News
News
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3 june 2009
Five Cord Blood Transplant Centers in Catalonia and Valencia Join a Study to Test a New Technique to Treat Leukemia and Lymphoma
The Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture announced today that five prestigious cord blood transplantations centers in Spain, three in Barcelona and two in Valencia, have joined the ExCell study.
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21 may 2009
Oxaliplatin Promotes the Survival of Drug-Resistant Colon Tumor Cells
Oxaliplatin is a drug that is widely used to treat colon cancer, but its efficacy is limited by the development of resistance to chemotherapy of the tumor cells. The chemoresistant cells undergo molecular changes that protect them from the cell death induced by the drugs, thus re-establishing the processes of tumor progression. An article published in PLoS One analyzes the role of the metalloproteinase, MMP7, in the resistance mechanisms of these cells and its effect on the Fas receptor involved in promoting cell death by apoptosis. This study was directed by Dr. Vanessa Almendro of the department of medical oncology at Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS and by Dr. Pere Gascón, and involved the collaboration of Dr. Elisabet Ametller, among others. The results show that, in colon cancer cell lines, MMP7 is directly related to the acquisition of resistance to oxaliplatin and its inhibition re-establishes sensitivity to the drug due to an increase in the Fas receptor. Furthermore, the authors observed that, surprisingly, the Fas receptor undergoes changes in functionality in cells resistant to oxaliplatin, leading it to induce survival signals instead of apoptotic signals.
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17 may 2009
Gene Therapy Protects Simians Against Infection by the AIDS Virus
A study carried out in the United States has managed to introduce into the muscle cells of macaque monkeys the DNA necessary to produce an antibody-like molecule that is effective against SIV, the virus that causes AIDS in simians. The strategy consists of injecting an adenovirus that introduces the necessary DNA sequence into the nucleus of the muscle cells of the macaques. The researcher, Eloísa Yuste is one of the authors of the study and currently works on the IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic team led by Dr. Josep Maria Gatell, co-director of HIVACAT(*).
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7 may 2009
Genetic Counselling and Neonatal Screening are Key Factors in the Approach to Hereditary Anemias
Hereditary anemias or major hemoglobin syndromes principally include two different entities: beta thalassemia major or Cooley’s anemia, which is prevalent in the native population; and sickle-cell anemia, which is associated with the immigrant population. The term thalassemia corresponds to a group of hereditary anemias that affect 2% of the Spanish population. Each year, approximately 300 children are born throughout the world with thalassemia syndromes. Falciform anemia is one of the most common hereditary anemias and has a higher mortality, especially in childhood. If not detected on time, mortality in children is as high as 8%; this is reduced to 1.8%, however, in patients who are diagnosed early by neonatal screening.
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6 may 2009
The Functions of Spermatozoa go Beyond Transmission of the Paternal Genome
According to an article published in the journal Proteomics (9(4):1004-17), certain human spermatozoon nuclear proteins associated with chromatin have epigenetic potential. This means that it may play a key role in the activation of some genes during initial embryonic development. The study was carried out by Dr. Rafael Oliva and Dr. Sara Mateo of the IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic Human Genetics Research group, and Dr. Josep María Estanyol of the proteomics unit of the faculty of medicine at the University of Barcelona.