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UCLA scientists develop new therapeutics that could accelerate wound healing

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Public release date: 19-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Stuart Wolpert swolpert@support.ucla.edu 310-206-0511 University of California - Los Angeles

In "before" and "after" photos from advertisements for wound-healing ointments, bandages and antibiotic creams, we see an injury transformed from an inflamed red gash to smooth and flawless skin.

What we don't appreciate is the vital role that our own natural biomolecules play in the healing process, including their contribution to the growth of new cells and the development of new blood vessels that provide nutrients to those cells.

Now, UCLA researchers led by Heather Maynard, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a member of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, are working to take advantage of our body's ability to heal itself by developing new bio-mimicking therapeutics that could be used to treat skin wounds.

Among the key players involved in natural wound-healing is a signaling molecule known as basic fibroblast growth factor, or bFGF, which is secreted by our cells to trigger processes that are involved in healing, as well as embryonic development, tissue regeneration, bone regeneration, the development and maintenance of the nervous system, and stem cell renewal.

bFGF has been widely investigated as a tool doctors could potentially use to promote or accelerate these processes, but its instability outside the body has been a significant hurdle to its widespread use, Maynard said.

Now, Maynard and her team have discovered how to stabilize bFGF based on the principle of mimicry. Relying on the growth factor's ability to bind heparin a naturally occurring complex sugar found on the surface of our cells the team synthesized a polymer that mimics the structure of heparin. When attached to bFGF, the new polymer makes the protein stable to the many stresses that normally inactivate it, rendering it a more suitable candidate for medical applications.

The research is published Feb. 17 in the online edition of the journal Nature Chemistry and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal.

UCLA co-authors of the research include graduate students Thi Nguyen and Caitlin Decker, former postdocs Dr. Sung-Hye Kim and Dr. Darice Wong, and Joseph Loo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

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UCLA scientists develop new therapeutics that could accelerate wound healing

Science + art exhibit focuses on the beauty of a cure

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Feb. 20, 2013

An unusual exhibit focusing on cancer recovery through the lens of art and science will open Feb. 22 in the Biochemistry Department on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

Cells are shown just after completing division in one of the works in the exhibit Bioimaging: Domains and Dimensions, opening Feb. 22 at the Biochemistry Addition. The green bundle between the pairs of daughter cells helps them separate. Image by Ahna Skop.

One goal of "Bioimaging: Domains and Dimensions: Healing through Art and Science: Cancer" is "to do a better job of showing the public what kind of science has gone on, and is going on, at Wisconsin," says co-organizer Dave Nelson, professor emeritus of biochemistry.

An artwork by Madison artist Carol Bjerke that stretches 110 feet across one wall is her effort to make sense and meaning of her experience battling and surviving colon cancer. "Every three days while changing my ostomy appliance, I drew the circle of sealant and then photographed the prepared piece before placing it over my stoma" says Bjerke. "At the end of the year l had one hundred and twenty-two images to mark the rhythm of my existence."

Images on the opposite wall highlight groundbreaking cancer research at UW-Madison and local biomedical companies. At McArdle Laboratory in the late 1940s, for example, Charles Heidelberger developed a method to label carcinogenic compounds with radioactive isotopes made available during the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb.

"Heidelberger followed the compounds through healthy cells and discovered that the carcinogens bound to specific proteins; this was one of the first clues to how these agents work," says Nelson. In the 1950s, Heidelberger identified a compound called 5FU that is still used to treat colon cancer.

Another set of images concentrates on the inherent beauty of scientific images. "We are including images generated in labs showing cancer cells, made with bright fluorescent probes," says exhibit coordinator Olga Trubetskoy. "You can view them as pieces of art, but each is accompanied by a plain-language description of the scientific significance."

The modern images also include a 3-D model of a protein that is the main target of 5FU. "What we hope people will see is that there is actually an artistic element to science, and that they have a lot to be proud of in their university," says Nelson.

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Science + art exhibit focuses on the beauty of a cure

New therapeutics could accelerate wound healing

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Feb. 19, 2013 In "before" and "after" photos from advertisements for wound-healing ointments, bandages and antibiotic creams, we see an injury transformed from an inflamed red gash to smooth and flawless skin.

What we don't appreciate is the vital role that our own natural biomolecules play in the healing process, including their contribution to the growth of new cells and the development of new blood vessels that provide nutrients to those cells.

Now, UCLA researchers led by Heather Maynard, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a member of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, are working to take advantage of our body's ability to heal itself by developing new bio-mimicking therapeutics that could be used to treat skin wounds.

Among the key players involved in natural wound-healing is a signaling molecule known as basic fibroblast growth factor, or bFGF, which is secreted by our cells to trigger processes that are involved in healing, as well as embryonic development, tissue regeneration, bone regeneration, the development and maintenance of the nervous system, and stem cell renewal.

bFGF has been widely investigated as a tool doctors could potentially use to promote or accelerate these processes, but its instability outside the body has been a significant hurdle to its widespread use, Maynard said.

Now, Maynard and her team have discovered how to stabilize bFGF based on the principle of mimicry. Relying on the growth factor's ability to bind heparin -- a naturally occurring complex sugar found on the surface of our cells -- the team synthesized a polymer that mimics the structure of heparin. When attached to bFGF, the new polymer makes the protein stable to the many stresses that normally inactivate it, rendering it a more suitable candidate for medical applications.

The research is published Feb. 17 in the online edition of the journal Nature Chemistry and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal.

UCLA co-authors of the research include graduate students Thi Nguyen and Caitlin Decker, former postdocs Dr. Sung-Hye Kim and Dr. Darice Wong, and Joseph Loo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

The research was federally funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Our ability to heal from wounds is essential to our survival. When those natural healing processes are compromised, serious wounds can lead to infection and other health problems. People with diabetes, for example, can have wounds that heal very slowly. The resulting chronic wounds are debilitating and can lead to loss of limbs or even death. Yet, despite the need for wound dressings that can stimulate the body to heal wounds, very few are curative.

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New therapeutics could accelerate wound healing

UW-Madison uses art to educate public on cancer

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry department will debut a new art exhibit to educate the public on the universitys current and past cancer research.

The exhibit, Healing through Art and Science: Cancer, is part of an ongoing initiative by the biochemistry department to showcase the universitys research through art, according to a statement released by the university.

The exhibit includes a 110-foot-long collection of photographs by local artist Carol Bjerke that explores her experience with colon cancer and her journey to understand her experiences, according to the statement.

Additionally, other pieces in the exhibit will focus on specific research projects at the university, including a look at carcinogens, which are substances thought to cause cancer.

The exhibit is free and open to the public in the Biochemistry Addition until March 31. An official opening will take place Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.

Tags: Biochemistry department, Healing through Art and Science: Cancer

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UW-Madison uses art to educate public on cancer

For plastic surgery, breasts, butts out in 2012; faces in

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Dr. Anthony Youn is an assistant professor of surgery at the Oakland University/William Beaumont School of Medicine in Michigan. He is the author of "In Stitches," a memoir about growing up Asian-American and becoming a doctor.

(CNN) -- For the first time in six years, the number of people enhancing their breasts and plumping their buttocks is declining. The number of people lifting, injecting and lasering their faces is growing.

So who's powering this sudden growth in facial plastic surgery? Baby boomers.

Every year, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons releases its statistics about the number of plastic surgeries performed the year before. It's an accurate snapshot of the state of plastic surgery in the United States.

2012 saw a record number of people undergoing cosmetic procedures, with more than 14.6 million procedures performed in total, an increase of 5% over the year before. The number of actual surgeries performed dropped 2%, but this was more than offset by a 6% rise in minimally invasive cosmetic treatments.

Breast augmentation remained the number one cosmetic surgery, a position it's held since the FDA ended the silicone gel implant moratorium in 2006. However, in 2012, the number of women undergoing this procedure declined 7% from the year before, with just over 286,000 breast enhancements performed.

Buttocks augmentation was one of the fastest-growing procedures of the past decade, due in no small part to public fascination with the ample derrieres of celebs Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Kim Kardashian. The number of people undergoing buttock enhancement also declined in 2012, down 36% from the year before, to just under 3,800 procedures.

Plastic surgery safari: Getting the 'J-Lo butt' in Africa

Our nation appears to be shifting its emphasis from the inflated busts and rounded behinds of Generation X and Y to the plumped cheeks and lifted necks of baby boomers. In other words, the Real Housewives are not only keeping up with the Kardashians, they're surpassing them.

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For plastic surgery, breasts, butts out in 2012; faces in

Antiaging Medicine and Research, World Antiaging Network & Medical Wellness Association USA Brings Indomedicon …

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The 4th Conference in Antiaging, Lifespan and Integrative Medicine at Hilton Hotel and Resorts, Mumbai, India on 23rd and 24th of February 2013. The congress will be attended by the physicians from across the globe to listen to eminent speakers from various fraternity of the Medical fields says Dr. Deepak Chaturvedi, the President of INDOMEDICON.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (PRWEB) February 20, 2013

While other eminent speaker Dr. Anoop Chaturvedi, CEO and the Founder President of the World Antiaging Network (WAAN) the first peer to peer free global network of antiaging physicians, says that with the advancement of modern medicine and technology the life expectancy of individuals are increasing (increasing the old olds) and on the other end, due to various modifiable/non-modifiable, environmental/genetic/life style and other factors, people are showing early signs of aging affecting the daily living and productivity adversely (increasing the old young). The Social Jet Lag (working against the circadian rhythm) has compounded the adverse aging issues by altering the Endocrine and Nutritional homeostasis.

Dr. Light from Dallas Texas, USA comments that Antiaging Medicine works on the principle of preventive medicine (Primordial/Primary/Secondary/Tertiary) applied along with clinical medicine at Individual/population level. With all the discipline of medicine integrated together the Aging process can be made more graceful.

Dr. N.D.Karandikar, Head of Cardiology Department, B.J.Medical College, Pune comments that Aging is no more limited to 60 years or more of age. The effects of Hypertension, Diabetes and other chronic illnesses occurring early in the calendar young population is a great matter of concern. The Antiaging and Age Management approach needs to be initiated early in life. Dr.Deepak Chaturvedi seconds his opinion and advocates the more widespread application of the screening procedures early in life.

Genetic factors, lifestyle, and societal investments in a safe and healthful environment are important aspects of successful aging. Traditionally, the aging process has been considered physiologic and unavoidable, but it may not be necessary to accept the grim stereotype of aging as an unalterable process of decline and loss, says Dr. V.B.Borade, Dean, Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Sangli.

One of the eminent pharmacist of International repute Jim, who had also appeared on Dr Phil's TV show says that as life expectancy increases during the coming decades, the overarching goal should be an increase in years of healthy life with a full range of functional capacity at each stage of life.

Compression of morbidity can be achieved by adapting healthy lifestyle measures, and several aspects of the aging process of the endocrine system invite the development of routine medical intervention programs offering long-term replacement therapy with one or more hormones to delay the aging process and to allow humans to live for a longer period in a relatively intact state, concludes Dr. Anoop Chaturvedi.

After the huge success of Indomedicon 1, 2, and 3 now Indomedicon 4 is coming with a promise to deliver a totally new flavor where technology meets evidence based medicine, loaded with latest recent advances in antiaging genetics, antiaging nutrition, Aesthetics, Hormone modulation, Weight loss, electronic medical record system and social media tools to enhance anti-aging practices.

The universal process of aging is becoming better understood. There appear to be shared underlying cellular and molecular processes that induce widespread dysregulation in key systems. This dysregulation contributes to clinical manifestations of a AGING phenotype and can be used to understand how to evaluate and manage AGING.

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Antiaging Medicine and Research, World Antiaging Network & Medical Wellness Association USA Brings Indomedicon ...

Better nutrition for needy kids

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THE Herbalife Family Foundation (HFF) recently presented a grant to two childrens homes in the Klang Valley under its flagship Casa Herbalife programme.

Good Samaritan Home, Klang, and Rumah Bakti Dato Harun, Ampang, each received US$18,000 (RM56,000) from the foundation.

The cheque presentation was held in Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, where Herbalife Malaysia general manager Sridhar Rajgopalan said the foundation had been supporting Rumah Bakti since 2006 and Good Samaritan home since 2011.

The foundation is dedicated to improving childrens lives by supporting nutritional education, the provision of healthy food and the construction of hygienic kitchen facilities through these grants, he said.

Sridhar added that the foundation, supported by Herbalife Ltd was created by Herbalife founder Mark Hughes in 1994 and was aimed at creating partnerships with charities to see to the essential nutritional needs of children around the world.

This year, the grants will support the Healthy Nutrition Begins From Home project by the Good Samaritan Home and the Nutrition Education for a Healthy Lifestyle project by Rumah Bakti.

Both projects revolve around enabling the homes to prepare nutritious meals through healthy food supplies and hygienic kitchen facilities.

Good Samaritan Home co-founder Y.M. Ong said she wished to upgrade the homes kitchen facilities as well as cooking methods to give better nutrition to the children.

Some of the children are really malnourished and they need essential nutrients and a balanced diet that is vital for their growth.

We plan to buy a proper chiller to keep our food fresh, she said, adding that the home currently housed 37 children aged from one to 22 years old.

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Better nutrition for needy kids

Activate Nutrition releases Diet Protein Plus

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(PRWEB UK) 19 February 2013

Offering the highest protein content per 100 grams of any lean protein shake on the market, each serving provides 30.8 grams of quality, muscle building whey protein, whilst at the same time being low in fat and carbohydrates.

Packed with proven weight loss ingredients including green tea, CLA, L-Carnitine, taurine and acai berry, Diet Protein Plus offers an affordable alternative for people who want to lose weight but still tone up.

Mark McCall, Managing Director of Activate Nutrition said We have raised the bar with Diet Protein Plus, maintaining a high level of quality that not only helps build lean muscle but can actively benefit a weight loss diet.

Fighting back after last years government decision to add 20% VAT to sports nutrition supplements, Activate Nutrition was granted VAT exemption on its Diet Protein Plus due to its exceptional quality and ability to support weight loss, despite also being a protein shake supplement.

Mr McCall concluded: Being granted VAT exemption for such a fantastic product has meant we can offer our customers even more value without scrimping on quality. We are continually looking at ways to lead in the sports nutrition field and proactively find out what our customers really want from their nutritional supplements.

Diet Protein Plus is the first of our next wave of products due to launch in the coming months and we are excited to be able to offer it in such a competitive market.

About Activate Nutrition

Activate Nutrition is a sports nutrition supplement company based in Manchester, UK, specialising in high quality affordable supplements, including whey protein, Creatine and ZMA. Exclusively e-commerce based, Activate Nutrition is able to pass on savings directly to the customer, cutting out the middle-man and providing better value for money. http://www.activatenutrition.co.uk

For more information contact: Paul Scott Marketing and Communications info(at)activatenutrition(dot)co(dot)uk

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Activate Nutrition releases Diet Protein Plus