A potential new weapon against deadly brain and soft tissue cancers

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have designed a new drug cocktail that kills some types of brain and soft tissue cancers by tricking the cancer cells to behave as if they were starving for their favorite food—glucose. The researchers’ findings were recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and may pave the way for targeted cancer treatments with greater efficacy and less harmful side effects.
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MicroRNA exhibit unexpected function in driving cancer

Researchers long thought that only one strand of a double-stranded microRNA can silence genes. Though recent evidence has challenged that dogma, it’s unclear what the other strand does, and how the two may be involved in cancer. New research from Thomas Jefferson University has revealed that both strands of some microRNA coordinate to act on the same cancer pathways, across multiple cancers, to drive aggressiveness and growth—two hallmarks of poor prognosis for cancer patients.
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New drug combination restores beta cell function in animal model

The loss of the identity of insulin-secreting beta cells in the islet of Langerhans, a process also called beta cell dedifferentiation, has been proposed to be a main reason for the development of diabetes. If and how dedifferentiated beta cells can be targeted by pharmacological intervention for beta cell regeneration is unknown. In a new study in mice, Helmholtz Zentrum München in collaboration with Novo Nordisk, demonstrated for the first time that a targeted combinatorial drug treatment is able to restore beta cell function, achieve beta cell redifferentiation and therefore potentially open new ways for diabetes remission.
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Study highlights potential need to standardize quality measurement for cardiovascular care

In a new study published today in JAMA Cardiology, a team of researchers led by Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, an investigator in the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), found that hospitals that received awards from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACC) for the delivery of high-quality care for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) were more likely to be financially penalized under value-based programs than other hospitals.
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New therapy stops seizures in mouse model of rare childhood epilepsy

Seizure disorders in babies are frightening and heartbreaking. A new basic science breakthrough offers hope for a potential treatment for rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathies resulting from a single genetic mutation. The gene in question, called SCN8A, controls a sodium channel that allows neurons to transmit an electric signal. When this gene is mutated, these channels can become hyperactive, resulting in recurrent seizures. The average age of onset of SCN8A-related encephalopathy is just four months old.
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