United Press International (May 17, 06:05 PM) Cancer-killing viruses identified ST. LOUIS, May 17 (UPI) -- Two viruses that kill specific cancers have been identified in research published Monday by the St. Louis University School of Medicine.
The viruses were very effective in killing cancers of the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, the research published in Cancer Research said.
These engineered viruses kill cancer cells through a mechanism that is completely different from chemotherapy or radiation, said Dr. William Wold, chair of the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at the school.
The new research involves INGN 007 (VRX-007) and INGN 009 (VRX-009), two novel oncolytic adenoviruses that have been engineered to kill cancer cells via viral replication. These viruses can be engineered so that they are active in specific types of cancer cells.
INGN 009, which has been designed to kill cells that carry a mutation common in many colon cancers, efficiently killed cultured colon cancer cells, but not lung cancer cells.
INGN 007 effectively killed both types of cancer cells.
Anthrax treatment being developed CHICAGO, May 17 (UPI) -- University of Chicago scientists have identified a compound that halts the activity of a deadly toxin called anthrax lethal factor.
Their challenge was to find a way to overcome anthrax lethal factor after it is too late to use antibiotics, the university said Monday.
The toxin can only be effectively treated with antibiotics if administered soon after infection, making it difficult to treat patients who were unknowingly exposed to the bacterium.
The team discovered that a compound called DS-998 showed promising activity against anthrax lethal factor in cell cultures. Lethal factor is a molecule that chops up and renders inactive a protein that helps cells stay healthy. DS-998 blocks lethal factor's harmful cutting action.
The DS-998 compound could one day lead to the development of a new drug for the treatment of anthrax, researchers said, but they cautioned the studies remain in the early stages.
Thyroxine derivative may sedate patients PORTLAND, Ore., May 17 (UPI) -- Oregon scientists have isolated a naturally occurring, thyroid hormone-derived compound that could someday help stabilize surgical and trauma patients.
Although the compound, known as T1 amine, is a derivative of thyroxine, an essential thyroid hormone that influences development, body temperature, metabolic rate and cardiac performance, it has the opposite effect of thyroxine, according to a study by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and other institutions.
The findings, released Monday, suggest T1 amine affects several organ systems. So if its molecular and cellular actions can be precisely described, physicians will be in a better position to treat a variety of cardiovascular and endocrine diseases, as well as mental health disorders.
In mice, T1 amine can induce profound hypothermia, slow heart rate and drop blood pressure, suggesting that it, or related molecules, might provide a valuable new means by which physicians can stabilize patients during surgery and trauma. Within minutes of administering T1 amine, mice appear to go into a hypometabolic state.
Demonstrating T1 amine and the trace amine receptor talk to one another, may help scientists better understand and treat depression, schizophrenia, movement disorders, obesity, trauma, stroke, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the researchers said. -0-
Harvard, MIT scientist slain in robbery
NORWICH, Conn., May 17 (UPI) -- Connecticut police worked Monday to confirm the slaying of a prominent cold fusion scientist in Norwich was robbery-related, the Boston Globe reported.
Eugene Mallove, 56, of Pembroke, N.H., was found dead in a house owned by his parents Friday night.
Several items were taken, including his Dodge Caravan, which was found hours later in a nearby casino parking lot. He died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, police said.
Although he was perhaps best known as an expert in cold fusion, Mallove's 1975 doctorate from Harvard University was in Environmental Health Sciences, and he earned a bachelors degree in 1969 and a masters degree in 1970 in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mallove worked in Concord, N.H., as editor-in-chief and publisher of Infinite Energy magazine and president of the New Energy Foundation, both of which explore alternative forms of energy not generally recognized by mainstream scientists.
He also worked as technical adviser on the 1997 thriller The Saint, an action movie centered on the discovery and control of cold fusion.
