Archive for February, 2012

Discovery could lead to personalised medicine where stroke treatments are tailored to individual patients

By Claire Bates

Last updated at 9:19 AM on 6th February 2012

A single genetic mutation can double your risk of stroke, according to a new study.

Researchers found the gene variant increased the risk of large artery ischemic strokes, which account for over a third of all cases.

The discovery may lead to screening tests to identify those at risk along with earlier treatments and could potentially save thousands of lives.

Impact: Around 110,000 people in England have a stroke every year, while 300,000 people are living with resulting disabilities

Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and a major cause of chronic disability in developed countries. The condition costs the NHS ?2.8billion a year.

One of the most common types is when blood flow is impaired because of a blockage to one or more of the large arteries supplying blood to the brain, known as large artery ischemic stroke.

Researchers from St George's, University of London and Oxford University compared the genetic make-up of 10,000 people who had suffered from a stroke with 40,000 healthy individuals. The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

They found that an alteration in a gene called HDAC9 occurs on about 10 per cent of human chromosomes. Those people who carry two copies of the variant (one inherited from each parent) have nearly twice the risk for this type of stroke compared to those with no copies of the variant. 

The protein produced by HDAC9 is already known to play a role in the formation of muscle tissue and heart development. However, the exact mechanism by which the genetic variant increases the risk of stroke is not yet known.

Professor Hugh Markus, from St George's, University of London, who co-led the study says: 'This discovery identifies a completely new mechanism for causing stroke. The next step is to determine in more detail the relationship between HDAC9 and stroke and see whether we can develop new treatments that reduce the risk of stroke.

'Interestingly, there are already drugs available which inhibit the HDAC9 protein. However, it is important that we understand the mechanism involved before trialling the effects of these drugs on stroke.'

The researchers went on to show that the new variant does not have the same effect on the risk of other types of stroke which include bleeding in the brain.

Professor Peter Donnelly, Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in the University of Oxford, who co-led the study, says: 'This is really fascinating, and if it holds up more generally, will move us closer to personalised medicine, where treatments and preventions can be tailored more precisely to individual patients.'

The study was published online in Nature Genetics today.

See the rest here:
Single genetic mutation can double your risk of stroke - but scientists hope it could lead to tailored treatments

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN - News) announced today that Jim Evans, Chief Financial Officer, is scheduled to present at the Leerink Swann 2012 Global Healthcare Conference, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, February 16, 2012. The conference is being held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, New York.

The presentation will be available to interested parties through a live webcast accessible on the investor relations section of Myriad's website at http://www.myriad.com.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN - News) is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to developing and marketing transformative tests to assess a person's risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess a patient's risk of disease progression and disease recurrence. Myriad's portfolio of nine molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a focus on improving an individual's decision making process for monitoring and treating disease. With fiscal year 2011 annual revenue of over $400 million and more than 1,000 employees, Myriad is working on strategic directives, including new product introductions, companion diagnostics, and international expansion, to take advantage of significant growth opportunities. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: http://www.myriad.com.

More:
Myriad Genetics to Present at the Leerink Swann 2012 Global Healthcare Conference

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Response Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGDX - News), a company focused on the development and sale of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer, announced today that Thomas Bologna, CEO and Chairman, and David O’Toole, vice president and CFO, will present at the 22nd Annual UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York.

Response Genetics’ presentation is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 7. A live webcast of the presentation will be available on the conference section of the company's website at http://investor.responsegenetics.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=207260&p=irol-presentations. The webcast will be archived for 60 days.

About Response Genetics, Inc.

Response Genetics Inc. (“RGI”) is focused on the development and sale of molecular diagnostic tests for cancer. RGI’s technologies enable extraction and analysis of genetic information from genes derived from tumor samples stored as formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens. In addition to diagnostic testing services, the Company generates revenue from the sales of its proprietary analytical pharmacogenomic testing services of clinical trial specimens to the pharmaceutical industry. RGI was founded in 1999 and its principal headquarters are located in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit http://www.responsegenetics.com.

Forward-Looking Statement Notice

Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release and the statements of representatives of RGI related thereto contain or may contain, among other things, certain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties. Such statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to the Company’s plans, objectives, projections, expectations and intentions, such as the ability of the Company to successfully present at the UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference, and other statements identified by words such as “projects,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans” or similar expressions.

These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results, including, without limitation, actual sales results, if any, or the application of funds, may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various factors (many of which are beyond the Company’s control). The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Here is the original post:
Response Genetics to Present at the 22nd Annual UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference

07-11-2011 15:39 http://www.StemCellTreatment.org Salima had stem cell treatment for Fibromyalgia and had very good results. We have had great success with stem cell therapy for Fibromyalgia also known as FMS. Fibromyalgia symptoms include pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles and other soft tissue. Stem cell treatment for fibromyalgia is something that ASCAAC specializes in. Go to our website for more information and fill out the form or give us a call so we can answer your stem cell and fibromyalgia questions!

View original post here:
Stem Cell Treatment Fibromyalgia - Video

20-12-2011 09:01 If you would like more information please call us Toll Free at 877-578-7908. Or visit our website at http://www.usastemcells.com Or click here to have a Free Phone Constultation with Dr. Matthew Burks usastemcells.com Real patient testimonials for USA Stem Cells. Adult stem cell therapy for COPD, Emphysema, and Pulmonary fibrosis.

Read the original post:
Adult Stem Cell Treatments for COPD -Real patient results, USA Stem Cells- Donald W. Testimonial - Video

10-01-2012 17:54 Cell-based therapy research at Swedish Heart and Vascular Institute is quintessential to medical advancement. Medical director Dr. Paul P. Huang researches stem cell therapy pertaining to cardiovascular disease. He provides an historical perspective of stem cell research and explains how stem cells can help cardiovascular patients avoid surgery and improve their quality of life. Dr. Huang believes that regenerative medicine is medicine's next frontier. For more information visit http://www.swedish.org

Go here to read the rest:
Cell-based Therapy Research - Video

12-01-2012 07:24 If you would like more information please call us Toll Free at 877-578-7908. Or visit our website at http://www.usastemcells.com Or click here to have a Free Phone Constultation with Dr. Matthew Burks usastemcells.com Real patient testimonials for USA Stem Cells. Adult stem cell therapy for COPD, Emphysema, and Pulmonary fibrosis.

Excerpt from:
Adult Stem Cell Treatments for COPD -Real patient results, USA Stem Cells- Leon B. Testimonial - Video

TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GeneNews Limited (TSX:GEN.TO - News), a molecular diagnostics company focused on developing blood-based biomarker tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management, today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Shanghai Biochip Co. Ltd. ("SBC"), a leading Chinese engineering centre for advanced microarray and gene expression profiling technologies, to enter into a strategic alliance to establish the first Sentinel Centre for Personalized Medicine in China.

GeneNews and SBC would jointly establish and manage the Sentinel Centre for Personalized Medicine to co-develop and commercialize additional products based on GeneNews' proprietary platform technology, the Sentinel Principle(R). In addition, the MOU sets forth the main criteria to be incorporated into definitive development, distribution and license terms under which SBC would obtain non-exclusive rights to market and sell GeneNews' ColonSentry(TM) test in China. A formal agreement will be negotiated and executed before the end of the Company's third fiscal quarter. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"We are focused on bringing leading edge technologies to the people of China to improve healthcare outcomes," stated Dr. Yuchen Chen, Director, Business Development of SBC. "We are looking forward to working with GeneNews to establish the world's first Sentinel Centre for Personalized Medicine to advance the development and commercialization of innovative, non-invasive tests targeted at early disease detection in China."

"Shanghai Biochip's expertise in gene expression profiling platforms and well-established clinical network provide a strong foundation for us to jointly establish a state-of-the-art research and development core capability in China that is aligned with our pipeline development and commercialization objectives. We look forward to building a successful strategic alliance with Shanghai Biochip," said Gailina J. Liew, President & Chief Operating Officer of GeneNews.

The Sentinel Principle(R), a platform technology discovered and developed by GeneNews, is based on the concept that all clinical conditions and body states, including those resulting from disease or in response to treatment, generate characteristic gene expression signatures in the blood as a result of the constant and dynamic physiological interaction of blood with the cells, tissues and organs of the human body. This technology is the basis of GeneNews' initial product, ColonSentry(TM), the world's first blood test for colorectal cancer, and the SentinelGx(TM) suite of services. GeneNews' broad global patent portfolio includes issued foundational patents and pending patents in diverse disease areas such as cancer, cardiovascular, neurological and inflammatory conditions.

About Shanghai Biochip

Shanghai Biochip is a national engineering centre for advanced microarray and gene expression profiling technologies in China that has developed a strong network of academic, clinical and medical partners to utilize its expertise and services as a contract research organization and bio-banking facility.

About GeneNews

GeneNews is an emerging molecular diagnostics company focused on the application of functional genomics to enable early diagnosis and personalized health management based on disease-specific biomarkers. The Company has a patented core platform technology, the Sentinel Principle(R), which has the power to detect and stage virtually any disease or medical condition from a simple blood sample. GeneNews is currently applying the Sentinel Principle(R) in major areas with unmet clinical needs such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders. GeneNews' lead product, ColonSentry(TM), is the world's first blood test to pre-screen and assess an individual's current risk for colorectal cancer. For more information on GeneNews and ColonSentry(TM), go to http://www.GeneNews.com or http://www.ColonSentry.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein. Investors should consult the Company's ongoing quarterly filings and annual reports for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

More here:
GeneNews Enters Into MOU With Shanghai Biochip to Establish First Sentinel Centre for Personalized Medicine

A former Sweet Home High School athlete who nearly died after a college pole vaulting accident in 2007 is being treated for a serious spinal cord injury at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend.

Keegan Burnett, 27, who now lives in Albany, is paralyzed from the waist down after a night skiing accident at Hoodoo Ski Area on Jan. 28. He is the son of Rick and Alice Burnett and a 2002 Sweet Home graduate.

“Keegan was skiing Saturday night with friends and the accident occurred when he tried to make a jump,” his mother said. “He said he made the jump twice before.”

Doctors told the Burnetts that Keegan “folded himself in half and landed on his head.”

“It completely blew out his T12 vertebrae and ruptured the C4 and C5 vertebrae,” his mother said.

The accident happened about 9 p.m. and Keegan was taken to St. Charles Medical Center by ambulance.

He had surgery Sunday, his mother said, and doctors installed a “cage” around the T12 vertebrae and cleaned up the others.

“His spinal cord was not severed, but it was severely crushed,” Burnett said. “The doctor said it is highly unlikely that Keegan will ever be able to walk again. It’s a miracle that he’s alive.”

Burnett said doctors are especially concerned about a concussion Keegan suffered, and he had CAT scans to determine if there was any brain swelling every day for the first three or four days he was in the hospital.

Back in May 2007, Keegan suffered a traumatic head injury while pole vaulting for the Idaho State University Bengals track team during a meet in Utah. Coming down, he struck his head on concrete that had not been covered with a protective mat. A portion of his skull had to be removed due to swelling of his brain. Keegan was in the intensive care unit at McKay-Dee Hospital for weeks and lost more than 35 pounds.

“Because of the previous injury, Keegan reacts differently than other people and the severity of a concussion is much more severe,” his mother said.

After healing, Keegan completed a degree in human physiology from the University of Oregon in 2008.

“He recently applied to graduate schools in human physiology at the UO, Oregon State and Arizona,” Burnett said. “He just got a temporary job at Entek in Lebanon and had worked one day before the accident.”

Daily updates about Keegan can be found at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/keeganburnett.

Originally posted here:
Young athlete suffers second serious injury

29-01-2012 23:26 Fourteen patients were randomized to see if adipose-derived adult stem cells would help limit the damage from an acute heart attack. Infarct size was decreased by 50%, the perfusion defect was 17% smaller, and the left ventriclular ejection fraction was increased about 6% better than the control group. Stem cell vocabulary was reviewed and highlighted that there are embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells and that sources of stem cell are from bone marrow, adipose tissue, blood, umbilical cord blood and from cloned embryonic cell lines. Stem cells can develop into 200 different cell types.

Excerpt from:
Stem Cells Help Heart Attack Victims - Video

"We want to come up with technology to replace defective tissue with beating heart tissue made from stem cells sloughed off by the infant into the amniotic fluid," said Rice bioengineer Jeffrey Jacot, who led the study. "Our findings serve as proof of principle that stem cells from amniotic fluid have the potential to be used for such purposes."

The results were published online by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A. The research was conducted at Texas Children's Hospital.

According to the American Heart Association, about 32,000 infants a year in the United States are born with congenital heart defects, 10,000 of which either result in death or require some sort of surgical intervention before they're a year old.

Jacot, an assistant professor of bioengineering based at Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative and director of the Pediatric Cardiac Bioengineering Laboratory at the Congenital Heart Surgery Service at Texas Children's Hospital, hopes to grow heart patches from the amniotic stem cells of a fetus diagnosed in the womb with a congenital heart defect. Because the cells would be a genetic match, there would be no risk of rejection, he said.

"Between 60 and 80 percent of severe heart defects are caught by ultrasound," he said. "Ultimately, when a heart defect is diagnosed in utero, we will extract amniotic cells. By birth, we will have made tissue for the repair out of the infant's own cells. The timing is critical because the surgery needs to be done within weeks of the infant's birth."

Enlarge

Cells derived from amniotic fluid display a shape and typical cell-cell connections indicative of endothelial cells, which form blood vessels, after treatment with specific growth factors. Researchers at Rice University are working with amniotic stem cells with the goal of growing living tissue that matches infants born with congenital heart defects. Credit: Jacot Lab/Rice University/Texas Children's Hospital

Surgeons currently use such nonbiological materials as Dacron or Teflon, which do not contract or grow with the patient, or native pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. Pericardium generally forms scar tissue and can only be used in the first operation. Both solutions require further operations and raise the risk of cardiac arrest, Jacot said.

Stem cells, the focus of both great hope and great controversy, are the cells in every organism that differentiate into specialized cells in the body. Stem cells drawn from human embryos are known to have great potential for treatment of defects and disease, but research into their use has been limited by political and other concerns, Jacot said.

That isn't the case with cells found in amniotic fluid, he said. Amniotic fluid is the liquid that protects and nourishes a fetus in the womb. Fluid is sometimes taken from pregnant women through amniocentesis, but cells for the Jacot lab's studies were drawn from women undergoing treatment for twin-twin transfusion syndrome. "This is where two identical twins share a placenta and one is getting more blood than the other. It's not common," he said, noting that Texas Children's is one of the few hospitals that treat the syndrome. "Part of the general treatment is to remove fluid with the goal of saving both lives, and that fluid is usually discarded."

Jacot said other labs have tested amniotic fluid as a source of stem cells with promising results. "Our work is based on five years of work from other labs in which they've discovered a very small population of amniotic stem cells – maybe one in every 10,000 – that naturally express markers characteristic of embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells."

Jacot and his team created a population of amniotic stem cells through a complex process that involved extracting cells via centrifugation and fluorescence-activated sorting. They sequestered cells with a surface receptor, c-kit, a marker associated with stem cells.

The cells were cultured in endothelial growth media to make them suitable for growing into a network of capillaries, Jacot said. When the cells were placed in a bio-scaffold, a framework used for tissue engineering, they did just that.

"Anything we make will need a blood supply," he said. "That's why the first cell type we looked for is one that can form blood vessels. We need to know we can get a capillary network throughout tissue that we can then connect to the infant's blood supply."

Jacot said the cells they tested grow very fast. "We've done calculations to show that, with what we get from amniocentesis, we could more than grow an entire heart by birth," he said. "That would be really tough, but it gives us confidence that we will be able to quickly grow patches of tissue outside of the body that can then be sewn inside."

He said construction of a functional patch is some years away, but his lab is making progress. While embryonic cells have the most potential for such a project, amniotic cells already show signs of an ability to turn into heart muscle, he said.

Co-authors are graduate students Omar Benavides and Jennifer Petsche, both of Rice; and Kenneth Moise Jr. and Anthony Johnson, now professors at the Texas Center for Maternal and Fetal Treatment at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with appointments at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and CAREER programs, the Houston-Rice Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med into Grad Program and the Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation.

More information: http://online.lieb … EA.2011.0392

Provided by Rice University (news : web)

Here is the original post:
Scientists make strides toward fixing infant hearts

Posted: Monday, February 6, 2012 10:00 am | Updated: 11:50 am, Mon Feb 6, 2012.

Researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital have turned stem cells from amniotic fluid into cells that form blood vessels.

Their success offers hope that such stem cells may be used to grow tissue patches to repair infant hearts.

"We want to come up with technology to replace defective tissue with beating heart tissue made from stem cells sloughed off by the infant into the amniotic fluid," said Rice bioengineer Jeffrey Jacot, who led the study. "Our findings serve as proof of principle that stem cells from amniotic fluid have the potential to be used for such purposes."

The results were published online by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A. The research was conducted at Texas Children’s Hospital.

According to the American Heart Association, about 32,000 infants a year in the United States are born with congenital heart defects, 10,000 of which either result in death or require some sort of surgical intervention before they're a year old.

Jacot, an assistant professor of bioengineering based at Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative and of the Pediatric Cardiac Bioengineering Laboratory at the Congenital Heart Surgery Service at Texas Children’s Hospital, hopes to grow heart patches from the amniotic stem cells of a fetus diagnosed in the womb with a congenital heart defect. He said, because the cells would be a genetic match, there would be no risk of rejection.

"Between 60 and 80 percent of severe heart defects are caught by ultrasound," he said. "Ultimately, when a heart defect is diagnosed in utero, we will extract amniotic cells. By birth, we will have made tissue for the repair out of the infant's own cells. The timing is critical because the surgery needs to be done within weeks of the infant's birth."

Surgeons currently use such nonbiological materials as Dacron or Teflon, which do not contract or grow with the patient, or native pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. Pericardium generally forms scar tissue and can only be used in the first operation. Both solutions require further operations and raise the risk of cardiac arrest, Jacot said.

Stem cells, the focus of both great hope and great controversy, are the cells in every organism that differentiate into specialized cells in the body. Stem cells drawn from human embryos are known to have great potential for treatment of defects and disease, but research into their use has been limited by political and other concerns, Jacot said.

That isn't the case with cells found in amniotic fluid, he said. Amniotic fluid is the liquid that protects and nourishes a fetus in the womb. Fluid is sometimes taken from pregnant women through amniocentesis, but cells for the Jacot lab's studies were drawn from women undergoing treatment for twin-twin transfusion syndrome.

"This is where two identical twins share a placenta and one is getting more blood than the other. It's not common," he said, noting that Texas Children's is one of the few hospitals that treat the syndrome. "Part of the general treatment is to remove fluid with the goal of saving both lives, and that fluid is usually discarded."

Jacot said other labs have tested amniotic fluid as a source of stem cells with promising results.

"Our work is based on five years of work from other labs in which they've discovered a very small population of amniotic stem cells – maybe one in every 10,000 – that naturally express markers characteristic of embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells."

Jacot and his team created a population of amniotic stem cells through a complex process that involved extracting cells via centrifugation and fluorescence-activated sorting. They sequestered cells with a surface receptor, c-kit, a marker associated with stem cells.

The cells were cultured in endothelial growth media to make them suitable for growing into a network of capillaries, Jacot said. When the cells were placed in a bio-scaffold, a framework used for tissue engineering, they did just that.

"Anything we make will need a blood supply," he said. "That's why the first cell type we looked for is one that can form blood vessels. We need to know we can get a capillary network throughout tissue that we can then connect to the infant's blood supply."

Jacot said the cells they tested grow very fast.

"We've done calculations to show that, with what we get from amniocentesis, we could more than grow an entire heart by birth," he said. "That would be really tough, but it gives us confidence that we will be able to quickly grow patches of tissue outside of the body that can then be sewn inside."

He said construction of a functional patch is some years away, but his lab is making progress. While embryonic cells have the most potential for such a project, amniotic cells already show signs of an ability to turn into heart muscle, he said.

Co-authors are graduate students Omar Benavides and Jennifer Petsche, both of Rice; and Kenneth Moise Jr. and Anthony Johnson, now professors at the Texas Center for Maternal and Fetal Treatment at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with appointments at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and CAREER programs, the Houston-Rice Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med into Grad Program and the Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation.

(Submitted by Rice University; Posted by Emiy Moser, emoser@hcnonline.com)

Read this article:
Rice University, Texas Children’s Hospital researchers makes strides towards fixing infants hearts

Bone Marrow for Joey: In this video, Joey Tyquiengco, 40, a former Guam resident asks for support from local residents in his search for matching bone marrow. Written by Meryl Dillman Pacific Daily News
Dr. Thomas Shieh, left, gets a helping hand from United employees after receiving a shipment of bone marrow test kits and supplies at the A.B. Won Pat Guam International Airport's cargo facility in Tiyan, yesterday. United provided the transportation of the kits, free of charge as a community service, from Hawaii to Guam, said Quentin Koch, United director of sales, Guam and Micronesia. / Rick Cruz/Pacific Daily News/rmcruz@guampdn.com

IF YOU GO

A bone marrow drive will be held at Guam Premier Outlets from Friday through Sunday.

The times are below:

•Friday from 1 to 6 p.m.

•Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

•Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you want to help with the drive, please contact Dr. Thomas Shieh at doctorshieh@yahoo.com or by pager at 635-8360.

Dr. Shieh, president of the Guam Medical Association

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myths and facts about bone marrow donation:

•Myth: All bone marrow donations involve surgery.

•Fact: The majority of donations do not involve surgery. Today, the patient's doctor most often requests a peripheral blood stem cell donation, which is non-surgical. The second way of donating is marrow donation, which is a surgical procedure. In each case, donors typically go home the same day they donate.

•Myth: Donating is painful and involves a long recovery.

•Fact: There can be uncomfortable but short-lived side effects of peripheral blood stem cell donation. Due to taking a drug called filgrastim for five days leading up to donation, peripheral blood stem cell donors may have headaches, joint or muscle aches, or fatigue. Donors are typically back to their normal routine in one to two days. Those donating marrow receive general or regional anesthesia, so they feel no pain during donation. Marrow donors can expect to feel some soreness in their lower back for one to two weeks afterward. Most marrow donors are back to their normal activities in two to seven days.

•Myth: Donating is dangerous and weakens the donor.

•Fact: Though no medical procedure is without risk, there are rarely any long-term side effects. Be The Match carefully prescreens all donors to ensure they are healthy and the procedure is safe for them. We also provide support and information every step of the way.

Because only 5 percent or less of a donor's marrow is needed to save the patient's life, the donor's immune system stays strong and the cells replace themselves within four to six weeks.

•For more myths and facts, and more information about bone marrow donation, visit http://www.bethematch.org. Be The Match Registry is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program.

More In News

See more here:
Marrow donors wanted: Bone marrow drive to begin Friday

SACRAMENTO — A research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones. Once these cells are guided to the bone surface by this molecule, the stem cells differentiate into bone-forming cells and synthesize proteins to enhance bone growth. The study, which was published online today in Nature Medicine, used a mouse model of osteoporosis to demonstrate a unique treatment approach that increases bone density and prevents bone loss associated with aging and estrogen deficiency.

"There are many stem cells, even in elderly people, but they do not readily migrate to bone," said Wei Yao, the principal investigator and lead author of the study. "Finding a molecule that attaches to stem cells and guides them to the targets we need is a real breakthrough."

Researchers are exploring stem cells as possible treatments for a wide variety of conditions and injuries, ranging from peripheral artery disease and macular degeneration to blood disorders, skin wounds and diseased organs. Directing stem cells to travel and adhere to the surface of bone for bone formation has been among the elusive goals in regenerative medicine.

The researchers made use of a unique hybrid molecule, LLP2A-alendronate, developed by a research team led by Kit Lam, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. The researchers' hybrid molecule consists of two parts: the LLP2A part that attaches to mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow, and a second part that consists of the bone-homing drug alendronate. After the hybrid molecule was injected into the bloodstream, it picked up mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow and directed those cells to the surfaces of bone, where the stem cells carried out their natural bone-formation and repair functions.

"Our study confirms that stem-cell-binding molecules can be exploited to direct stem cells to therapeutic sites inside an animal," said Lam, who also is an author of the article. "It represents a very important step in making this type of stem cell therapy a reality."

Twelve weeks after the hybrid molecule was injected into mice, bone mass in the femur (thigh bone) and vertebrae (in the spine) increased and bone strength improved compared to control mice who did not receive the hybrid molecule. Treated mice that were normally of an age when bone loss would occur also had improved bone formation, as did those that were models for menopause.

Alendronate, also known by the brand name Fosamax, is commonly taken by women with osteoporosis to reduce the risk of fracture. The research team incorporated alendronate into the hybrid molecules because once in the bloodstream, it goes directly to the bone surface, where it slows the rate of bone breakdown. According to Nancy Lane, a co-investigator on the study and director of the UC Davis Musculoskeletal Diseases of Aging Research Group, the dose of alendronate in the hybrid compound was low and unlikely to have inhibited the compound's therapeutic effect.

"For the first time, we may have potentially found a way to direct a person's own stem cells to the bone surface where they can regenerate bone," said Lane, who is an Endowed Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology and an expert on osteoporosis. "This technique could become a revolutionary new therapy for osteoporosis as well as for other conditions that require new bone formation."

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem for 44 million Americans. One in two women will suffer a fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. Although effective medications are available to help prevent fracture risk, including alendronate, their use is limited by potential harmful effects of long-term use.

The major causes for osteoporosis in women include estrogen deficiency, aging and steroid excess from treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Generally, the osteoporosis generated by these metabolic conditions results from change in the bone remodeling cycle that weakens the bone's architecture and increases fracture risk.

Mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow induce new bone remodeling, which thicken and strengthen bone.

The authors noted that the potential use of this stem cell therapy is not limited to treating osteoporosis. They said it may prove invaluable for other disorders and conditions that could benefit from enhanced bone rebuilding, such as bone fractures, bone infections or cancer treatments.

"These results are very promising for translating into human therapy," said Jan Nolta, professor of internal medicine, an author of the study and director of the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. "We have shown this potential therapy is effective in rodents, and our goal now is to move it into clinical trials."

Funding for the study came from the Endowment on Healthy Aging and the National Institutes of Health. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has given the team a planning grant to develop a proposal for human clinical trials.

"This research was a collaboration of stem cell biologists, biochemists, translational scientists, a bone biologist and clinicians," said Lane. "It was a truly fruitful team effort with remarkable results."

The Nature Medicine article is titled "Directing mesenchymal stem cells to bone to augment bone formation and increase bone mass." Min Guan, who is affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine, was co-lead author of the paper. Other UC Davis authors were Ruiwu Liu, Junjing Jia, Liping Meng, Ping Zhou and Mohammad Shahnazari, from the departments of Internal Medicine, and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, as well as the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. Authors Brian Panganiban and Robert O. Ritchie are with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley.

UC Davis is playing a leading role in regenerative medicine, with nearly 150 scientists working on a variety of stem cell-related research projects at campus locations in both Davis and Sacramento. The UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures, a facility supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), opened in 2010 on the Sacramento campus. This $62 million facility is the university's hub for stem cell science. It includes Northern California's largest academic Good Manufacturing Practice laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing rooms for cellular and gene therapies. UC Davis also has a Translational Human Embryonic Stem Cell Shared Research Facility in Davis and a collaborative partnership with the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California. All of the programs and facilities complement the university's Clinical and Translational Science Center, and focus on turning stem cells into cures. For more information, visit http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/stemcellresearch.

Read the original here:
Directing stem cells to boost bone formation, strength

ScienceDaily (Feb. 6, 2012) — A University of Minnesota-led research team has proposed a mechanism for the control of whether embryonic stem cells continue to proliferate and stay stem cells, or differentiate into adult cells like brain, liver or skin.

The work has implications in two areas. In cancer treatment, it is desirable to inhibit cell proliferation. But to grow adult stem cells for transplantation to victims of injury or disease, it would be desirable to sustain proliferation until a sufficient number of cells have been produced to make a usable organ or tissue.

The study gives researchers a handle on how those two competing processes might be controlled. It was performed at the university's Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn., using mouse stem cells. The researchers, led by Hormel Institute Executive Director Zigang Dong and Associate Director Ann M. Bode, have published a report in the journal Nature: Structure and Molecular Biology.

"This is breakthrough research and provides the molecular basis for development of regenerative medicine," said Dong. "This research will aid in the development of the next generation of drugs that make repairs and regeneration within the body possible following damage by such factors as cancer, aging, heart disease, diabetes, or paralysis caused by traumatic injury."

The mechanism centers on a protein called Klf4, which is found in embryonic stem cells and whose activities include keeping those cells dividing and proliferating rather than differentiating. That is, Klf4 maintains the character of the stem cells; this process is called self-renewal. The researchers discovered that two enzymes, called ERK1 and ERK2, inactivate Klf; this allows the cells to begin differentiating into adult cells.

The two enzymes are part of a "bucket brigade" of signals that starts when a chemical messenger arrives from outside the embryonic stem cells. Chemical messages are passed to inside the cells, resulting in, among other things, the two enzymes swinging into action.

The researchers also discovered how the enzymes control Klf4. They attach a small molecule--phosphate, consisting of phosphorus and oxygen--to Klf4. This "tag" marks it for destruction by the cellular machinery that recycles proteins.

Further, they found that suppressing the activity of the two enzymes allows the stem cells to maintain their self-renewal and resist differentiation. Taken together, their findings paint a picture of the ERK1 and ERK2 enzymes as major players in deciding the future of embryonic stem cells--and potentially cancer cells, whose rapid growth mirrors the behavior of the stem cells.

Klf4 is one of several factors used to reprogram certain adult skin cells to become a form of stem cells called iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, which behave similarly to embryonic stem cells. Also, many studies have shown that Klf4 can either activate or repress the functioning of genes and, in certain contexts, act as either an oncogene (that promotes cancer) or a tumor suppressor. Given these and their own findings reported here, the Hormel Institute researchers suggest that the self-renewal program of cancer cells might resemble that of embryonic stem cells.

"Although the functions of Klf4 in cancer are controversial, several reports suggest Klf4 is involved in human cancer development," Bode said.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Minnesota.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Myoung Ok Kim, Sung-Hyun Kim, Yong-Yeon Cho, Janos Nadas, Chul-Ho Jeong, Ke Yao, Dong Joon Kim, Dong-Hoon Yu, Young-Sam Keum, Kun-Yeong Lee, Zunnan Huang, Ann M Bode, Zigang Dong. ERK1 and ERK2 regulate embryonic stem cell self-renewal through phosphorylation of Klf4. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2217

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Link:
Key finding in stem cell self-renewal

Home > News > more-news

Lucknow, Jan 29 : In order to pacify the agitating Indian Police Services(IPS) officers in Uttar Pradesh, Election Commission(EC) tonight transferred the controversial Basti Divisional Commissioner Anurag Srivastava.

Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Principal Secretary in the Rrural Development department has been appointed as the new commissioner of Basti while Srivastava have been kept in waiting, official sources here tonight said.

However, the IPS Association announced that they will continue to agitate against the insult of the Sidhardhnagar SP Mohit Gupta till the Commissioner was punished besides he seeds unconditional apology from the SP. The Association has called a meeting of the officers on Tuesday evening to decide on the course of future action.

A revolt like situation arose when over 16 IPS offered to resign following insult of Superintendent of Police(SP) of Sidharthnagar by senior IAS officer and Commissioner of Basti even though Uttar Pradesh government today set up a two member committee to probe into the matter while a clarification has been sought from the IAS officer.

Over 16 IPS officers including 7 of the 2006 batch tendered their resignation after the Sidharthanagar SP Mohit Gupta was transferred last night.

UP government however acted swiftly and after a delegation of the IPS Association met state Cabinet Secetary Shashank Shekhar Singh, a two member committee comprising Industrial development Commissioner (IDC) V N Garg and Deputy Inspector general of Police( Anti corruption cell) Arun Kumar Gupta was formed to probe into the matter and give their recommendation within three days time.

Meanwhile, Basti Commissioner Anurag Srivastava, against whom the IPS have lodged the protest, have been asked by the state government to clarify about his stand by January 31. (UNI)

Share this article at

Yearly Horoscope of 2012 for the Zodiac Sign:

Sagittarius     Scorpio     Libra    Virgo    Leo     Cancer     Gemini     Taurus     Aries     Pisces     Aquarius     Capricon

TOP READ ARTICLES:

Snoop Dogg detained in Norway, released
Madonna's gig stuns audience at Super Bowl
Daniel Radcliffe switches allegiance from Liberal Democrats to Labour
Sarah Jessica Parker 'not interested in watching Super Bowl'
Hugo and Harry Potter notch top honours at Art Directors Guild Awards
Huntington-Whiteley keen to work in next 'Sherlock Holmes'?
JLo wants to make her beau 'star'
Daniel Radcliffe reveals 'deconstructive' drinking past
Gerard Butler wants to do romantic comedies
I'll never pose for sexy photoshoot again, says Gemma Arterton
Daniel Radcliffe puzzled over celebrity obligation
Brad Pitt not expecting same success again
Hugh Hefner's son finds dad's girlfriends 'weird'
'Pregnant' Una Healy beams as she goes shopping for wedding gown
Tamara Ecclestone towers above TV host like her mom did over Bernie

Read the rest here:
EC transfers Basti Commissioner to pacify agitating IPS officers

Public release date: 6-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joyc
joyce.peterson@jax.org
207-288-6058
Jackson Laboratory

Researchers at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC), The Jackson Laboratory and other institutes have uncovered 27 new candidate genes for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a common and often deadly birth defect.

Their sophisticated data-filtering strategy, which uses gene expression during normal development as a starting point, offers a new, efficient and potentially game-changing approach to gene discovery.

Babies born with CDH?representing one in every 3,000 live births?have a hole in the diaphragm that separates the abdominal cavity from the chest cavity, and may die due to poor growth of the lung.

Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at MGHfC, explained, "That hole can be fixed surgically if CDH has been diagnosed in time. But even surgery does not rescue the infants' impaired lung development, which often leads to fatal respiratory complications." Patients who survive into adulthood "tend to have a lot of ongoing health issues," she noted.

Donahoe and her colleagues Meaghan Russell, Ph.D., and Mauro Longoni, M.D., and Jackson Laboratory Professor Carol J. Bult, Ph.D., a computational biologist, led the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team had two goals: to identify the genes and gene networks that cause the hole in the diaphragm in order to develop new diagnostics and preventive treatments, and to learn more about how healthy lungs form to boost lung development in post-operative infant patients.

Bult and her Jackson colleague Julie Wells, Ph.D., generated gene expression profiles?snapshots of gene activity?for embryonic mouse diaphragms at multiple stages of development. Using algorithms designed by the JAX-MGH team, they used these data to then predict genes likely to contribute to diaphragm defects.

Bult said, "We asked which genes in our developmental data sets work together in common pathways, and which of these pathways contain previously known CDH genes from human studies and mouse models?"

To build gene networks, the researchers used the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) data base resource based at The Jackson Laboratory. MGI, freely available to the research community, maintains the most comprehensive collection of mouse genetic and genomic information.

The researchers' filtering strategy identified 27 new candidate genes for CDH. When the investigators examined the diaphragms of knockout mice for one of these candidate genes?pre-B cell leukemia transcription factor 1 or Pbx1?they found previously unreported diaphragmatic defects, confirming the prediction.

The next step in the project is to screen patients for mutations in Pbx1 using the collection of CDH patient data and DNA that MGHfC and Children's Hospital Boston have been accumulating for years in collaboration with hospitals from around the world.

The research reported in the paper opens the door "not only to further research to explore the effects of the other 26 CDH candidate genes," Bult said, "but to a disease gene identification and prioritization strategy for CDH, an approach that can be extended to other diseases and developmental anomalies."

###

MassGeneral Hospital for Children is the pediatric service of Massachusetts General Hospital (www.massgeneral.org), the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $750 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, reproductive biology, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine.

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., a future institute in Farmington, Conn., and a total staff of about 1,400. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human disease, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.

[ | E-mail | Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Go here to read the rest:
MassGeneral, Jackson researchers find clues to common birth defect in gene expression data

Home

Calcutta News.Net
Monday 6th February, 2012 (IANS)

The environment ministry's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) ignored violation of law by the US-based company Monsanto which conducted trials of herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified (GM) maize across India without permission, an RTI reply revealed Monday.

The Right to Information (RTI) reply, to a query filed by an activist of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), revealed that GEAC did not take any action even when a scientist pointed out that planting of herbicide-tolerant GM maize was done without permission. GEAC is the apex body constituted by the ministry for approving GM foods in India.

"Monsanto's GM maize trials have been going on for several seasons now in various locations around the country. It took a scientist in one monitoring team to point out the fact that planting of the herbicide-tolerant GM maize took place without permission from competent authorities," said Kavitha Kuruganti, member of Coalition for a GM-Free India.

"What is more damning is that there is no evidence of any discussion or action by the regulators on this finding. This clearly demonstrates that the regulators are unconcerned about biosafety violations or contamination and are protecting and supporting offenders like Monsanto," she said.

According to ASHA, the GEAC has authorised Monsanto to conduct trials of herbicide tolerant and insect-resistant GM maize but the company conducted trials for only herbicide-tolerant GM maize.

This is also the first GM product of Monsanto in India in its own name and not in the name of associate companies like Mahyco.

"This appears to be a repetition of an earlier episode of herbicide tolerant cotton planted by Mahyco without permission. The GEAC, in that instance, found the clarifications submitted by Mahyco highly unsatisfactory and warned that any non-compliance in future would attract punitive actions," Kuruganti said.

The coalition demanded that the ministry fix accountability on Monsanto and take action against the regulators who repeatedly fail to check the violations of the corporations.

Excerpt from:
Monsanto's violations in GM maize trials ignored: RTI reply

11-11-2011 10:58 New noninvasive tests that screen for genetic disease in a fetus can also tell the baby's sex in the seventh week. This could lead to gender selection, but doctors don't need to go along with it. Medscape expert commentator Dr. Arthur Caplan weighs in. View more Dr. Caplan videos on Medscape: medscape.com/index/section_10186_0

Read more here:
Will New Tests Promote Abortion of an 'Undesired Sex' Fetus? - Video

Life Technologies this week named Alan Sachs as head of global research and development and Ronnie Andrews as president of medical sciences.

Sachs was previously the vice president of exploratory and translational sciences for Merck Research Laboratories, where he spent 10 years in various leadership roles, Life Tech said. Prior to that Sachs served an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and as a Whitehead fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Andrews joins Life Tech from GE Molecular Diagnostics, where he served as a segment leader following GE's 2010 acquisition of Clarient, where Andrews was CEO. Andrews has also held executive positions with Abbott Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics, and Immucor.

Stephen O'Brien has left the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity after 25 years to help launch a genome bioinformatics program at St. Petersburg University in Russia. O'Brien received a $5 million grant from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science last year under a program that aims to lure big-name researchers to Russia. Over the coming three years, O'Brien will spend at least four months per year in Russia working at the center, which is scheduled to open in May.

Saladax Biomedical said today that President and CEO Edward Erickson has resigned due to personal and family reasons, and that he will be replaced by Kevin Harter on an interim basis. Erickson will remain a member of the company's board of directors. Harter is a co-founder and senior VP of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, and he has served as executive chairman at Saladax.

Originally posted here:
Genetic Technologies, Eurofins STA Labs Settle Infringement Dispute

Public release date: 6-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? UNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations in a gene called SHP-2 distort the shape of cardiac muscle cells so they are unable to form a fully functioning heart.

The study also shows that treatment with a drug that regulates cell shape rescues the cardiac defect, pointing to therapeutic avenues that could one day benefit Noonan syndrome patients. The results, which were produced in a frog model of the disease, appeared online January 25, 2012, in the journal Development.

Genetic studies have shown that SHP-2 plays a critical role in human physiology and disease. Interestingly, different mutations in different portions of SHP-2 result in three different diseases ? Noonan syndrome, a severe congenital heart disease; juvenile myelo-monocytic leukemia, a lethal form of cancer; and Leopard syndrome, a rare condition with skin, facial and cardiac abnormalities. This observation has intrigued a number of researchers, including senior study author Frank Conlon, PhD.

"I've wondered how it is that one mutation gives heart disease and doesn't affect your white blood cells, and another will wipe out your white blood cells and leave your heart alone," said Conlon, an associate professor of genetics and a member of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute. He and others have explored this mystery by creating transgenic animals -- fruit flies, mice, or in Conlon's case, frogs -- that possess a mutated form of SHP-2.

When Conlon and his team genetically engineered frogs to contain the very same defects seen in humans with Noonan syndrome, they found that the frogs did in fact develop cardiac defects. But when they created them with a mutation seen in humans with leukemia, there were no heart defects. The researchers then performed 3D modeling on the animals to assess the nature of the anatomical defects, and discovered that actin filaments ? proteins responsible for giving structure to the cardiac muscle cells -- were the ones affected.

Conlon and his collaborator Joan Taylor, PhD, an associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UNC, then tested whether they could reverse the heart malformation using a drug called fausidil that had been shown to improve cardiac function in animal models of heart failure. The drug blocks a protein called ROCK that resides in the same neighborhood ? or pathway ? of intracellular processes as SHP-2.

The researchers dissolved the drug in the mutant frogs' water tank and found that it did correct the cardiac defects. Their findings connect the dots between Noonan syndrome's underlying genetic defect and the resulting cardiac malformations.

"The human mutations could have been linked to anything, proliferation or cell death, and what this study does is it links it to cell shape changes, which are mediated by this important molecule ROCK," said Conlon. "Our lab studies heart development and heart disease, so we are interested in how this one set of mutations specifically target that one organ. Why the heart? We still have to figure that out."

###

The research was funded in by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. Study co-authors from UNC were Yvette Langdon, PhD; Panna Tandon, PhD; Erika Paden; and Jennifer Duddy.

[ | E-mail | Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

See the original post:
'ROCK' off: Study establishes molecular link between genetic defect and heart malformation

Public release date: 6-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Sampson
jmdmedia@elsevier.com
215-239-3171
Elsevier Health Sciences

Philadelphia, PA, February 6, 2012 ? DNA sequencing to detect genetic mutations can aid in the diagnosis and selection of treatment for cancer. Current methods of testing DNA samples, Sanger sequencing and pyrosequencing, occasionally produce complex results that can be difficult or impossible to interpret. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a free software program, Pyromaker, that can more accurately identify such complex genetic mutations.

Pyromaker is a web-based application that produces simulated pyrograms based on user input including the percentage of tumor and normal cells, the wild-type sequence, the dispensation order, and any number of mutant sequences. Pyromaker calculates the relative mutant and wild-type allele percentages and then uses these to generate the expected signal at each point in the dispensation sequence. The final result is a virtual trace of the expected pyrogram.

The researchers validated Pyromaker against actual pyrograms containing common mutations in the KRAS gene, which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of a variety of tumors. The actual pyrograms and virtual pyrograms were quantitatively identical for all mutations tested.

They then demonstrated that all codon 12 and 13 single and complex mutations generate unique pyrograms. However, some complex mutations were indistinguishable from single base mutations, indicating that complex mutations may be underreported. Working with two complex pyrograms that were difficult to interpret initially, the researchers identified five approaches to resolve them: Sanger sequencing alone, hypothesis testing with Pyromaker, Pyromaker iterative mutation re-creation, melting curve analysis, and TA cloning with Sanger sequencing.

Senior author James R. Eshleman, MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Oncology, Associate Director, Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explains, "User-directed hypothesis testing allows for generating virtual traces that can be compared to the actual data to clarify ambiguous results from pyrosequencing and the Sanger method. Alternatively, Pyromaker can quickly and efficiently test the possibilities that can explain a complicated polysequencing result." Both strategies were able to successfully identify the complex mutations.

TA cloning and sequencing also provided unequivocal interpretation, but this method is labor intensive, risks plasmid contamination of the laboratory, may delay reporting, and is not routinely used in most clinical diagnostic laboratories.

"Although pyrosequencing and Sanger sequencing are both powerful tools to resolve most mutations, for certain complex cases, neither of them alone is enough to provide a definitive interpretation," notes Dr. Eshleman. "Additional methods, such as Pyromaker analysis or TA cloning and sequencing, allow one to definitively diagnose the variant allele. Pyromaker is available free online and can be accessed from any computer with internet access. Iterative Pyromaker analysis is the least expensive and fastest method to resolve these cases."

###

Pyromaker has been made freely available at http://pyromaker.pathology.jhmi.edu.

The article is "A Virtual Pyrogram Generator to Resolve Complex Pyrosequencing Results," by G. Chen, M.T. Olson, A. O'Neill, A. Norris-Kirby, K. Beierl, S. Harada, M. Debeljak, K. Rivera-Roman, S. Finley, A. Stafford, C.D. Gocke, M-T. Lin, and J. R. Eshleman (doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2011.12.001). The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, Volume 14, Issue 2 (March 2012) published by Elsevier.

[ | E-mail | Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Read the original here:
New virtual tool may provide more accurate diagnosis of genetic mutations

julietvanree posted a photo:

This is a brindle argente winter white hamster. Normally argente doesn't occur in winter white hamsters, thus this is a hybrid color. It is also has two genes for black. In the case of brindle the genetic make up (in color in this case) of the individual cells differs. It is a form of mosaicism. (but not germeline, so it doesn't pass on to the babies). So some cells display as black colored and other ones as argente colored. The same happened with the eye color, black hamsters have black eyes and argente hamsters have red eyes. This is why one eye is red and one eye is black.

Continue reading here:
Brindle argente hamster (odd eyed)

02-09-2011 03:47 metromd.net Stem Cells to Treat Acne Scarring | An overview by Alex Martin, MD of how he combines stem cell therapy and the CO2 fractional laser to effectively treat facial scars caused by acne. Offices near Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Orange County. Questions? Please call the MetroMD Institute of Regenerative Medicine at (323) 285-5300 or email us at info@MetroMD.net.

See original here:
Stem Cells to Treat Acne Scarring | Los Angeles | Hollywood | Beverly Hills - Video

Washington, Feb 5 (ANI): Using a liquid laser, researchers have devised a better way to detect the slight genetic mutations that might make a person more vulnerable to a particular type of cancer or other diseases.

This work by University of Michigan researchers could advance understanding of the genetic basis of diseases.

It also has applications in personalized medicine, which aims to target drugs and other therapies to individual patients based on a thorough knowledge of their genetic information.

The researchers say their technique works much better than the current approach, which uses fluorescent dye and other biological molecules to find and bind to mutated DNA strands.

When a patrol molecule catches one of these rogues, it emits a fluorescent beacon. This might sound like a solid system, but it's not perfect. The patrol molecules tend to bind to healthy DNA as well, giving off a background glow that is only slightly dimmer than a positive signal.

"Sometimes, we can fail to see the difference," said Xudong Fan, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and principal investigator on the project.

"If you cannot see the difference in signals, you could misdiagnose. The patient may have the mutated gene, but you wouldn't detect it."

In the conventional fluorescence technique, the signal from mutated DNA might be only a few tenths of a percent higher than the background noise. With Fan's new approach it's hundreds of times brighter.

"We found a clever way to amplify the intrinsic difference in the signals," Fan said.

He did it with a bit of backtracking.

Liquid lasers, discovered in the late '60s, amplify light by passing it through a dye, rather than a crystal, as solid-state lasers do. Fan, who works at the intersection of biomedical engineering and photonics, has been developing them for the past five years.

In his unique set-up, the signal is amplified in a glass capillary called a "ring resonator cavity."

Last year, Fan and his research group found that they could employ DNA (the blueprints for life that reside in all cells) to modulate a liquid laser, or turn it on and off.

His group is one of just a few in the world to accomplish this, Fan said. At the time, they didn't have a practical application in mind. Then they had an epiphany.

"We thought, 'Let's look at the laser output. Can we see what's causing the different outputs and use it to detect differences in the DNA?'" Fan said.

"I had an intuition, and it turns out the output difference was huge," Fan added.

The journal editors named this a "hot paper" that "advances knowledge in a rapidly evolving field of high current interest."

The study has been published in German journal Angewandte Chemie. (ANI)

Continued here:
Liquid lasers to make detection of cancer genes easier