Vaccine Developed on Mice Holds Promise for Treating Crohn's Disease

Researchers say a synthetic vaccine developed on mice could successfully treat autoimmune diseases, including Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The synthetic vaccine, which tricks the immune system into producing antibodies that fight disease-causing enzymes, significantly reduced symptoms of Crohn's Disease in mice, the study found.

A synthetic vaccine based on nanotechnology holds out the promise of halting autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's and rheumatoid arthritis, it has been reported.

Early research has shown that the molecular principle behind the approach works, at least in mice.
Scientists are excited by the findings, which hold out the prospect of new treatments for a broad range of conditions. The research could also lead to new ways of tackling the spread of cancer.

However, much more work is needed before experts can be sure the therapy is safe for humans. The research is published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The vaccine tricks the immune system into producing antibodies that target an enzyme at the heart of autoimmune diseases. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) cut through structural materials such as collagen to assist cellular mobilisation and wound healing.

When some members of the enzyme family, especially the enzyme MMP9, get out of control they can promote autoimmune disease and cancer metastasis - the deadly spread of cancer around the body.
MMPs are normally held in check naturally by inhibitor molecules called TIMPs. But the biological mechanism involved is extremely precise and previous attempts to mimic it with artificial drugs have produced severe side effects.

The new research took a different tack by not targeting MMPs directly. Instead, tiny metallic vaccine molecules were created that fooled the immune system into manufacturing its own MMP-suppressing antibodies.

When the vaccine was tested on mice with a rodent version of Crohn's - a form of inflammatory bowel disease - it significantly reduced their symptoms. Untreated mice suffered severe damage to their colons while those injected with the vaccine experienced only "limited" inflammation.

Professor Irit Sagi, from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, said: "We are excited not only by the potential of this method to treat Crohn's, but by the potential of using this approach to explore novel treatments for many other diseases."



http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gwKjmjG8Jn-_tvTz1_Rq452qJ8pQ?docId=N0631811324695320764A

Rescued Dogs are Trained to Track Endangered Species for Research

The dogs of the University of Washington are playing a key role in understanding a variety of threatened and endangered species and, in this case, understanding the habits and number of cougars in the Blue Mountains of southeast Washington.




Click the link below for the full story!

http://www.king5.com/news/local/UW-Dawgs-v-Cougars-134420133.html

Research

Researchers use dogs to study obesity in humans

Taking Fido for a walk can keep people from getting husky, say University of Massachusetts researchers who are trying to get couch potatoes up and out by appealing to their love of dogs.

The first-in-the-nation clinical study at the University of Massachusetts Medical School aims to see if Rover has the power to unleash new levels of human motivation and combat the nation’s obesity epidemic. Researchers are launching a study that will use social networking and other methods to encourage test subjects to walk their dogs — and measure how much walking they do.