1) First microRNA Targeted Drug Reaches Phase II Clinical Trial

http://mirnablog.com/first-microrna-targeted-drug-reaches-phase-ii-clinical-trial/

Study Divides Breast Cancer Into Four Distinct Types


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/health/study-finds-variations-of-breast-cancer.html?_r=0

Crowdsourcing Breakthrough Treatments for Blood Infections

http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/08/30a.aspx

Impact of mannose-binding lectin on susceptibility to infectious diseases

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14614673

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14568388

Fighting Melanoma's Attraction to the Brain

http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=17183

Prepping the “Soil”: The Premetastatic Niche.(very intersting -link below)

Recent work has shown that primary tumors may play an important role in creating a “premetastatic niche” prior to cancer cell arrival at secondary sites. Work by Kaplan et al. [83] highlighted the role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 positive (VEGFR1+) hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) in the creation of this niche. When signals from the primary tumor tip the normal balance between pro- and antiangiogenic signals in favor of angiogenesis, the angiogenic switch is triggered, causing the recruitment of new vessels to the tumor site [84]. During this process, HPCs are mobilized and migrate towards the tumor-specific premetastatic niche where they form clusters. Characterization of these cells revealed conserved progenitor markers of CD133, CD34, CD117 (c-Kit) in addition to expression of very late antigen-4 (VLA-4; integrin a4ß1), suggesting a VLA-4-fibronectin interaction between migrating HPCs and the new microenvironment. Additionally, MMP9 was expressed by the premetastatic clusters, potentially due to integrin-dependent activation of VEGFR1+ HPCs, thereby altering the microenvironment through the breakdown of basement membranes and resultant release of soluble Kit-ligand. This study further showed that the VEGFR1+ cells supported tumor cell adherence and growth and that metastasis could be abrogated upon the treatment with an anti-VEGFR1 antibody, highlighting the importance of these clusters in the creation of the premetastatic niche [83].

Another method that tumors use to condition the metastatic niche relies on microvesicular (MV) deposition of factors. Tumor-derived MVs, or exosomes, are derived from the inner membranes of the late endosomes and range from 40 to 100nm in diameter. Release into the surrounding tissue or bloodstream occurs when the endosomes fuse with the cellular membrane [85]. Although the underlying mechanism is not fully understood, MVs may stimulate target cellular receptors directly, transfer surface receptors from cell to cell, deliver proteins [86], or may even cause epigenetic reprogramming of cells [87]. Additionally, MVs have been found to harbor immunosuppressive molecules [88]. Thus, exosomes may provide important signals to the tumor cells once they arrive in the metastatic niche, in addition to sculpting the stromal and immune cells systemically.

A recent concern arising from the revelation that exosomes are functional moieties and not just carriers of cellular waste arises from the potential for horizontal gene transfer between tumor cells and bone-marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) recruited to the premetastatic niche. Lyden and colleagues call this phenomenon “tumor exosome-driven education” of BMDCs [89]. This process likely promotes the progrowth and survival environment of the niche and may potentiate the metastatic process. Given their multifunctionality, it is likely that tumor-derived exosomes contribute to the creation of the premetastatic niche. Therefore, although the immunosuppressive effects of exosomes must first be negated, exosomes may represent a novel cell-free source of tumor antigens that can be utilized in the creation of an anti-cancer immunization to enhance the anti-tumor immune response [90].

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbc/2012/209748/

The impact of chronic hepatitis C virus infection on mortality. [J Infect Dis. 2012]

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection increases mortality from hepatic and extrahepatic diseases: a community-based long-term prospective study.
Lee MH, Yang HI, Lu SN, Jen CL, You SL, Wang LY, Wang CH, Chen WJ, Chen CJ; R.E.V.E.A.L.-HCV Study Group.
SourceGenomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study aimed to evaluate the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on hepatic and extrahepatic deaths.

METHODS: A cohort of 23 820 adults aged 30-65 years old were enrolled during 1991-1992. The seromarkers hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HCV, and serum HCV RNA levels at study entry were tested. The vital status was ascertained through computerized linkage with national death certification profiles from 1991 to 2008.

RESULTS: There were 19,636 HBsAg-seronegatives, including 18,541 anti-HCV seronegatives and 1095 anti-HCV seropositives. Among anti-HCV seropositives, 69.4% had detectable serum HCV RNA levels. There were 2394 deaths that occurred during an average follow-up period of 16.2 years. Compared with anti-HCV seronegatives, anti-HCV seropositives had higher mortality from both hepatic and extrahepatic diseases, showing multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of 1.89 (1.66-2.15) for all causes of death; 12.48 (9.34-16.66) for hepatic diseases; 1.35 (1.15-1.57) for extrahepatic diseases; 1.50 (1.10-2.03) for circulatory diseases; 2.77 (1.49-5.15) for nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis; 4.08 (1.38-12.08) for esophageal cancer; 4.19 (1.18-14.94) for prostate cancer; and 8.22 (1.36-49.66) for thyroid cancer. Anti-HCV seropositives with detectable HCV RNA levels had significantly higher mortality from hepatic and extrahepatic diseases than anti-HCV seropositives with undetectable HCV RNA.

CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring HCV RNA in anti-HCV seropositives is essential for the prediction of mortality associated with hepatitis C.

Thank you. Also, see post 2717.

Taking whispering gallery-mode single virus detection and sizing to the limit

http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v101/i4/p043704_s1?bypassSSO=1

Bacterial survival strategies suggest rethinking cancer cooperativity

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X12001011

3rd International Symposium on Cancer, microRNAs, and other non-coding RNAs

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/conferences/micro12_welcome

Nanoparticles Detect Biochemistry of Inflammation (Possible application for sepsis, although the researcher is targeting heart disease)

http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=1262

Hi Phil

No. I do not send any emails to JJ with any links. My feeling is that he is working 150% to keep this company going and I do not want to bother him anymore. It is impressive what he has achieved with the HP and made it a broad spectrum application, showing that he is doing the right things. But if you are in touch with him and want to send him links from iHub, I personally have no problems.
Looking forward to having more input from you on the AEMD board.

http://www.adaptcongress.com/Exosomes-and-Microvesicles/

MicroRNA signatures for classification and prognosis of endometrial cancer

http://www.mirecdb.org/info/about

Functional transfer of microRNA by exosomes

http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/119/3/646.long

WOW

Warm welcome to everyone. I had been off for more than a month and come back to good news from AEMD and an active iHub board! Looking forward to exchanging info. and thoughts with everyone.

Just FYI - am going to be away for 3 -4 weeks. I hope AEMD comes out with more positive developments in the near future which would make all longs happy. Good luck to all.

CDC Recommends Hepatitis C Testing For All Boomers

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/16/158935794/cdc-recommends-hepatitis-c-testing-for-all-boomers

SIRS-Lab Completes Enrollment in Clinical Trial to Evaluate Pathogen Detection Test VYOO® for Patients with Suspected Sepsis

http://news.gnom.es/pr/sirs-lab-completes-enrollment-in-clinical-trial-to-evaluate-pathogen-detection-test-vyoo-for-patients-with-suspected-sepsis?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sirs-lab-completes-enrollment-in-clinical-trial-to-evaluate-pathogen-detection-test-vyoo-for-patients-with-suspected-sepsis

AstraZeneca and BTG halt development of sepsis drug

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0809/1224321805806.html

Rab27a supports exosome-dependent and -independent mechanisms that modify the tumor microenvironment and can promote tumor progression

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2012/08/02/0008-5472.CAN-12-0925.abstract

Potential contribution of exosomes to the prion-like propagation of lesions in Alzheimer’s disease

http://www.frontiersin.org/Membrane_Physiology_and_Biophysics/10.3389/fphys.2012.00229/abstract

TGen's customized procedure produces high amounts of exosomes for treatment of CKD

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120712/TGens-customized-procedure-produces-high-amounts-of-exosomes-for-treatment-of-CKD.aspx

New insights into role and importance of exosomes and their targeted gene transcripts

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120706/New-insights-into-role-and-importance-of-exosomes-and-their-targeted-gene-transcripts.aspx

Exosome-delivered microRNAs of “chromosome 19 microRNA cluster” as immunomodulators in pregnancy and tumorigenesis

http://www.molecularcytogenetics.org/content/5/1/27

Leukemia cell to endothelial cell communication via exosomal miRNAs.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22797057

Metastasis: Exosomes drive premetastatic niche formation

http://pid.nci.nih.gov/2012/120710/full/nrc3304.shtml

A Dialysis Machine by the Bed

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/a-dialysis-machine-by-the-bed/

Fungal infections and sepsis

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1002811

mortality and serious adverse events of peginterferon plus ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) therapy is the current standard of care for patients with chronic hepatitis C. Determining precisely the risk of serious adverse events (SAEs) and mortality from a single study is rather difficult because of the infrequency of such events. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the rates of SAEs and the mortality of PEG-IFN/RBV therapy in a pooled large sample, and to assess the relationship between SAEs and mortality rates and therapeutic characteristics.


CONCLUSION: The mortality rate during PEG-IFN/RBV therapy was acceptably low, but the rate of SAEs was not negligible in a treatment for a benign disease, and the rate was affected by treatment regimens.
PMID:22790350[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Economic burden of hepatitis C-associated diseases in the United States

Authors: El Khoury, A. C.1; Klimack, W. K.2; Wallace, C.2; Razavi, H.2

Source: Journal of Viral Hepatitis, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 March 2012 , pp. 153-160(8)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

Summary. There are approximately 100 drugs in development to treat hepatitis C. Over the next decade, a number of new therapies will become available. A good understanding of the cost of hepatitis C sequelae is important for assessing the value of new treatments. The objective of this study was to assess the economic burden data sources for hepatitis C in the United States. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies reporting the costs of hepatitis C sequelae in the United States. Over 400 references were identified, of which 50 were pertinent. The costs were compiled and adjusted to 2010 constant US dollars using the medical component of the consumer price index (CPI). The cost of liver transplants was estimated at $201 110 ($178 760-$223 460), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at $23 755-$44 200, variceal haemorrhage at $25 595, compensated cirrhosis at $585-$1110, refractory ascites at $24 755, hepatic encephalopathy at $16 430, sensitive ascites at $2450, moderate chronic hepatitis C at $155, and mild chronic hepatitis C at $145 per year per person. All studies were traced back to a handful of publications in the 1990s, which have provided the basis for all sequelae-based cost estimates to date. Hepatitis C imposes a high economic burden. Most cost analysis is more than 10 years old, and more research is required to update the sequelae costs associated with HCV infection.
Document Type: Review article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2893.2011.01563.x

Affiliations: 1: Global Health Outcomes, Merck & Co. Inc., West Point, PA, USA 2: Center for Disease Analysis, Kromite, Louisville, CO, USA

Publication date: 2012-03-01

Just came across this - did not see this posted on this board.

http://www.cytosorbents.com/pdf/CytoSorbents_Marcum_Presentation_-_6.20.12_WS.pdf

http://teaming.sysplan.com/BAA-12-36/slides/1315_Aurasense_final.pdf

http://teaming.sysplan.com/BAA-12-36/slides/1145_MIT.pdf

http://teaming.sysplan.com/BAA-12-36/slides/1130_Draper.pdf

http://teaming.sysplan.com/BAA-12-36/slides/1115_Wyss.pdf

http://teaming.sysplan.com/BAA-12-36/presentations.html?presentations

Aethlon Medical Reports Undetectable Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Seven Days After Initiation of Hemopurifier® Therapy in Genotype-1 Patients

http://aethlonmedical.investorroom.com/2012-07-31-Aethlon-Medical-Reports-Undetectable-Hepatitis-C-Virus-HCV-Seven-Days-After-Initiation-of-Hemopurifier-Therapy-in-Genotype-1-Patients

Aethlon Medical Announces the Appointment of Thomas V. Wornham and Philip A. Ward to its Board of Directors

http://aethlonmedical.investorroom.com/2012-07-27-Aethlon-Medical-Announces-the-Appointment-of-Thomas-V.-Wornham-and-Philip-A.-Ward-to-its-Board-of-Directors