In the November,
2004 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers report
tumor cells that "overexpress" the protein Rab25 are
more aggressive and associated with poorer outcome. Thus, Rab25
could represent a novel therapeutic target or marker of tumor
behavior.
The researchers discovered that the gene that produces the Rab25
protein is copied many more times than is normal in some breast
and ovarian tumor cells, which then increases expression, or production,
of the Rab25 protein. They conducted laboratory in vitro cell
line studies, and in vivo studies using human breast
and ovarian tumor xerographs in mice, and were able to demonstrate
that either increasing or decreasing expression of Rab25 altered
tumor growth. Finally, using the human tumor samples, the researchers
correlated Rab25 expression with survival.
"We know
now that change in expression is associated with a poorer patient
outcome in both breast and ovarian cancer, and that may help us
predict outcomes in patients in the future" says Mills. "But
we have a long way to go to understanding exactly what it is that
Rab25 is doing, and how we might be able to use it in treatment."
First
monoclonal antibody treatment for multiple sclerosis approved
Natalizumab,
the new product, is a monoclonal antibody bioengineered from part
of a mouse antibody to closely resemble a human antibody. It is
being marketed under the tradename Tysabri. Although the cause
of MS is unknown, it is widely considered to be an autoimmune
disease in which the person's immune system attacks the brain
and/or spinal cord. Tysabri appears to work by binding to these
immune system cells, thus preventing them from traveling to the
brain where they can cause damage.
Research
With Red Tide Toxin Yields Potential Therapies For Cystic Fibrosis
"These compounds
are excellent candidates for the development of an entirely new
class of drugs targeted for the treatment of mucociliary disease,"
said Kenneth Olden, Ph.D., director of the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences.
The NIEHS, one
of the National Institutes of Health, provided $6.6 million to
scientists at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and
Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach for the study. The findings
are published in the January issue of the American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Two-thirds of
voters said "yes" to the government's proposals, opposed
by religious and left-wing groups.
Nationwide referendums
are common in Switzerland, but this vote makes it the first country
in the world to put the controversial issue to a popular vote.
Switzerland, which is a world leader in medical and pharmaceutical
research, has so far not permitted research on human embryos.