Scientists, Supercomputer Open New Front in War Against HIV
Using a supercomputer to crunch massive amounts of data, researchers say they have decoded the structure that contains and protects HIV’s genetic material. Their results potentially open a new route of attack against the structure, called the capsid, which is essential to the virus’s survival.
“The capsid is critically important for HIV replication, so knowing its structure in detail could lead us to new drugs that can treat or prevent the infection,” said senior author Peijun Zhang, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “This approach has the potential to be a powerful alternative to our current HIV therapies, which work by targeting certain enzymes, but drug resistance is an enormous challenge due to the virus’ high mutation rate.”
Their task was no easy one. HIV’s gene-containing protein shell is comprised of nonuniform combinations of five- and six-subunit protein structures that link together to form an asymmetric shape. To get an accurate model of the capsid, they would need to piece together each of the 3 million to 4 million atoms that comprise it.
June 3rd, 2013
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New Device Lights Up Common Diabetes Complication
A new optical diagnostic tool being developed at Columbia University may help healthcare providers monitor one of the most serious complications of diabetes. The noninvasive technique —called dynamic diffuse optical tomography (DDOT) imaging—fires near-infrared light at parts of the body. That which is reflected back at the machine lets it map the concentration of hemoglobin in tissue over time.
This helps providers diagnose and monitor peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a narrowing of the arteries caused by plaque accumulation that restricts blood flow to extremities and increases a person’s risk for heart attack and stroke.
May 31st, 2013
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![by Tomas Kellner, GE Reports
Microbubbles are helping biologist Jason Castle see inside the body.
A few weeks after GE biologist Jason Castle signed up for EMT training in upstate New York, his crew got an emergency call from the family of an elderly man. The sick man was lying in bed and breathing heavily. He was weak and dizzy, but his symptoms were vague. Castle felt frustrated.
“You go in with a blank slate as to what the problem could be, you check the vitals and if you suspect a heart attack, you take him to the hospital for tests,” he says. “If this were the case, between transport, CT imaging and stent placement, an extremely critical one to two hours would have elapsed,” Castle says.
Back in his lab at GE Global Research (GRC) in nearby Niskayuna, Castle got quickly to work. Castle, 35, is an ultrasound researcher experimenting with “microbubbles,” tiny gas-filled spheres the size of red bloods cells that can flow through the bloodstream, reflect sound waves and help flesh out otherwise grainy ultrasound pictures.[[MORE]]
“They are exactly what they sound like, just little bubbles filled with very dense gas that acts as a contrast agent,” he says. “When you inject these microbubbles, it’s like turning on the light inside the heart.”
Castle is using microbubbles to develop ultrasound technology that could ride inside the ambulance and help medical staff diagnose patients on the spot, potentially saving lives. “Anywhere blood flows, these microbubbles can travel,” he says. “If you are in a car accident and you have internal bleeding, we could tell right away, identify what organs have been injured and where the blood is pooling. You could start these types of tests as soon as the ambulance shows up.”
EMTs could deliver microbubbles in the vein through an ordinary IV injection. The bubbles dissolve minutes after the test and the gas leaves the body in the breath.
As impressive as it sounds, Castle and a team of GRC scientists are already thinking about the next step. They are experimenting with using microbubbles as tiny missiles to ferry drugs, antibodies and even DNA payload to tumors, clogged arteries, and whole organs like the liver. When they reach the target, doctors could change the acoustic setting of the ultrasound and burst the bubbles with sound waves. “You pop the bubble and the drug goes wherever you want it to go,” Castle says. “You could administer a fraction of a chemotherapy dose and reduce the side effects. It could have a huge potential for the quality of life of cancer patients.”
Sitting in the back of an ambulance, Castle is thinking about a time in the near future when doctors could use microbubbles to image a patient’s heart and deliver anticlotting drugs at the same time. “Becoming an EMT as well as a biologist working to improve ultrasound gives you a chance to really see both fields,” he says. “As an EMT you see the current standards of care, how things are done, and how they could be done better.”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/96a6768fd37126df44fd736c0c234896/tumblr_mnivpwMoln1rwn6y8o1_400.gif)
Microbubbles are helping biologist Jason Castle see inside the body.
A few weeks after GE biologist Jason Castle signed up for EMT training in upstate New York, his crew got an emergency call from the family of an elderly man. The sick man was lying in bed and breathing heavily. He was weak and dizzy, but his symptoms were vague. Castle felt frustrated.
“You go in with a blank slate as to what the problem could be, you check the vitals and if you suspect a heart attack, you take him to the hospital for tests,” he says. “If this were the case, between transport, CT imaging and stent placement, an extremely critical one to two hours would have elapsed,” Castle says.
Back in his lab at GE Global Research (GRC) in nearby Niskayuna, Castle got quickly to work. Castle, 35, is an ultrasound researcher experimenting with “microbubbles,” tiny gas-filled spheres the size of red bloods cells that can flow through the bloodstream, reflect sound waves and help flesh out otherwise grainy ultrasound pictures.
May 29th, 2013
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3-D Printed Splint Saves Baby’s Life
It’s hard to imagine something so simple could save a child’s life. But that’s exactly what this small device built on 3-D printer did. University of Michigan doctors designed and implanted the tracheal splint inside Kaiba Gionfriddo, now 20 months old.
The tiny collar was made to treat Kaiba’s tracheobronchomalacia, a condition in which the airways collapse when breathing or coughing. It was created directly from a CT scan of the collapsed area using a laser-based 3-D printer. The printer constructed the splint using polycaprolactone, a biodegradable polyester that is slowly absorbed by the body over a few years. It was sewn around the airway to keep it open and give support so more tissue could grow.
The doctors described their groundbreaking treatment in New England Journal of Medicine letter published on May 23.
May 23rd, 2013
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