Category Health/Medical

‘Undruggable’ Cancer Protein becomes druggable, thanks to Shrub

jatropha-curcas
Curcusone D, the first synthesized BRAT-1 inhibitor, originally comes from the root of Jatropha curcas, a shrub native to the Americas. (Forest and Kim Starr)

A chemist from Purdue University has found a way to synthesize a compound to fight a previously “undruggable” cancer protein with benefits across a myriad of cancer types.

Inspired by a rare compound found in a shrub native to North America, Mingji Dai, professor of chemistry and a scientist at the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research, studied the compound and discovered a cost-effective and efficient way to synthesize it in the lab...

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MicroMESH: A Microscopic Polymeric Network to attack Glioblastoma multiforme

The microMESH has the shape of a micrometric polymeric net, it is made with biodegradable materials and wraps around the tumor mass. Its structure consists of two separate compartments in which different drugs can be loaded which are released towards the tumor mass in an independent, precise, and prolonged fashion. The microMESH can ‘attack’ glioblastoma by combining different therapies: chemotherapy, nanomedicine, and immunotherapy.
CREDIT
D. Beghetto/IIT

A micro-sized polymeric net wrapping around brain tumors, just like a fishing net around a shoal of fish: this is microMESH, a new nanomedicine device capable of conforming around the surface of tumor masses and efficiently delivering drugs...

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Once-a-Week Insulin treatment could be game-changing for patients with Diabetes

Treating people with Type 2 diabetes with a new once-a-week injectable insulin therapy proved to be safe and as effective as daily insulin injections, according to the results of two international clinical trials published online today in Diabetes Care. The studies suggest that the once-weekly treatment could provide a convenient alternative to the burden of daily insulin shots for diabetes patients.

Starting and maintaining insulin treatment remain a challenge for millions of patients worldwide with Type 2 diabetes. Fear of injections and the inconvenience and burden of injectable therapy contribute to the barriers against insulin therapy initiation and adherence...

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Neural Plasticity depends on this long Noncoding RNA’s Journey from Nucleus to Synapse

When the brain’s synapses are activated, they set off a signaling cascade that results in the expression of long noncoding RNA called “ADEPTR.” The RNA is quickly transported along dendrites to synapses, where it acts on proteins involved in remodeling. (Image courtesy of Jenna Wingfield and Yibo Zhao of the Puthanveettil lab at Scripps Research)

Making memories involves more than seeing friends or taking photos. The brain constantly adapts to new information and stores memories by building connections among neurons, called synapses. How neurons do this — reaching out arm-like dendrites to communicate with other neurons — requires a ballet of genes, signaling molecules, cellular scaffolding and protein-building machinery.

A new study from scientists at Scripps Research and the Max P...

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