Therapy in Biological News

Genetic finding could lead to targeted therapy for neuroblastoma

GAINESVILLE Researchers have identified a genetic glitch that could lead to development of neuroblastoma, a deadly form of cancer that typically strikes children under 2. Two University of Florida scientists are part of the multicenter team of researchers that made the discovery, which could p...

U of M study finds new insight on therapy for a devastating parasitic disease

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (June 23, 2009) University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm. The Schistosomasis parasite infects about 200 million ...

Combined stem cell-gene therapy approach cures human genetic disease in vitro

LA JOLLA, CAA study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell t...

UF makes gene therapy advance in severe genetic disorder

GAINESVILLE A dog born with a deadly disease that prevents the body from using stored sugar has survived 20 months and is still healthy after receiving gene therapy at the University of Florida putting scientists a step closer to finding a cure for the disorder in children. Called glycogen st...

New therapy substitutes missing protein in those with muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered a new therapy that shows potential to treat people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal disease and the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children. In the mouse model, researchers were able to substitute for ...

Gene therapy could expand stem cells' promise

Once placed into a patient's body, stem cells intended to treat or cure a disease could end up wreaking havoc simply because they are no longer under the control of the clinician. But gene therapy has the potential to solve this problem, according to a perspective article from physician-scienti...

Moving gene therapy forward with mobile DNA

Gene therapy Gene therapy is the introduction of genetic material into a patient's cells resulting in a cure or a therapeutic effect. In recent years, it has been shown that gene therapy is a promising technology to treat or even cure several fatal diseases for which there is no attractive alt...

Early administration of antiretroviral therapy can improve survival

This release is available in Spanish . The first antiretroviral treatments appeared in 1996. Since then, new and better drugs have been discovered that have almost turned AIDS into a chronic disease. Nevertheless, there is still room to improve the performance of the the therapeutic strate...

Stem cell therapy makes cloudy corneas clear, according to Pitt researchers

PITTSBURGH, April 9 Stem cells collected from human corneas restore transparency and don't trigger a rejection response when injected into eyes that are scarred and hazy, according to experiments conducted in mice by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study will...

Gene therapy appears safe to regenerate gum tissue

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a method of gene delivery that appears safe for regenerating tooth-supporting gum tissue---a discovery that assuages one of the biggest safety concerns surrounding gene therapy research and tissue engineering. Gene ther...

Targeted drug therapy prevents exercise-induced arrhythmias

A 12-year-old Dutch boy bedridden for three years because of an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome can now join his friends on the soccer field thanks to a discovery made by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers. The investigators, led by Bjrn Knollmann, M.D., Ph.D., report this ...

New tumor markers determine therapy intensity

Characteristic changes in the DNA of medulloblastoma, the most frequent malignant brain tumor in childhood, indicate precisely how aggressively the tumor will continue to spread and what the chances of disease relapse are. Researchers at the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Heid...

Statin therapy ineffective in breast cancer prevention

PHILADELPHIA Laboratory work in animals showed limited activity when statins were given to prevent breast cancer, according to a report in the February issue of Cancer Prevention Research , a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Statins, sold under brand names like Lipito...

Potential new herpes therapy studied

GAINESVILLE, Fla. A new therapy being developed at the University of Florida could, in time, produce another weapon for the fight against herpes. The gene-targeting approach uses a specially designed RNA enzyme to inhibit strains of the herpes simplex virus. The enzyme disables a gene responsi...

Gene therapy demonstrates benefit in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

BOSTON -- Researchers have reported the first clinical evidence that gene therapy reduces symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, an important milestone for this promising treatment which has endured a sometimes turbulent past. Described in the February issue of the journal Human Gene T...

Hormone therapy associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk

PHILADELPHIA The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers...

Safe new therapy for genetic heart disease

Prague, Czech Republic A new clinical trial suggests that long-term use of candesartan, a drug currently used to treat hypertension, may significantly reduce the symptoms of genetic heart disease. The related report by Penicka et al, "The effects of candesartan on left ventricular hypertrophy an...

Potential therapy for congenital muscular dystrophy

Reno, Nevada Current research suggests laminin, a protein that helps cells stick together, may lead to enhanced muscle repair in muscular dystrophy. The related report by Rooney et al, "Laminin-111 restores regenerative capacity in a mouse model for alpha 7 integrin congenital myopathy," appears...

Gene therapy reversed heart damage in heart failure

(PHILADELPHIA) Long-term gene therapy resulted in improved cardiac function and reversed deterioration of the heart in rats with heart failure, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Center for Translational Medicine. The study was published online i...

Leeds research points to new therapy for hepatitis C treatment

Combination therapies similar to those used for HIV patients may be the best way of treating hepatitis C virus (HCV), say researchers from the University of Leeds. A study of a protein called p7, has revealed that differences in the genetic coding of the protein between virus strains - known a...

UC Davis researchers exploring gene therapy to fight AIDS

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) The apparent success of a case in which German doctors cured a man of AIDS using a bone marrow transplant comes as no surprise to Gerhard Bauer, a UC Davis stem cell researcher. Bauer has been working for more than 10 years on a similar cure for AIDS based on replacing the de...

Gene therapy corrects sickle cell disease in laboratory study

Using a harmless virus to insert a corrective gene into mouse blood cells, scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have alleviated sickle cell disease pathology. In their studies, the researchers found that the treated mice showed essentially no difference from normal mice. Although th...

Gene therapy restores vision to mice with retinal degeneration

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have used gene therapy to restore useful vision to mice with degeneration of the light-sensing retinal rods and cones, a common cause of human blindness. Their report, appearing in the Oct. 14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, desc...

On the trail of a targeted therapy for blood cancers

INDIANAPOLIS Investigators from the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine are focusing on a family of blood proteins that they hope holds a key to decreasing the toxic effects of chemotherapy in children and adults. Their findings may one d...

Coating improves electrical stimulation therapy used for Parkinson's, depression, chronic pain

DALLAS Sept. 16, 2008 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have designed a way to improve electrical stimulation of nerves by outfitting electrodes with the latest in chemically engineered fashion: a coating of basic black, formed from carbon nanotubes. The nanotube sheathing improve...

New tool to speed cancer therapy approval available

PHILADELPHIA Although cancer remains a leading cause of death in America, it can take up to 12 years to bring a new anti-cancer agent before the FDA and the success rate for approval is only five to 10 percent. That means many research hours and dollars are wasted chasing avenues that will not br...

Anti-tumor therapy with endoscopic ultrasound may fight cancer more safely and effectively

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, September 12, 2008 - The chairman of EUS2008 today announced that investigational research on a therapeutic technique that will allow physicians to directly inject malignant tumors with cancer fighting agents from inside the body will be presented at the 16th International Sympo...

Gene therapy anti-cancer research featured in Scientific American

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Scientific American magazine focused on two University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers in a news story on experimental next-generation anti-cancer therapies. David T. Curiel, M.D., Ph.D., is a UAB professor of medicine and director of t...

Anti-HIV therapy boosts life expectancy more than 13 years

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. The life expectancy for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has increased by more than 13 years since the late 1990s thanks to advancements in antiretroviral therapy, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Simon Fraser Universit...

Researcher helping to pioneer medical therapy for Fragile X Syndrome presents latest findings

(CHICAGO) Neurological experts from across the U.S. and other countries including a nationally renowned researcher from Rush University Medical Center will discuss the latest findings in basic and clinical research for Fragile X at the 11th International Fragile X Conference, to be held July 23-2...

New oral angiogenesis inhibitor offers potential nontoxic therapy for a wide range of cancers

The first oral, broad-spectrum angiogenesis inhibitor, specially formulated through nanotechnology, shows promising anticancer results in mice, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. Findings were published online on June 29 by the journal Nature Biotechnology . Because it is nont...

Potential therapy discovered for hypophosphatasia, a congenital form of rickets

Researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, led by Jos Luis Milln, Ph.D., have demonstrated in mice the first successful use of enzyme replacement therapy to prevent hypophosphatasia (HPP), a primary skeletal disease of genetic origin. This discovery lays the foundation for future ...

UF researchers develop improved gene therapy agent

GAINESVILLE, Fla. Replacing one amino acid on the surface of a virus that shepherds corrective genes into cells could be the breakthrough scientists have needed to make gene therapy a more viable option for treating genetic diseases such as hemophilia, University of Florida researchers say. Re...

Gene therapy slows progression of fatal neurodegenerative disease in children

New Rochelle, NY, May 13, 2008Gene therapy to replace the faulty CLN2 gene, which causes a neurodegenerative disease that is fatal by age 8-12 years, was able to slow significantly the rate of neurologic decline in treated children, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the May 2...

UC Davis stem researchers demonstrate safety of gene therapy using adult stem cells

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) A new study by UC Davis researchers provides evidence that methods using human bone marrow-derived stem cells to deliver gene therapy to cure diseases of the blood, bone marrow and certain types of cancer do not cause the development of tumors or leukemia. The study was publi...

Cell-based therapy shows promise in patients with Parkinson's disease

CHICAGO - A novel cell therapy using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells attached to tiny gelatin bead microcarriers implanted in the brain can improve the symptoms of patients with moderate to advanced Parkinsons disease (PD). Rush University Medical Center neurosurgeon Dr. Roy A. E. Bakay ...

Effective cancer immune therapy through order in the blood vessels

Immune therapies are considered very promising in cancer medicine: Tumor-fighting immune cells are supposed to invade tumor tissue and eliminate cancer cells right there. Although this works well in the test tube, clinical application often fails because immune cells are unable to get into the tum...

Biomarkers allow doctors to match therapy to patient

SAN DIEGO Genetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, nor are their cancers. Researchers now have the tools and the knowledge to predict how individuals will respond to cancer therapy, enabling more precise and effective treatment. At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American As...

MU researcher links hormone replacement therapy to breast cancer

COLUMBIA, Mo. Millions of post-menopausal women use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a method to reduce symptoms associated with menopause. In a recent University of Missouri study, researchers found that one of the hormones used in HRT, a synthetic progestin, could be a major factor in promo...

Umbilical cord blood cell therapy may reduce signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

Tampa, FL (March 26, 2008) Targeted immune suppression using human umbilical cord blood cells may improve the pathology associated with Alzheimers disease, a new study in a mouse model of this currently untreatable neurodegenerative condition reports. The study, led by researchers at the Univers...