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RANKL inhibition may prove effective in treatment of human malignancy, suggests study

Amgen today announced results of a preclinical study demonstrating a positive response to administration of RANK-Fc against mammary tumor formation in mouse models. OPG-Fc and RANK-Fc bind to and block the action of RANKL. These molecules have a comparable mechanism of action to denosumab. The study was presented today in a late-breaking abstract at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 101st Annual Meeting 2010 in Washington, D.C.

20 Apr 2010

Artificial human skin with dermis made from fibrin-agarose biomaterial

Scientists from the University of Granada, Spain, have generated artificial human skin by tissular engineering basing on agarose-fibrin biomaterial. The artificial skin was grafted onto mice, and optimal development, maturation and functionality results were obtained. This pioneering finding will allow the clinical use of human skin and its use in many laboratory tests on biological tissues -which, additionally, would avoid the use of laboratory animals.

20 Apr 2010

Severe and necrotizing AP characterized by depletion of circulating lymphocytes

Mortality of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) approaches 30%-40%. An imbalance between the early systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and the later compensatory counter-inflammatory response, and development of multiple organ failure (MOF) are considered to be the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in SAP. Excessive leukocyte activation (including neutrophils and monocyte-macrophage lineage) with cytokinemia play a critical role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis and even more so, of the subsequent inflammatory response.

20 Apr 2010

Magnetically guided nanoparticles for delivering DNA, cells and drugs

Scientists and engineers have used uniform magnetic fields to drive iron-bearing nanoparticles to metal stents in injured blood vessels, where the particles deliver a drug payload that successfully prevents blockages in those vessels. In this animal study, the novel technique achieved better results at a lower dose than conventional non-magnetic stent therapy.

20 Apr 2010

CINJ: Common genetic variation impacts diagnosis of breast cancer in postmenopausal women

Researchers from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey are converging on Washington, D.C., this week for the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to share their findings on how a common genetic variation can impact diagnosis of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

20 Apr 2010

Study underscores potential for VBL Therapeutics VB-111 as broad-spectrum cancer therapy

VBL Therapeutics today announced positive results from preclinical and Phase 1 studies evaluating the company's lead anti-cancer agent, VB-111 - a first-in-class, targeted biological agent shown to work via dual-action, anti-angiogenic and vascular disruptive mechanism of action - in metastatic cancer. Preclinical data evaluating VB-111 in a comprehensive set of in vivo studies employing the Lewis Lung metastasis mouse model showed the compound to be safe and specific, with a 90% reduction in tumor burden of lung metastases after only one injection.

20 Apr 2010

NanoString Technologies launches new miRNA assay kits

NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held life sciences company marketing a complete solution for detecting and counting large sets of target molecules in biological samples, today announced a unique new product for miRNA analysis that includes a multiplexed assay for profiling the human miRNA transcriptome in a single tube. The company introduced the new assay kit, which expands the applications for its nCounter® Analysis System, at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

From NanoString Technologies 20 Apr 2010

LifeSpan BioSciences increases number of catalogued, validated IHC-plus antibodies to over 3,500

LifeSpan BioSciences, Inc., a leading provider of antibodies for thousands of researchers worldwide, has increased the number of validated IHC-plus™ antibodies available in its catalog to more than 3,500. With this increase, LifeSpan is well on its way to building the world's largest catalog of well characterized, IHC-validated reagent antibodies. Overall, LifeSpan has a catalog of more than 82,000 antibodies.

20 Apr 2010

XOMA 052 antibody demonstrates potential for treatment of myeloma patients with elevated IL-6 levels

XOMA Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced that independent researchers presented results showing that XOMA's antibody to interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), XOMA 052, was highly effective in reducing production of a protein that supports the proliferation of cancerous human myeloma cells in vitro.

20 Apr 2010

PTEN expression clinically useful in assessing risk of prostate cancer recurrence: Study

Myriad Genetics, Inc. today said results from a recent study indicate that expression of the PTEN gene may be clinically useful in assessing a man's risk of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

20 Apr 2010

Boston Biomedical to present updated Phase I study data of BBI608 cancer drug at 101st AACR

Researchers at Boston Biomedical, Inc., are working to develop a novel first-in-class cancer drug that works by targeting the stem like properties of some cancer cells, and so far, results of an ongoing Phase I clinical trial demonstrate early signs of a strong safety profile and clinical activity.

20 Apr 2010

Dimerix Bioscience announces research agreement with Takeda Cambridge

Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd, a pre-clinical stage product company developing a pipeline of 'best in class' lead products with highly specific activity and with reduced risk of off-target effects, today announced that it has entered into a research agreement with Takeda Cambridge Limited, a UK based subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Japan's largest pharmaceutical company.

20 Apr 2010

Biology resource aims to help schoolchildren learn beyond the classroom

Have you ever wondered why a giraffe has a long neck? What enables the brain to multi-task? Why you sneeze when you look at the sun? How a dinosaur is named? Well now you can find out the answers to these and a huge number of other questions by looking on the Ask A Biologist website.

20 Apr 2010

Sigma Life Science announces global release of CompoZr Targeted Integration Kit

Sigma® Life Science, the innovative biological products and services brand of Sigma-Aldrich®, today announced an extension to its award-winning CompoZr® product offering with the global release of the CompoZr Targeted Integration Kit, AAVS1. This kit provides a powerful method for the controlled transgene integration and expression of any gene in any human cell line using Sigma-Aldrich's proprietary CompoZr Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) technology.

20 Apr 2010

ThromboGenics microplasmin Phase III program for symptomatic focal VMA meets primary endpoint

ThromboGenics NV, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, announces that its first Phase III trial with microplasmin for the non-surgical treatment of eye disease has met its primary endpoint>Europe, is due to report in the third quarter of 2010.

20 Apr 2010

First case of treating cystic fibrosis and Crohn's disease with infliximab

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening autosomal recessive disease in Caucasian children; it has an incidence of 1 case in every 2500 children born alive. CF involves an anomalous function of the exocrine glands, caused by a mutation of a gene (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, CFTR) located on chromosome 7, which codes for a protein involved in ion transport through the cell membrane.

20 Apr 2010

UAB researchers discover four miRNAs to assess survival rate of colorectal cancer patients

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Pathology have discovered a set of four biomarkers that will help predict which patients are more likely to develop aggressive colorectal cancer and which are not. The findings also shed light on the genetics that result in worse colorectal cancer-treatment outcomes for African-Americans, compared with Caucasians, the researchers said.

20 Apr 2010

Millipore begins global shipments of Scepter Handheld Automated Cell Counter

Millipore Corporation, a leading provider of technologies, tools and services for the global life science industry, today announced it has begun full commercial shipments of its Scepter™ Handheld Automated Cell Counter to customers worldwide.

20 Apr 2010

Momenta Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical data of M402 at AACR 2010

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex mixture drugs, today announced presentation of results from a preclinical study of its novel oncology drug candidate, M402, in a murine pancreatic cancer model.

20 Apr 2010

ITI granted AOAC approval for additional Salmonella matrices

Idaho Technology, Inc. (ITI) has received AOAC Performance Tested Method approval for two additional Salmonella matrices—stainless steel environmental samples and dry pet food. These matrices join the list of already approved matrices in the Salmonella LT Food Security System including chocolate, cooked ham, fresh raw chicken, lettuce, raw ground beef, and liquid whole eggs. This assay uses real-time PCR technology to identify the presence of Salmonella in less than one hour after a pre-enrichment period.

20 Apr 2010

Medical Science News

RANKL inhibition may prove effective in treatment of human malignancy, suggests study

Artificial human skin with dermis made from fibrin-agarose biomaterial

Severe and necrotizing AP characterized by depletion of circulating lymphocytes

Magnetically guided nanoparticles for delivering DNA, cells and drugs

CINJ: Common genetic variation impacts diagnosis of breast cancer in postmenopausal women

Study underscores potential for VBL Therapeutics VB-111 as broad-spectrum cancer therapy

NanoString Technologies launches new miRNA assay kits

LifeSpan BioSciences increases number of catalogued, validated IHC-plus antibodies to over 3,500

XOMA 052 antibody demonstrates potential for treatment of myeloma patients with elevated IL-6 levels

PTEN expression clinically useful in assessing risk of prostate cancer recurrence: Study

Boston Biomedical to present updated Phase I study data of BBI608 cancer drug at 101st AACR

Dimerix Bioscience announces research agreement with Takeda Cambridge

Biology resource aims to help schoolchildren learn beyond the classroom

Sigma Life Science announces global release of CompoZr Targeted Integration Kit

ThromboGenics microplasmin Phase III program for symptomatic focal VMA meets primary endpoint

First case of treating cystic fibrosis and Crohn's disease with infliximab

UAB researchers discover four miRNAs to assess survival rate of colorectal cancer patients

Millipore begins global shipments of Scepter Handheld Automated Cell Counter

Momenta Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical data of M402 at AACR 2010

ITI granted AOAC approval for additional Salmonella matrices

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Precision in every drop: Inside Hamilton’s syringe technology

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