cell surface receptor and the role it plays in ovarian cancer metastasis. She feels the impact of precision medicine both on patients and on the health/biomedical communities will be tremendous. For the most part, clinicians are forced to rely on limited information to make treatment decisions, as there hasnt been a mechanism to collect and catalogue such comprehensive data as tissue samples, patient history and treatment records to create the tumor profiles necessary for more personalized treatments, noted Rodriguez, who is also a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. By compiling and further curating a collection of molecular and genetic data that will help drive new targeted therapies, we will be helping patients better manage their disease.

This also will translate into cost savings, as no longer will doctors need to rely on hit-or-miss medicine, continued Rodriguez, who also performs gynecologic cancer surgeries and helps patients navigate chemotherapy options. Currently, if one treatment is found to be ineffective, others are used — and they come at a cost, both financially and in terms of lost time when the patient might have received effective treatment. With the prospects of precision medicine, we are moving closer to an era where we will be able to tailor cancer treatments to perfectly fit individualized patient profiles. This will also lead us to a better understanding in diagnosing disease and providing a prognosis.

The breast cancer drug trastuzumab is one example of how genomic information is helping to drive targeted cancer therapies. Study has shown that trastuzumab is effective for 20 percent of breast cancer patients whose cancer cells make too much of the HER2-positive protein. Because a genetic test can indicate whether a patient has the HER2-positive profile, doctors can better determine whether trastuzumab might be an effective treatment for them.

About The Cancer Institute of New Jersey The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (www.cinj.org) is the states first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated to improving the detection, treatment and care of patients with cancer, and serving as an education resource for cancer prevention. CINJs physician-scientists engage in translational research, transforming their laboratory discoveries into clinical practice, quite literally bringing research to life. To make a tax-deductible gift to support CINJ, call 732-235-8614 or visit www.cinjfoundation.org. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheCINJ.

The CINJ Network is comprised of hospitals throughout the state and provides the highest quality cancer care and rapid dissemination of important discoveries into the community. Flagship Hospital: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. System Partner: Meridian Health (Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Ocean Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Southern Ocean Medical Center, and Bayshore Community Hospital). Major Clinical Research Affiliate Hospitals: Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Morristown Medical Center, Carol G. Simon Cancer Center at Overlook Medical Center, and Cooper University Hospital. Affiliate Hospitals: CentraState Healthcare System, JFK Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (CINJ Hamilton), Somerset Medical Center, The University Hospital/UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School*, and University Medical Center at Princeton. *Academic Affiliate

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Cancer Institute of New Jersey Aims to Advance Personalized Cancer Treatments Through 'Precision Medicine'

Public release date: 14-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Juan J. Gomez juanj.gomez@cnio.es 34-917-328-000-4060 Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas (CNIO)

A number of studies have shown that it is possible to lengthen the average life of individuals of many species, including mammals, by acting on specific genes. To date, however, this has meant altering the animals’ genes permanently from the embryonic stage an approach impracticable in humans. Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by its director Mara Blasco, have proved that mouse lifespan can be extended by the application in adult life of a single treatment acting directly on the animal’s genes. And they have done so using gene therapy, a strategy never before employed to combat ageing. The therapy has been found to be safe and effective in mice.

The results are published today in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. The CNIO team, in collaboration with Eduard Ayuso and Ftima Bosch of the Centre of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy at the Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona (UAB), treated adult (one-year-old) and aged (two-year-old) mice, with the gene therapy delivering a “rejuvenating” effect in both cases, according to the authors.

Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average, and those treated at the age of two, by 13%. The therapy, furthermore, produced an appreciable improvement in the animals’ health, delaying the onset of age-related diseases like osteoporosis and insulin resistance and achieving improved readings on ageing indicators like neuromuscular coordination.

The gene therapy utilised consisted of treating the animals with a DNA-modified virus, the viral genes having been replaced by those of the telomerase enzyme, with a key role in ageing. Telomerase repairs the extremes of chromosomes, known as telomeres, and in doing so slows the cell’s and therefore the body’s biological clock. When the animal is infected, the virus acts as a vehicle depositing the telomerase gene in the cells.

This study “shows that it is possible to develop a telomerase-based anti-ageing gene therapy without increasing the incidence of cancer”, the authors affirm. “Aged organisms accumulate damage in their DNA due to telomere shortening, [this study] finds that a gene therapy based on telomerase production can repair or delay this kind of damage”, they add.

‘Resetting’ the biological clock

Telomeres are the caps that protect the end of chromosomes, but they cannot do so indefinitely: each time the cell divides the telomeres get shorter, until they are so short that they lose all functionality. The cell, as a result, stops dividing and ages or dies. Telomerase gets round this by preventing telomeres from shortening or even rebuilding them. What it does, in essence, is stop or reset the cell’s biological clock.

But in most cells the telomerase gene is only active before birth; the cells of an adult organism, with few exceptions, have no telomerase. The exceptions in question are adult stem cells and cancer cells, which divide limitlessly and are therefore immortal in fact several studies have shown that telomerase expression is the key to the immortality of tumour cells.

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CNIO scientists successfully test the first gene therapy against aging-associated decline

By Record Staff newsroom@troyrecord.com Twitter.com/troyrecord

Molecular biologist Robert Roeder, left, and James Darnell Jr., right, will share the $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for their pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information. (AP Photo)

ALBANY Two molecular biologists who performed pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information were awarded the annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.

James E. Darnell Jr. and Robert G. Roeder will share $500,000, the largest award in medicine and science in the United States. The prize was established in 2000 by the late Morris “Marty” Silverman, a New York City businessman who wanted to encourage health and biomedical research.

Darnell discovered “RNA processing” in human cells at the Massachusetts Institute in 1963 while studying messenger RNA, which is the template for protein synthesis. Roeder broke ground in the field of gene transcription in animal cells as a University of Washington graduate student in 1969.

“By helping to define how cells grow, replicate, and become specialized, these two scientists have allowed countless other scientists and physicians to explore new ways to fight disease including viruses, heart disease, anemia and autoimmune disorders,” James J. Barba, president and chief executive officer of Albany Medical Center, said in March with the award was announced.

Roeder heads the biochemistry and molecular biology lab at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where Darnell is emeritus faculty.

Originally posted here:

Pair of molecular biologists receive Albany Medical Center Prize

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Twomolecularbiologistsare being awarded the annual AlbanyMedicalCenterPrizein Medicine and Biomedical Research.

James Darnell Jr. and Robert Roeder will receive theprizeduring a ceremony Friday and will share $500,000, the largest award in medicine and science in the United States. The two men performed pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information.

Roeder heads the biochemistry andmolecularbiology lab at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where Darnell is emeritus faculty.

The two winners were announced in March.

See the original post:

Two Molecular Biologists Get $500K Medical Prize

The Canadian Press – ONLINE EDITION

By: The Associated Press

11/05/2012 1:10 PM | Comments: 0

Enlarge Image

Molecular biologist James Darnell Jr., speaks after being awarded the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, May 11, 2012. Darnell shares the $500,000 prize with Robert Roeder for their pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

ALBANY, N.Y. – Two molecular biologists have been awarded the annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.

James Darnell Jr. and Robert Roeder received the prize during a ceremony Friday and will share $500,000, the largest award in medicine and science in the United States. The two men performed pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information.

Roeder heads the biochemistry and molecular biology lab at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where Darnell is emeritus faculty.

The two winners were announced in March.

More here:

2 molecular biologists from NYC to share $500K medical prize for pioneering research on cells

CAMBRIDGE, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Lab21, the global specialist in personalized medicine and clinical diagnostics, is pleased to announce that routine analysis of clinical samples has begun from Lab21 Inc.s new CLIA laboratory in Greenville, South Carolina.

The first assays in the test menu include a new Human Papillomavirus (HPV) High Risk and HPV 16 and 18 Genotyping Service. Using the Roche COBAS 4800 HPV Genotyping test, Lab21 can identify high risk patients and differentiate those patients with HPV 16 and HPV 18 Genotypes. The Lab21 service launches concurrently with new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer which were recently issued by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

Michael Bolick, President, Lab21 Inc said Over recent months we have grown the Greenville team and worked closely with local clinicians to prioritize the menu of tests required by local hospitals. The final validation of these assays and the receipt of our first patient samples are the culmination of Lab21s strong team work internationally. Our colleagues from the UK have developed best practices in molecular diagnostic testing that we have transferred, along with key individuals, into our US operations.

Lab21 Inc is focused on the provision of molecular diagnostic testing services in oncology and infectious disease. Launch of these services will include KRAS, EGFR and BRAF mutation analysis, HIV viral resistance and tropism and viral load assays. This follows Lab21s recent launch of the Clinical Genomics Center at ITOR, a hospital based cancer research organization located in Greenville, South Carolina. It is planned that through the partnership with ITOR, Lab21 will develop new companion diagnostic assays required to accompany new drug therapies.

Ken Morgan, Vice President Operations, Lab21 Inc said We welcome our new Laboratory Manager, Susan Foster, and Clinical Sequencing Group Leader, Jeremy Stuart to Lab21 Inc who are two very experienced clinical testing professionals from market leading companies. During the next 12 months we intend to grow our core team in Greenville rapidly as we add new test menu and launch our own companion diagnostic assays.

END

About Lab21

Lab21 is a global leader in personalized healthcare. It provides diagnostic products and services and supports blood bank screening, medical diagnostics and drug discovery. Lab21 customers include international healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies. The Products division of Lab21 manufactures immunodiagnostic kits and reagents that are distributed internationally and is focused on infectious diseases for the blood-banking and clinical markets. Our clinical services operations have a growing test portfolio providing companion diagnostics and high technology molecular assays. Lab21′s corporate offices are based in Cambridge, UK and Greenville, South Carolina, with a GMP manufacturing site in Cambridge and other manufacturing facilities in Newmarket, Camberley, Manchester and Bridport. Website: www.lab21.com

About the new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer

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Lab21 Unveils New Molecular Analysis Services at Greenville Site

Home : Health : 2 molecular biologists share $500K medical prize

The Associated Press

Date: Friday May. 11, 2012 8:14 AM ET

ALBANY, N.Y. Two molecular biologists are being awarded the annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.

James Darnell Jr. and Robert Roeder will receive the prize during a ceremony Friday and will share $500,000, the largest award in medicine and science in the United States. The two men performed pioneering research on how cells express their genetic information.

Roeder heads the biochemistry and molecular biology lab at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where Darnell is emeritus faculty.

The two winners were announced in March.

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2 molecular biologists share $500K medical prize

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2 molecular biologists get $500K medical prize

ScienceDaily (May 9, 2012) Four years after they discovered the viral roots of a rare skin cancer, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine have now identified a molecule activated by this virus that, in animal studies, could be targeted to selectively kill the tumor cells. The treatment will soon be tested in patients.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a skin cancer that is more common among seniors and those with weakened immune systems, could not be readily diagnosed at one time, and it still has a very poor prognosis, said Patrick S. Moore, M.D., M.P.H., and Yuan Chang, M.D., both of the Cancer Virology Program at UPCI and senior authors of a study that appears online May 9 in Science Translational Medicine.

“This research effort shows the speed at which genomics can identify molecular causes for cancer and then point the way toward a rational and targeted treatment,” Dr. Moore noted. “Since the inception of the 1971 U.S. National Cancer Act, researchers have strived to discover the underlying problems that trigger tumor development.”

In 2008, the team first described the new Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) in Merkel cell carcinoma. Within a year, they showed it was responsible for tumor development in most cases of the disease. At least four out of five healthy adults world-wide are infected with MCV, which usually doesn’t cause any symptoms.

“The virus remains in the skin cells, and in most cases, no damage is done,” Dr. Chang said. “But when mutations occur to this virus, it can cause cancer. Most of the 1,500 new MCC cases per year in the U.S. are caused by MCV infection.”

In quick succession, the team devised tests to identify virus-induced MCC, and began unraveling the biochemical pathways that encourage tumor formation. In their latest project, they “knocked out” a key viral protein called T antigen and found that MCV directly elevates a cellular protein called survivin.

Survivin prevents cells from dying and supports cell division, the researchers said. They found that a drug called YM155, which turns off the survivin gene again, was an extremely potent killer of MCC cells in test tubes and was able to suppress the growth of human tumors that had been established in experimental mice. In comparison, 1,360 other drugs — including most of the common chemotherapy drugs — were screened and failed to both kill MCC cells and prevent tumor growth at levels commonly achieved in patients. One of these drugs was able to kill tumor cells in culture dishes, but made no impact on the MCC tumors in mice. It remains a promising candidate drug since it may have better activity in people and is readily available.

A multicenter clinical trial of YM155, a still-experimental anti-cancer drug that is made by Deerfield, Ill.-based Astellas, is expected to begin in the next six months to determine its effectiveness in MCC patients. The trial will be led locally by Pitt School of Medicine assistant professor Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., and professor John Kirkwood, M.D., who also is co-leader of the UPCI Melanoma Program, through the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a multicenter cooperative group supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Typically, neither the cause of a cancer nor the target for a cancer drug is initially known, so most treatments have developed over decades through trial-and-error. Most therapies affect both healthy tissues and cancer cells, resulting in side effects that limit the drug dose that can safely be given. This study, in contrast, was a “rational” drug study where the underlying cellular defect caused by the virus was first discovered through genetic studies and then a drug targeting this process was tested.Survivin is needed during fetal development, but not in healthy adult cells, and YM155 was not toxic to the mice.

“Scientists can now quickly come up with answers to complex problems, like cancer, using human genetics,” Dr. Moore noted. “In less than five years, we have gone from knowing very little about MCC to knowing its exact cause and are devising new, precisely targeted and less-toxic therapies.”

Original post:

Genomics used to identify a molecular-based treatment for a viral skin cancer

Public release date: 9-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran SrikamAV@upmc.edu 412-578-9193 University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

PITTSBURGH, May 9 Four years after they discovered the viral roots of a rare skin cancer, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine have now identified a molecule activated by this virus that, in animal studies, could be targeted to selectively kill the tumor cells. The treatment will soon be tested in patients.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a skin cancer that is more common among seniors and those with weakened immune systems, could not be readily diagnosed at one time, and it still has a very poor prognosis, said Patrick S. Moore, M.D., M.P.H., and Yuan Chang, M.D., both of the Cancer Virology Program at UPCI and senior authors of a study that appears online today in Science Translational Medicine.

“This research effort shows the speed at which genomics can identify molecular causes for cancer and then point the way toward a rational and targeted treatment,” Dr. Moore noted. “Since the inception of the 1971 U.S. National Cancer Act, researchers have strived to discover the underlying problems that trigger tumor development.”

In 2008, the team first described the new Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) in Merkel cell carcinoma. Within a year, they showed it was responsible for tumor development in most cases of the disease. At least four out of five healthy adults world-wide are infected with MCV, which usually doesn’t cause any symptoms.

“The virus remains in the skin cells, and in most cases, no damage is done,” Dr. Chang said. “But when mutations occur to this virus, it can cause cancer. Most of the 1,500 new MCC cases per year in the U.S. are caused by MCV infection.”

In quick succession, the team devised tests to identify virus-induced MCC, and began unraveling the biochemical pathways that encourage tumor formation. In their latest project, they “knocked out” a key viral protein called T antigen and found that MCV directly elevates a cellular protein called survivin.

Survivin prevents cells from dying and supports cell division, the researchers said. They found that a drug called YM155, which turns off the survivin gene again, was an extremely potent killer of MCC cells in test tubes and was able to suppress the growth of human tumors that had been established in experimental mice. In comparison, 1,360 other drugsincluding most of the common chemotherapy drugswere screened and failed to both kill MCC cells and prevent tumor growth at levels commonly achieved in patients. One of these drugs was able to kill tumor cells in culture dishes, but made no impact on the MCC tumors in mice. It remains a promising candidate drug since it may have better activity in people and is readily available.

A multicenter clinical trial of YM155, a still-experimental anti-cancer drug that is made by Deerfield, Ill.-based Astellas, is expected to begin in the next six months to determine its effectiveness in MCC patients. The trial will be led locally by Pitt School of Medicine assistant professor Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., and professor John Kirkwood, M.D., who also is co-leader of the UPCI Melanoma Program, through the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a multicenter cooperative group supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Pitt team uses genomics to identify a molecular-based treatment for a viral skin cancer

Published on May 10, 2012 at 1:48 AM

Wan-Pei Su, a graduate student of Molecular Medicine at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, has received a Graduate/Postdoctoral Travel Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) to attend the annual conference on Experimental Biology (EB) in San Diego in April 2012.

NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung congratulated Su and her advisor, Dr. Nan-Shan Chang, director of NCKU Institute of Molecular Medicine, for winning international recognition. “It is expected that the efforts put into the research will benefit the future clinical application,” said Hwung.

Prof. Chang has been devoted to the discovery and development of the tumor suppressor WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (designated WWOX, FOR or WOX1). Zfra is one of the proteins which interact with WOX1. Su has carried on Chang’s research findings to anti-cancer mechanism.

Su is awarded for her research paper titled “Self-polymerizing Zfra peptides elicit immune response for targeting cancer” where the function of Zfra in anti-cancer therapy is investigated.

Zfra was first cloned by Dr. Chang’s group at the Guthrie Research Institute, Sayre, PA, USA in 2005, according to Su, and the role of Zfra in tumor necrosis factor signal pathway has aroused attention since then.

The most remarkable function of Zfra is its prevention of growth of skin cancer basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer and so on. “It is foreseeable that Zfra can be used as a vaccine against all kinds of cancers,” said Su.

Of all the 195 award recipients this year, mainly from North America and only 13 from Asia, 2 awardees come from Taiwan.

Source: National Cheng Kung University

2812fb82-8f48-42a7-8d74-cd1cfdbb6761|0|.0

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NCKU student receives Graduate/Postdoctoral Travel Award from ASBMB

NEW YORK, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0849772/In-Vitro-Diagnostics-IVD-Market-Clinical-Chemistry-Immunoassays-Molecular-Diagnostics-Hematology-Analyzers–Microbiology-Culture–Global-Trends–Forecasts-to-2016.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=In_Vitro_Diagnostic

In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market (Clinical Chemistry, Immunoassays, Molecular Diagnostics, Hematology Analyzers & Microbiology Culture) Global Trends & Forecasts to 2016

The global in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) market was valued at $44 billion in 2011 and is expected to have a modest growth during the study period. The U.S. represented the biggest market for IVD equipments accounting for about a half of the total market. The report studies various segments of the IVD market including Clinical Chemistry, Molecular diagnostics, Immunoassays, Hematology and Microbiology. Clinical chemistry dominates the global IVD market whereas molecular diagnostics is expected to register the highest growth during the study period. Increased patient awareness, patient self testing, rapidly aging population globally and automated testing due to technical advances are the major growth drivers of this market. Key players in the IVD market include Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Diagnostics, Beckman Coulter, BD Diagnostics, and Siemens Diagnostics.

1.1 KEY TAKE-AWAYS

1.2 REPORT DESCRIPTION

1.3 MARKETS COVERED

1.4 STAKEHOLDERS

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1.5.1 MARKET SIZE

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In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Market (Clinical Chemistry, Immunoassays, Molecular Diagnostics, Hematology Analyzers …

TAINAN, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Wan-Pei Su, a graduate student of Molecular Medicine at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, has received a Graduate/Postdoctoral Travel Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) to attend the annual conference on Experimental Biology (EB) in San Diego in April 2012.

NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung congratulated Su and her advisor, Dr. Nan-Shan Chang, director of NCKU Institute of Molecular Medicine, for winning international recognition. It is expected that the efforts put into the research will benefit the future clinical application, said Hwung.

Prof. Chang has been devoted to the discovery and development of the tumor suppressor WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (designated WWOX, FOR or WOX1). Zfra is one of the proteins which interact with WOX1. Su has carried on Changs research findings to anti-cancer mechanism.

Su is awarded for her research paper titled Self-polymerizing Zfra peptides elicit immune response for targeting cancer where the function of Zfra in anti-cancer therapy is investigated.

Zfra was first cloned by Dr. Changs group at the Guthrie Research Institute, Sayre, PA, USA in 2005, according to Su, and the role of Zfra in tumor necrosis factor signal pathway has aroused attention since then.

The most remarkable function of Zfra is its prevention of growth of skin cancer basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer and so on. It is foreseeable that Zfra can be used as a vaccine against all kinds of cancers, said Su.

Of all the 195 award recipients this year, mainly from North America and only 13 from Asia, 2 awardees come from Taiwan.

The ASBMB, founded in 1906 and now based in Maryland, is a prestigious, nonprofit scientific and educational organization with over 12,000 members. Many of them are highly regarded scientists, including Nobel laureates. ASBMB manages the publication of premier journals such as Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, and Journal of Lipid Research.

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NCKU Student Wins Prestigious Award for Anti-Cancer Research

Zachary Hostetler of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, is one of two students who will be honored as the student marshals for the Eberly College of Science during Penn State’s spring commencement ceremonies on 5 May, 2012 at the University Park campus. Hostetler’s faculty escort will be Song Tan, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Hostetler, who will graduate from Penn State with a 4.0 grade-point average and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, also is enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College and he has been on the Dean’s List every semester while at Penn State. Hostetler’s awards and scholarships include a Schreyer Academic Excellence Scholarship, two Eberly College of Science academic scholarships–the Tershak Scholarship and the Vinezie Scholarship, a President’s Freshman Award, a President Sparks Award, two Evan Pugh Scholar Awards, a University Undergraduate Research Funds award, and a Summer Discovery Grant.

During his years at Penn State, Hostetler has focused on laboratory research involving X-ray crystallography — a method used to model the atomic structure of proteins. In particular, he and his faculty escort Song Tan, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, have been working on a research project dealing with improving protein crystallization, which is often one of the most difficult steps in X-ray crystallography. While certain proteins naturally form large, ordered crystals, some proteins resist crystallization attempts. Hostetler’s approach involves fusing a “protein of interest” with a protein that is known to crystallize well so that this fusion protein will form crystals.

In addition to his scientific pursuits, Hostetler has served on the executive board of the Schreyer Honors College Student Council for several years. He also has represented the Schreyer Honors College Student Council and a Four Diamonds Family by dancing in Penn State’s IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon — an independent student-organized event that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.

In addition, Hostetler has volunteered as a Donor and Alumni Relations (DAR) captain for THON. As a DAR captain, his responsibilities included approaching companies for monetary donations, acting as a liaison to Penn State clubs and organizations to help them with fund-raising efforts, and establishing a system to track and analyze donation patterns. Hostetler also has volunteered for ATLAS, which is an organization devoted to raising money for THON and the Four Diamonds Fund. The Four Diamonds Fund is a Penn State Hershey organization that provides support for patients and families facing pediatric cancer.

After graduation, Hostetler plans to attend a combined M.D./Ph.D. program at either the University of Pennsylvania or Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York City. “I hope that attending a combined medical and graduate-degree program will allow me to combine my interests in human medicine and scientific research,” Hostetler said. “Ultimately, I envision myself in academic medicine: conducting research, treating patients, and eventually teaching and training new physicians.”

Hostetler also said he is truly honored to represent his Eberly College of Science colleagues at graduation. “This past year truly challenged the Penn State community.” Hostetler said. “However, I believe it also was an opportunity for a troubled community to come together. Candlelight vigils and a record-breaking THON weekend marked the best of what Penn State has to offer. These memories, the ones that challenged us as a school and a community, will forever be a part of my Penn State experience.”

Hostetler, who attended Garnet Valley High School, will be accompanied at graduation by his parents Robert and Lisa Hostetler, his sisters Lauren and Jenna Hostetler, and his grandfather John Hostetler.

Hostetler, who will graduate from Penn State with a 4.0 grade-point average and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, also is enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College and he has been on the Dean’s List every semester while at Penn State. Hostetler’s awards and scholarships include a Schreyer Academic Excellence Scholarship, two Eberly College of Science academic scholarships–the Tershak Scholarship and the Vinezie Scholarship, a President’s Freshman Award, a President Sparks Award, two Evan Pugh Scholar Awards, a University Undergraduate Research Funds award, and a Summer Discovery Grant.

During his years at Penn State, Hostetler has focused on laboratory research involving X-ray crystallography — a method used to model the atomic structure of proteins. In particular, he and his faculty escort Song Tan, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, have been working on a research project dealing with improving protein crystallization, which is often one of the most difficult steps in X-ray crystallography. While certain proteins naturally form large, ordered crystals, some proteins resist crystallization attempts. Hostetler’s approach involves fusing a “protein of interest” with a protein that is known to crystallize well so that this fusion protein will form crystals.

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Penn State student Zachary Hostetler from Garnet Valley is being honored as a student marshal

OTTAWA A team of University of Ottawa researchers has solved the mystery of how our bodies adapt to low-oxygen environments, raising the prospect that life-threatening conditions such as cancer, stroke and heart disease could someday be successfully treated using a simple, antibiotic-like drug.

The teams findings were published Sunday in Nature, the worlds leading scientific journal.

Its a tremendously important discovery in understanding how life without oxygen works, said Dr. Stephen Lee, a professor in the universitys Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, whose laboratory did the groundbreaking research.

Scientists have known for decades that in the presence of oxygen, cells make proteins the building blocks of life using a process called protein synthesis. But how they do so in conditions of limited oxygen had remained a mystery.

Theres a huge amount of research, hundreds of thousands of papers, Lee said in an interview. But still nobody has discovered how we make the basic building blocks of life in these conditions. Thats what we discovered.

Lees team found theres an oxygen-regulated switch in the protein synthesis machinery, a very novel and unexpected way of synthesizing proteins, Lee said. Its very different.

The discovery explains, for the first time, how mountain climbers and highland Tibetans are able to adapt and function in environments that would kill or sicken most people.

These are very basic processes of life, Lee said. Its kind of strange that we discovered this in the 21st century. That tells you there are still basic processes that we just dont know exist.

The implications for cancer treatment, though still speculative, are potentially huge. Lees team discovered that cancer cells proliferate by using the same protein synthesis machinery the body employs to deal with low levels of oxygen.

Cancer cells utilize that way of producing proteins without oxygen, even if oxygen is present, Lee said. They hijack that system and that drives their proliferation.

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Researchers' discovery offers hope for cancer, heart disease miracle drugs

In Experimental and Molecular Pathology, researchers in China and the US report that IL-21R expression on CD8+ T-cells promotes their activation in coxsackievirus B3-induced myocarditis. The team infected C57Bl/6 and IL-21R knock-out mice with CVB3 and found that the IL-21RKO mice developed significantly less myocarditis than C57Bl/6 animals. “Numbers of CD8+IFN+ cells were decreased in IL-21RKO mice but numbers of either CD4+IFN+ or CD4+IL-4+ cells were not significantly different from C57Bl/6 animals indicating a selective effect of IL-21 signaling on the CD8+ T cell response,” the authors write. This, they add, suggests that IL-21 signaling directly in CD8+ T-cells in required for CVB3-induced myocarditis.

Also in Experimental and Molecular Pathology this week, researchers in New York report that the drug sirolimus modulates the HIV-associated nephropathy phenotype by inhibiting epithelial mesenchymal transition. In its study, the team observed the effects of sirolimus on the development of renal cell EMT and on HIVAN in a mouse model of HIVAN. The HIVAN mice that received saline showed enhanced proliferation of both glomerular and tubular cells compared to control mice that also received saline, the team says. However, HIVAN mice receiving sirolimus showed attenuated renal cell proliferation compared to HIVAN mice receiving saline. “Since sirolimus attenuated renal cell ZEB expression (a repressor of E-cadherin transcription), it appears that sirolimus may be attenuating renal cell EMT by preserving epithelial cell E-cadherin expression,” the authors add.

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This Week in Experimental and Molecular Pathology

DECATUR, IL- Decatur Memorial Hospital is in the process of constructing a Center for Advanced Molecular Medicine.

The center will allow DMH to improve the diagnosis of cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. The hospital will also be able to produce the agents and drugs it needs right on site.

This technology is available in only a few places in the entire United States, like the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin.

DMH Dr. Mark Muscato calls the project “very cutting edge” and the “new wave of medicine.”

“Most places that have these (centers) are very large academic institutions,” Dr. Muscato says. “So it is a great opportunity for our hospital and the City of Decatur to be involved and have this opportunity.”

When the project is finished, Decatur Memorial Hospital will be the only hospital in Illinois with this technology.Construction of the center will be completed in about a month.

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Cutting Edge Technology Coming To DMH

Featured Article Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 04 May 2012 – 11:00 PDT

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This article does not attempt to cover the whole field, but offers, by means of some examples, a few insights into how nanotechnology has the potential to change medicine, both in the research lab and clinically, while touching on some of the challenges and concerns that it raises.

The ability to manipulate structures and properties at the nanoscale in medicine is like having a sub-microscopic lab bench on which you can handle cell components, viruses or pieces of DNA, using a range of tiny tools, robots and tubes.

This creates a need for tools that help scientists experiment and develop such treatments.

Imagine, for example, being able to stretch out a section of DNA like a strand of spaghetti, so you can examine or operate on it, or building nanorobots that can “walk” and carry out repairs inside cell components. Nanotechnology is bringing that scientific dream closer to reality.

For instance, scientists at the Australian National University have managed to attach coated latex beads to the ends of modified DNA, and then using an “optical trap” comprising a focused beam of light to hold the beads in place, they have stretched out the DNA strand in order to study the interactions of specific binding proteins.

One of the researchers, Ned Seeman, said he envisages it will be possible to create a molecule-scale production line, where you move a molecule along till the right location is reached, and a nanobot does a bit chemisty on it, rather like “spot-welding” on a car assembly line. Seeman’s lab at NYU is also looking to use DNA nanotechnology to make a biochip computer, and to find out how biological molecules crystallize, an area that is currently fraught with challenges.

The work that Seeman and colleagues are doing is a good example of “biomimetics”, where with nanotechnology they can imitate some of the biological processes in nature, such as the behavior of DNA, to engineer new methods and perhaps even improve them.

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Nanotechnology In Medicine: Huge Potential, But What Are The Risks?