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STEP study: an investigational HIV vaccine is not effective

In the STEP study, one of two phase II trials of investigational HIV vaccine ( V520 ), the vaccine was not effective at either preventing infection in volunteers not previously infected with HIV or at reducing viral loads in those study volunteers who became infected with HIV during the trial. Anal...
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Lung cancer: intravenous nanoparticle gene therapy shows activity

A cancer-suppressing gene has been successfully delivered into the tumors of stage 4 lung cancer patients via an intravenously administered lipid nanoparticle in a phase I clinical trial at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The gene, FUS1, also was found to be active in the metas...
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Malignant glioma: engineered adenovirus induces cells to die by autophagy

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that an engineered virus tracks down and infects the most common and deadly form of brain cancer and then kills tumor cells by forcing them to devour themselves. The modi...
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Coxsackievirus has evolved an indirect route of attack

A common virus that causes meningitis and heart inflammation takes a "back door" approach to evade natural barriers, then exploits biological signals to infect human cells. Broadening knowledge of how viruses cause infection. " This study helps to explain how group B coxsackieviruses infect cell...
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Human adenoviruses may cause human obesity

There is accumulating evidence that certain viruses may cause obesity, in essence making obesity contagious, according to Leah D. Whigham, the lead researcher in a new study, " Adipogenic potential of multiple human adenoviruses in vivo and in vitro in animals." The study, by Whigham, Barbara A....
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Oral sex may be a risk factor for nongonococcal urethritis

Oral sex may be a risk factor for nongonococcal urethritis ( NGU ), one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases affecting both men and women. The study, by Australian researchers Catriona Bradshaw, and colleagues at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, is the first major case-control stud...
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Connective tissue cells from lungs fused with heart muscle to form biological pacemaker

In guinea pig experiments, researchers at the Johns Hopkins fused common connective tissue cells taken from lungs with heart muscle cells to create a safe and effective biological pacemaker whose cells can fire on their own and naturally regulate the muscle's rhythmic beat. " This work with fibro...
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A new method of signaling therapeutic genes to turn off or on developed

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have developed a new method of signaling therapeutic genes to turn "off" or "on," a mechanism that could enable scientists to fine-tune genetic- and stem cell-based therapies so that they are safer, more controllable and more effective. Although other s...
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Bare metal stents deliver gene therapy to heart vessels with less inflammation in animal models

Improved materials may allow stents to better deliver beneficial genes to patients with heart disease, by reducing the risk of inflammation that often negates initial benefits. The new technique, using a compound that binds in an extremely thin layer to bare metal surfaces, may have potential uses ...
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Gene therapy: polymer gel can block toxic leakages of genetically engineered viruses

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have devised a method to arrest toxic leakages of genetically engineered viruses that have plagued attempts to use gene therapy against cancerous tumors. The problem has been that viruses carrying anti-tumor genes have tended to leak from tumors, proving toxic...
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