fibrosis

To control germs, scientists deploy tiny agents provocateurs

...devices and cause deadly lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Biofilms have long baffled researchers because of their stupefying capacity to behave like a "super-organism" that vetoes the normal characteristics of a bacterial cell in favor of new group behaviors. "It's amazing that such simple organis...

New vaccine means bye-bye to bacteria in the lung

...ic in mice offers promise for patients with cystic fibrosis or other disorders that prevent them from effectively fighting off respiratory tract infections. ...

FDA Approves New Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B

...d by HBV and an improvement in the degree of liver fibrosis (scarring). In addition, a higher percentage of patients treated with Baraclude showed significant improvement compared to lamivudine. The major adverse events associated with the use of Baraclude were of the type typically seen with HBV therapy. Th...

Carnegie Mellon University research reveals how cells process large genes

...ated with diseases like muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and cancer. "We found that many large introns are removed by multiple recursive splicing steps," Lopez said. "These steps involve the sequential excision of smaller subfragments. Our work also indicates that most recursive splicing events leave no ...

Reversal of role for a viral protein associated with the development of lymphoma

...ated with diseases like muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and cancer. "We found that many large introns are removed by multiple recursive splicing steps," Lopez said. "These steps involve the sequential excision of smaller subfragments. Our work also indicates that most recursive splicing events leave no ...

Can two killers make a cure?

...o approve a human trial of gene therapy for cystic fibrosis that uses a hybrid of the HIV and Ebola viruses. Tests on monkeys show the hybrid virus delivers genes to the lungs far more efficiently than any other method developed so far. And while the idea of combining two killer viruses sounds horrifying, the...

Clear rules needed to govern deep sea bioprospecting: UNU

...s for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis and impotence are also under consideration. Other compounds have anti-inflammatory properties and one is used as an anti-irritant in cosmetics. A hormone extracted from salmon has been found effective in preventing osteoporosis while a salmon-deriv...

A Father’s Day Gift: Free DNA Paternity Testing

...s for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis and impotence are also under consideration. Other compounds have anti-inflammatory properties and one is used as an anti-irritant in cosmetics. A hormone extracted from salmon has been found effective in preventing osteoporosis while a salmon-deriv...

'Cookbook recipes' would cure disease with nontoxic DNA delivery systems

...ols have been approved for treating cancer, cystic fibrosis and neuromuscular disorders, for example, but delivering DNA to the proper location and getting the right amount of DNA expression without killing innocent cells has become the Achilles' heel in DNA delivery. Positively charged (cationic) synthetic ...

Scientists discover basic defect in cystic fibrosis airway glands

...d that the buildup of sticky mucus found in cystic fibrosis is caused by a loss in the epithelial cell's abili...iochemistry and Molecular Biology journal. Cystic fibrosis is the most common, fatal genetic disease in the United States. It causes the body to produce thick...

UCLA paper examines how one disease may prevent another

...ion after contracting measles. The other, a cystic fibrosis (CF) patient who needed to be admitted to the hospital, but there were no rooms available. Stiehm's supervisor, a CF specialist, told him, "put him in the room with the tuberculosis patient -- CF patients never get tuberculosis." Subsequent studies h...

Bone marrow cells can become functional gut lining cells

...tional chloride channels (known as CFTR, or cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) which are necessary for fluid balance in the gut," Krause said. The researchers used mice that do not have this chloride channel. After bone marrow transplantation from donor mice that do have the chloride channe...

Johns Hopkins lab scientists tame overactive CF protein

...overactive protein that plays a key role in cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder that interferes with the ...defects in genes for a protein called CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator) interrupt the transport chemistry. Until now, researchers had not identifie...

DNA: Bacteria's survival ration

...cteria. One of the pathogens implicated in cystic fibrosis is suspected of feeding on DNA in lung tissue, Finkel said. Biofilms, which have been linked to chronic infections, also may harbor nutritionally competent germs. If researchers succeeded in turning off nutritional competence in such pathogens, as F...

Study reveals how cells destroy faulty proteins in cystic fibrosis

...hat degrades faulty proteins created by the cystic fibrosis gene has been identified by University of North Ca...treatments aimed at curing the disease. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a fatal disease caused by a defective gene that produces a misshapen form of the protein cys...

Discovery could aid fight against cystic fibrosis infection

...viving in the lungs of chronically infected cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. "This work is important because ...ne system, a burn patient, or a person with cystic fibrosis (CF)." Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), a pathogen that infects more than 80 percent of cystic fibros...

Environmental toxins may cause body's defenses to worsen lung disease

...gs may also have applications in asthma and cystic fibrosis as well as other chronic lung diseases. The overall goal of the study is to expand existing scientific knowledge of how epithelial cells in the lungs communicate with the immune system in response to environmental and occupational pollutants. "The ...

Proteins may predict lung transplant rejection

...osis, pulmonary hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other diseases. Patients who receive a new lung may suffer bouts of acute or chronic rejection. Acute rejection often responds to therapy. Chronic rejection, which results in scarring of the lung's airways following inflammation, is irreversib...

Clues to gene expression in cystic fibrosis will guide research

Genetics tests could help provide cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with targeted treatment in future, p...land, responded to gentamicin treatment. Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in the gene that encodes the Cystic Fibrosis Transmemrane Conductance Regulat...

Key found to kill cystic fibrosis superbug

...dinburgh, have discovered a way to kill the cystic fibrosis superbug, Burkholderia cenocepacia. These investig...thy people, it can be fatal for people with cystic fibrosis (CF), an inherited disease where the lungs become clogged with thick mucus, often leading to chronic...

Penn study on lung-infecting bacterial enzyme suggests new approach to cystic fibrosis treatment

...r shuts down a protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis patients. The disruption to this protein that conv...target for treating lung infections in some cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Lung infection, facilitated by CF mutations, is the main cause of death in CF pati...

Gallium: A new antibacterial agent?

...ajor cause of infection in individuals with cystic fibrosis and of infection acquired in hospital. ...

Trojan horse strategy defeats drug-resistant bacteria

...inst strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from cystic fibrosis patients that were resistant to multiple antibiotics. In mice, gallium treatment blocked both chronic and acute infections caused by this bacterium. The idea of using gallium as a substitute for iron was developed by a group led by Bradley Britig...

New study may show how to forestall a fatal, virus-caused immune-system meltdown

...d by people studying endocrinology, cancer, cystic fibrosis and so on ?we find that things suddenly begin to make sense,?said UTMB professor Norbert Herzog, one of the paper’s senior authors. “Cell signaling networks are like spider webs—pulling on one strand causes all the strands to move, and the Ingenuity ...

Technology reveals 'lock and key' proteins behind diseases

... processes responsible for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and could one day pave the way for pharmaceutical applications. A study appearing in the April 13 issue of Molecular Cell describes how U of T and Johns Hopkins University researchers designed a device to test for proteins that play an important ro...

Nitric oxide: Key to cardiovascular and pulmonary function and drug effectiveness

... blood pressure, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cystic fibrosis and neurodegenerative conditions, as well as in aging, may interfere with the G-protein coupled receptor signaling." ...

Gene expression patterns predict rapid decline in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease typically characterized by the slow but progressive onset of shortness of breath or cough. Most patients live about five years after diagnosis. However, according to a new study being published today in the online jour...

Extra-aggressive form of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis identified

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive lung disorder from which most patients die within 5 years after diagnosis. The disease is characterized by the insidious onset of dyspnea or cough and usually evolves slowly. Now, Selman and coworkers present i...

Researchers discover 'acquired' DNA key to certain bacterial infection

... in patients with chronic lung diseases and cystic fibrosis is increasing. Understanding the mechanism by how M. avium penetrates the macrophage and infects humans may eventually lead to interventions that can prevent, or at least, reduce the chance of infections, though Bermudez cautioned that it is early...