The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

Gene Therapy Tailored to the Prostate University of British Columbia ♦ Published in Cancer Gene Therapy (npg), September 16, 2011 Prostate cancer cells tend to over express the protein translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). With this knowledge on hand, researchers at the University of British Columbia experimented with a variety of 5′UTRs to see which [...]

Astrocytes Modulate Basal Synaptic Transmission University of Montreal ♦ Montreal General Hospital ♦ Published in Cell, September 2, 2011 The astrocyte, a larger flattened cell type relative to the neuron, regulates the growth and survival of brain cells through the release of various growth factors and proteins. Recent findings indicate that they are also involved [...]

Functional Validation of Cancer Stem Cell Theory Ontario Cancer Institute ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Hospital for Sick Children ♦ McMaster University ♦ others.. Published in Nature Medicine, August 28th, 2011 John Dick’s lab has begun functionally validating the cancer stem cell theory in a mouse model and created the closest thing we have to a [...]

Host-Cell Nucleolin, A Helping Hand for RSV University of British Columbia ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Published in Nature Medicine, August 14th, 2011 Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a Pneumovirus that is widely responsible for respiratory tract infections worldwide, appears to use host-cell nucleolin for viral entry. After making the discovery, researchers corroborated their finding [...]

Acquisition of Animal Gene by Horizontal Transfer University of Ottawa ♦ University of British Columbia ♦ University of Illinois ♦ Albert Einstein College of Medicine Published in Current Biology (Cell Press), August 9, 2011 Researchers have recently made a rather surprising discovery — an animal gene that appears to have been taken up by the microsporidian [...]

High-Throughput Platform for Single-Cell qPCR University of British Columbia ♦ BC Cancer Agency ♦ Centre for Translational and Applied Genomics Published in PNAS, August 1st, 2011 An achievement in microfluidics this week as researchers from the University of British Columbia report on the development of an integrated microfluidics device that performs high-throughput mRNA analysis on [...]

TK/GCV Suicide Gene Therapy: Connecting the Dots Laval University ♦ Published in Cancer Gene Therapy (npg), July 22, 2011 Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer requiring intensive therapy. Even with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, the mean survival time is approximately one year. A new therapeutic paradigm is currently being investigated in clinical trials, [...]

Genetic Basis for Gray Platelet Syndrome Hospital for Sick Children ♦ University of Toronto ♦ University of Colorado ♦ University of Utah ♦ Others.. Published in Nature Genetics, July 17, 2011 Researchers have found a mutation in the gene NBEAL2 which seems to be at the root of Gray Platelet Syndrome (GPS), a disorder characterized [...]

New Target for AML British Columbia Cancer Agency ♦ University of British Columbia ♦ Hannover Medical School ♦ Stanford University School of Medicine Published in Cancer Cell, July 12, 2011 The MN1 locus is implicated in the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), where its up-regulation is a poor prognostic marker. Not all progenitors are [...]

Reductive DNA Damage, A New Evil University of Waterloo ♦ University Health Network ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Published in PNAS, July 5, 2011 The mechanism behind oxidative DNA damage is well known. It has long been thought that oxidative damage causes the majority of DNA damage in a cell, leading to malignant transformation and [...]

New Drug Targets in the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System? Mount Sinai Hospital ♦ University of Montreal ♦ Structural Genomics Consortium ♦ Celgene Signal Research Division ♦ Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology ♦ University of Toronto Published in Cell, June 24, 2011 Proteins within the ubiquitin-proteasome system are responsible for modulating the stability and cellular localizations of [...]

New Players in Interleukin-17 Response to Bacterial Pathogens University of Toronto ♦ St. Michael’s Hospital ♦ Published in Nature Medicine, June 12, 2011 Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a well established chemical messenger that modulates antimicrobial immune response in the stomach and intestine in the presence of various bacterial pathogens, including Pseudomonas, Helicobacter,  Citrobacter, and Salmonella; this [...]

Silence is Golden University of British Columbia ♦ BC Cancer Agency ♦ Institute for Virus Research ♦ Kyoto University Published in Cell Stem Cell, June 3, 2011 Researchers analyzing the genome wide repression of genes and other repetitive elements, like endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), have come upon some findings that illustrate how epigenetic silencing occurs in [...]

Horizontal Gene Transfer: Bacterial Adaptation McGill University ♦ Fudan University, China ♦ Published in PLoS ONE, May 20, 2011 The bacterium S. aureus can cause a host of problems in humans, companion animals, and cattle. Its ability to adapt and circumvent the effects of antibiotics allow it to persist, while virulence factors, acquired via horizontal [...]

Functioning Neurons from Canine Embryonic Stem Cells University of Guelph ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Published in PLoS ONE, May 17, 2011 Scientists have successfully created functioning neural cells from canine embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The protocol used was similar to those used to create neural stem cells from human ESCs. In order to produce [...]

Genetic Architecture: How a Cell is Wired University of Toronto ♦ National Institute of Health ♦ Albert Einstein College of Medicine Published in Nature Biotechnology, May 15, 2011 A great deal of effort has been invested in elucidating the physical interactions of proteins in order to understand their functional relationships. The research community is also [...]

Environmental Stimuli Enhance Visual System Function McGill University ♦ Published in Neuron (Cell Press), May 12, 2011 The developing nervous system utilizes sensory inputs to lay down the correct neural circuits, strengthening and weakening specific connections where necessary. Sensory cues from the external environment can play a role in neural development as well.  A new [...]

Heterochromatin Structures Disperse as Somatic Cells Move to Pluripotency University of Toronto ♦ Hospital for Sick Children ♦ Ontario Human iPS Cell Facility ♦ Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research Published in EMBO Journal, May 4, 2011 Cellular reprogramming of adult cells is achieved through the introduction of genetic factors that make widespread changes to [...]

Gene Transfer Restores Regenerative Power to Circulating Angiogenic Cells St. Michael’s Hospital ♦ University of Toronto Published in Molecular Therapy, April 26, 2011 An interesting new approach to autologous cell therapy for patients with coronary artery disease uses gene transfer to enhance the regenerative activity of circulating angiogenic cells (CACs). These rare cells circulate freely [...]

Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 Helps Form Vasoreactive Vessels University of Western Ontario ♦ Published in Nature Biotechnology, April 17, 2011 Some interesting findings from the University of Western Ontario could have implications for future angiogenesis therapies and tissue engineering approaches to the treatment of vascular disease. Researchers discovered that fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9), an [...]

New Prognostic Signature for NSCLC The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute ♦ University of Toronto Published in PNAS, April 7, 2011 It has long been known that the tumour microenvironment, or niche, plays a major role in the development of cancer, the progression of disease, and eventually metastasis. Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), which accounts [...]

Cancer Immunotherapy in the Clinic: Dendritic Cells Present the Possibility McMaster University ♦ Medical School of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Review Published in Molecular Therapy (npg), April 5, 2011 Dendritic cells play a vital role in the generation of T-cell responses to invading pathogens in the body. They fall into a class of cells known [...]

Temperature Sensitive Yeast Library Poised to Uncover Gene Function University of Toronto ♦ Published in Nature Biotechnology, Mar. 27, 2011 In efforts to document the roles of essential eukaryotic genes, a group of researchers at The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research have constructed an expansive library of yeast mutants that can be [...]

Beware of Repeats The Hospital for Sick Children ♦ University of Toronto ♦ Published in PLoS Genetics, Mar. 10, 2011 Trinucleotide repeats are known to be associated with the onset of many diseases including Huntington’s disease and fragile X syndrome. These unstable elements can be transcribed bidirectionally and are dynamic, meaning their numbers can change within [...]