Currently, delivering drugs directly into the brain requires invasive surgery. This is because a tight cellular layer called the blood-brain barrier (BBB) not only prevents harmful substances from ent...
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Prostate cancer is a significant health risk for men over the age of 50 and currently is a pervasive health threat with as many as 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the US alone. At present, t...
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The androgen receptor (AR) is a steroid hormone receptor that plays a crucial role in the development of normal prostate tissue, as well as in the progression of prostate cancer. Patients with metasta...
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting 2.5 million people worldwide. The disease is difficult to manage and there is no cure. The underlying mechanism of MS pro...
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Friedreich’s ataxia (also referred to as FA or FRDA) is a rare but fatal autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease. With an estimated incidence of 1 in every 40,000 people, it causes progressive...
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The epidemiology of influenza Type B viruses differs from Type A; influenza B viruses primarily circulate in humans and do not cause pandemics. However, in some seasons the impact of influenza B infec...
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Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) plays a critical role in immunity. The protein is found in breast milk and secreted in the gastrointestinal system during development and adulthood. Research suggests...
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Collagen is the most abundant protein in vertebrates, providing support to virtually every tissue including skin, bone and blood vessel. It is of critical importance in wound healing.Given its signifi...
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Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an escalating problem, especially in hospital settings. The Centers for Disease Control recently identified Clostridium difficile as posing an “urgent” healt...
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The influenza virus is a highly contagious respiratory pathogen that causes annual epidemics and occasional pandemics. Although many studies have looked at how a host responds to infection with the vi...
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Podophyllotoxin is a natural product derived from a plant. Although two clinically useful glycosylated analogs have been developed for treating cancer, podophyllotoxin is difficult to synthesize, hind...
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Metadherin (MTDH; also called AEG1 or LYRIC) is a pro-metastasis gene implicated in many types of cancer. The gene is overexpressed in more than 40 percent of primary tumors and is linked to breast ca...
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The natural product diptoindonesin G (Dip G) was first isolated in 2009 from the tree bark of Hopea mengarawan. It has shown antiproliferation effects in murine leukemia as well as immunosuppressant a...
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Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affects over 1.2 million Americans each year, with approximately 50,000 new infections per year. Current treatment includes HIV combination regimens comprising rever...
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Sleep apnea affects an estimated 18 million American adults annually. People with sleep apnea can develop conditions such as systemic and pulmonary hypertension, metabolic syndrome, insomnia, neuro-in...
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Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, endospore-forming anaerobe that causes life-threatening intestinal infections. These infections result in more than 14,000 deaths and billions of dollars in h...
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Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides play a crucial role in Alzheimer’s disease – they are a main component of the toxic amyloid plaques found in patients’ brains. Aβ is so dangerous because it can aggr...
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The global cosmetics industry is a $460 billion dollar market with the skin whitening sector valued at $381 million in 2014. This growing market is projected to increase at a CAGR of 11.7%, reaching $...
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Maintaining an adequate supply of oxygen to tissue is necessary for survival. The oxygen-carrying capacity of blood is governed by the concentration of red blood cells (erythrocytes). It is critical t...
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Iron overload or hemochromatosis is a disease marked by an accumulation of iron in the blood. It typically occurs in subjects (e.g., anemia patients) receiving chronic infusions of red blood cells. Th...
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The proper functioning of cells depends on information traveling from the extracellular environment to the cytoplasm. Most signals must be conveyed via proteins that span the cellular membrane. Many o...
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Vaccines against influenza and other viruses can be grown in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Problematically, an influenza virus that is made by combining H1N1 and PR8 strains, and that is recommen...
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‘Staph’ infections, particularly by Staphylococcus aureus strains, can cause skin ailments and more serious conditions like heart valve inflammation and toxic shock syndrome. These strains also ar...
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There are no commercial vaccines against fungi. Infections like aspergillosis and Valley Fever can be life-threatening, particularly in immune-compromised patients. These patients also are more vulner...
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One promising approach to cancer treatment is to leverage the immune system. Specifically, tumors can be ‘tagged’ with foreign antigens that attract the body’s defensive antibodies. The antibodi...
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