By enhancing proteasome function, researchers have been able to lower the levels of tau protein aggregates and improve cognitive function in mice with tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative disorders.
Research into DNA repair and the DNA damage response scooped up scientific accolades this year, with the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award going to Stephen Elledge "for discoveries concerning the DNA-damage response" in September, followed in October by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' honoring Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar with the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair."
Many an impatient pregnant woman has heard the phrase "babies come when they are ready." But unfortunately, all too often they come when they are not. Two studies published this week have reported new insights into how to prevent, or at least delay, preterm labor, giving babies time to mature in the womb.
Local vaccination with a nanoparticle generated a systemic immune response to tumors that subsequently fought metastases elsewhere in the body, researchers reported in the Dec. 21, 2015, online issue of Nature Nanotechnology.
Venetoclax (ABT-199, Abbvie Inc./Roche AG), which is currently under review by the FDA and the EMA, has garnered much attention for its ability to help patients with the most difficult to treat form chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Scientifically, 2015 was the year of DNA repair. In October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair."
In a feat of both synthetic biology and theranostics, researchers have engineered cells to release anti-inflammatory cytokines in the presence of high levels of both tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-22 (IL-22).
A study published in Nature Communications showed that blocking the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) specifically in the intestine with an oral inhibitor improved the metabolic profile of obese mice, even in short-term experiments where it did not lead to weight loss.
For treating brain disorders, it is not only necessary to develop a therapeutic. That therapeutic then has to get where it's needed. The brain is not alone in posing delivery challenges, as a generation of RNAi researchers trying to get their therapeutics to anywhere other than the liver can attest.
