17 2010
Chitosan-based, nanoparticle gene-silencing system blocks production of protein involved in formation of ovarian cancer cell tumor
A protein associated with cancer progression when abundant inside of tumors also unexpectedly regulates the creation of new blood vessels that feed the tumor outside, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the August edition of Cancer Cell.
Using a chitosan-based, nanoparticle gene-silencing system to block production of the protein, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center inhibited formation of new blood vessel (angiogenesis) to the tumor and caused a steep reduction in tumor burden in a mouse model of ovarian cancer.
Study senior author Anil Sood, M.D., professor in UT MD Anderson’s departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology and co-author Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, M.D., professor in UT MD Anderson’s Department of Experimental Therapeutics, have developed delivery systems that package siRNA with a fatty ball called a liposome to silence specific genes in cancer cells.
“Those systems are quite effective for delivery to tumors and tumor cells but not as effective for delivery to tumor vasculature,” Sood said. They jointly developed a new delivery system that packages siRNA into chitosan nanoparticles. Chitosan is derived from a chitin, a structural component in the shells of crustaceans.
Chitosan nanoparticles carry a slight positive electrical charge, making them attractive to the mostly negatively charged endothelial cells. The nanoparticles penetrate the tumor by way of its vasculature, so the new system hits both targets.
The nanoparticles accumulate in the cancer cell and vasculature passively as they circulate in the blood stream. Chitosan nanoparticles are so small that they can flow through tiny holes in the tumor vasculature. They also accumulate in other organs, so the researchers are working to add a targeting molecule that will limit nanoparticle uptake to tumors and their vasculature.
06 2010
Sponge Genome Reveals Animal, Cancer Origins
In a paper appearing in the recent issue of the journal Nature, a team of researchers led by Daniel Rokhsar of the Univ. of California, Berkeley, and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI), report the draft genome sequence of the sea sponge Amphimedon queenslandica and several insights the genome gives into the origins of both the first animals and cancer.
“Our hypothesis is that multicellularity and cancer are two sides of the same coin,” says Rokhsar, professor at UC Berkeley. “If you are a cell in a multicellular organism, you have to cooperate with other cells in your body, making sure that you divide when you are supposed to as part of the team. The genes that regulate this cooperation are also the ones whose disruption can cause cells to behave selfishly and grow in uncontrolled ways to the detriment of the organism.”
As part of the new analysis, the team looked in the sponge genome for more than 100 genes that have been implicated in human cancers and found about 90 percent of them. Future research will show what roles these genes play in endowing sponge cells with team spirit.
04 2010
MDPI Office of the Publisher announces publication of new Marine Drugs issue
MDPI announces publication of the following issue: Mar.
Drugs, Volume 8, Issue 7 (July 2010), Pages 1962-2222 at
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/
Table of Contents:
Jiali Zhang, Wenshui Xia, Ping Liu, Qinyuan Cheng, Talba Tahi, Wenxiu Gu
and Bo Li
Review: Chitosan Modification and Pharmaceutical/Biomedical Applications
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 1962-1987; doi:10.3390/md8071962
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/1962
Feisal Khoushab and Montarop Yamabhai
Review: Chitin Research Revisited
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 1988-2012; doi:10.3390/md8071988
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/1988
Sandra Anne Banack and Paul Alan Cox
Correction: Correction: Banack, S.A. et al. Production of the Neurotoxin
BMAA by a Marine Cyanobacterium. Mar. Drugs 2007, 5, 180–196
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2013; doi:10.3390/md8072013
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2013
Chih-Yang Liu, Tsong-Long Hwang, Mei-Ru Lin, Yung-Husan Chen, Yu-Chia
Chang, Lee-Shing Fang, Wei-Hsien Wang, Yang-Chang Wu and Ping-Jyun Sung
Article: Carijoside A, a Bioactive Sterol Glycoside from an Octocoral
Carijoa sp. (Clavulariidae)
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2014-2020; doi:10.3390/md8072014
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2014
Vítor Ramos and Vítor Vasconcelos
Review: Palytoxin and Analogs: Biological and Ecological Effects
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2021-2037; doi:10.3390/md8072021
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2021
Laurie O’Sullivan, Brian Murphy, Peter McLoughlin, Patrick Duggan,
Peadar G. Lawlor, Helen Hughes and Gillian E. Gardiner
Review: Prebiotics from Marine Macroalgae for Human and Animal Health
Applications
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2038-2064; doi:10.3390/md8072038
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2038
Guoliang Wang, Ge Zhao, Yanbin Feng, Jinsong Xuan, Jianwei Sun, Baotai
Guo, Guoyong Jiang, Manli Weng, Jianting Yao, Bin Wang, Delin Duan and Tao
Liu
Article: Cloning and Comparative Studies of Seaweed Trehalose-6-Phosphate
Synthase Genes
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2065-2079; doi:10.3390/md8072065
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2065
Graziano Guella, Danielle Skropeta, Graziano Di Giuseppe and Fernando Dini
Review: Structures, Biological Activities and Phylogenetic Relationships
of Terpenoids from Marine Ciliates of the Genus Euplotes
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2080-2116; doi:10.3390/md8072080
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2080
Ratih Pangestuti and Se-Kwon Kim
Review: Neuroprotective Properties of Chitosan and Its Derivatives
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2117-2128; doi:10.3390/md8072117
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2117
Scharri J. Ezell, Haibo Li, Hongxia Xu, Xiangrong Zhang, Evrim Gurpinar,
Xu Zhang, Elizabeth R. Rayburn, Charnell I. Sommers, Xinyi Yang,
Sadanandan E. Velu, Wei Wang and Ruiwen Zhang
Article: Preclinical Pharmacology of BA-TPQ, a Novel Synthetic
Iminoquinone Anticancer Agent
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2129-2141; doi:10.3390/md8072129
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2129
Hedi Indra Januar, Ekowati Chasanah, Cherie A. Motti, Dianne M. Tapiolas,
Catherine H. Liptrot and Anthony D. Wright
Article: Cytotoxic Cembranes from Indonesian Specimens of the Soft Coral
Nephthea sp.
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2142-2152; doi:10.3390/md8072142
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2142
Robert J. French, Doju Yoshikami, Michael F. Sheets and Baldomero M.
Olivera
Review: The Tetrodotoxin Receptor of Voltage-Gated Sodium
Channels—Perspectives from Interactions with μ-Conotoxins
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2153-2161; doi:10.3390/md8072153
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2153
Fernando Scala, Ernesto Fattorusso, Marialuisa Menna, Orazio
Taglialatela-Scafati, Michelle Tierney, Marcel Kaiser and Deniz Tasdemir
Article: Bromopyrrole Alkaloids as Lead Compounds against Protozoan
Parasites
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2162-2174; doi:10.3390/md8072162
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2162
Anne-Laure Deniau, Paul Mosset, Frédérique Pédrono, Romain Mitre,
Damien Le Bot and Alain B. Legrand
Review: Multiple Beneficial Health Effects of Natural Alkylglycerols from
Shark Liver Oil
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2175-2184; doi:10.3390/md8072175
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2175
Maria Wiese, Paul M. D’Agostino, Troco K. Mihali, Michelle C. Moffitt
and Brett A. Neilan
Review: Neurotoxic Alkaloids: Saxitoxin and Its Analogs
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2185-2211; doi:10.3390/md8072185
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2185
Liang Guo, Guang Liu, Ruo-Yu Hong and Hong-Zhong Li
Article: Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan Poly(acrylic acid)
Magnetic Microspheres
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2212-2222; doi:10.3390/md8072212
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2212
04 2010
CMP Therapeutics Appoints Dr Neill Moray Mackenzie as CEO
CMP Therapeutics announces the appointment of Dr Neill Moray Mackenzie to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Dr Mackenzie brings to CMPT a long record of executive board level management within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries at companies including Cambridge Genetics Ltd, Oxford Biomedica plc (an LSE listed company), Avidex Ltd (now Immunocore) and most recently as the SVP for Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Medigene AG (a Borse-listed company) and CEO of Roji Ltd (London). In addition, Dr MacKenzie was formerly a Departmental Head in Vaccine R&D at Wellcome and a Wellcome Lecturer in Immunology at the University of London.
CMPT also announces the injection of a EUR1.5million convertible loan from Inventages Venture Capital to support continuing operations and the upcoming clinical trial of its lead product for the common cold. CMPT has been supported solely by investments from London-based Inventages Venture Capital and New Zealand-based BioPacificVentures since 2005.
CMP Therapeutics, founded in 2004, is a company that develops products for colds, flu and allergy based on b 1-3 N-acetyl glucosamine (chitin). b 1-3 N-acetyl glucosamine is extracted from natural sources. It is processed into micro-particles (Chitin Micro-Particles or CMP) under GMP manufacturing conditions. CMP is the active component. When administered intranasally it has been shown to be safe in man and effective in models of disease, including viral disease and bacterial diseases of the respiratory tract and allergy. CMP Therapeutics has worldwide patents and patent applications covering the uses and the manufacture of CMP for allergy, viral and bacterial disease, and as a vaccine adjuvant.
22 2010
Researchers worry that damage to the oceans could mean some species — and whatever chemicals they produce — will be lost before they’re found
Marc Slattery, a marine biologist by training, looks to sponges and coral as possible sources of drugs. As stationary species in the open ocean, these organisms have developed many chemical defenses to protect themselves. Slattery studies whether those chemicals could protect us, too. Maybe the same compounds that fend off fish could battle viruses, kill bacteria, and even fight cancer.
“These organisms are producing some nasty sorts of chemistry,” Slattery explains. “If you focus on the biotech side of things, there may be a drug in that” — or, he suspects, many.
After a long history of success on land, pharmacognosy — the search for substances in nature that have pharmaceutical potential — is finally getting its sea legs. Slattery, a pharmacognosy professor at the University of Mississippi, is one of the researchers scouring the oceans for cures.
Ocean acidification, warming water temperature and pollution all threaten sensitive corals and the symbiotic species that live on the reefs. Says Michael Lesser, a coral reef biologist at the University of New Hampshire who collaborates with Slattery, “We could lose something that could have great value to us as human beings, and not even know it.”
22 2010
MDPI Publishes New Marine Drugs Issue: Volume 8, Issue 6
MDPI AG announce the publication of the following issue: Mar.
Drugs, Volume 8, Issue 6 (June 2010), Pages 1731-1961 at
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/
Table of Contents:
Sonia de Caralt, Javier Sánchez-Fontenla, María J. Uriz and Rene H.
Wijffels
Article: In Situ Aquaculture Methods for Dysidea avara (Demospongiae,
Porifera) in the Northwestern Mediterranean
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1731-1742; doi:10.3390/md8061731
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1731
Charles Santhanaraju Vairappan, Takahiro Ishii, Tan Kai Lee, Minoru Suzuki
and Zhan Zhaoqi
Article: Antibacterial Activities of a New Brominated Diterpene from
Borneon Laurencia spp.
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1743-1749; doi:10.3390/md8061743
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1743
Ruth Harris, Elena Lecumberri and Angeles Heras
Article: Chitosan-Genipin Microspheres for the Controlled Release of
Drugs: Clarithromycin, Tramadol and Heparin
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1750-1762; doi:10.3390/md8061750
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1750
João C. Fernandes, Humberto Spindola, Vanessa de Sousa, Alice
Santos-Silva, Manuela E. Pintado, Francisco Xavier Malcata and João E.
Carvalho
Communication: Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Chitooligosaccharides in Vivo
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1763-1768; doi:10.3390/md8061763
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1763
Xiaomei Wei, Tim S. Bugni, Mary Kay Harper, Imelda T. Sandoval, Elizabeth
J. Manos, Jennifer Swift, Ryan M. Van Wagoner, David A. Jones and Chris M.
Ireland
Article: Evaluation of Pyridoacridine Alkaloids in a Zebrafish Phenotypic
Assay
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1769-1778; doi:10.3390/md8061769
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1769
Annarita Poli, Gianluca Anzelmo and Barbara Nicolaus
Review: Bacterial Exopolysaccharides from Extreme Marine Habitats:
Production, Characterization and Biological Activities
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1779-1802; doi:10.3390/md8061779
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1779
Susan Matthew, Ranjala Ratnayake, Mikel A. Becerro, Raphael
Ritson-Williams, Valerie J. Paul and Hendrik Luesch
Article: Intramolecular Modulation of Serine Protease Inhibitor Activity
in a Marine Cyanobacterium with Antifeedant Properties
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1803-1816; doi:10.3390/md8061803
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1803
Li Liu and Kathleen S. Rein
Review: New Peptides Isolated from Lyngbya Species: A Review
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1817-1837; doi:10.3390/md8061817
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1817
Amandine Caillaud, Pablo de la Iglesia, H. Taiana Darius, Serge Pauillac,
Katerina Aligizaki, Santiago Fraga, Mireille Chinain and Jorge Diogène
Review: Update on Methodologies Available for Ciguatoxin Determination:
Perspectives to Confront the Onset of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in Europe
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1838-1907; doi:10.3390/md8061838
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1838
Bárbara Frazão, Rosário Martins and Vitor Vasconcelos
Article: Are Known Cyanotoxins Involved in the Toxicity of Picoplanktonic
and Filamentous North Atlantic Marine Cyanobacteria?
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1908-1919; doi:10.3390/md8061908
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1908
Chen Zhang and Se-Kwon Kim
Review: Research and Application of Marine Microbial Enzymes: Status and
Prospects
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1920-1934; doi:10.3390/md8061920
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1920
Christine J. Band-Schmidt, José J. Bustillos-Guzmán, David J.
López-Cortés, Ismael Gárate-Lizárraga, Erick J. Núñez-Vázquez and
Francisco E. Hernández-Sandoval
Review: Ecological and Physiological Studies of Gymnodinium catenatum in
the Mexican Pacific: A Review
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1935-1961; doi:10.3390/md8061935
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1935
16 2010
Indonesia And US Launch Deep-Sea Expedition
The first joint expedition by the Republic of Indonesia and the United States to explore unknown deep-sea areas in Indonesian waters is currently under way.
The expedition is the first activity in a multi-year partnership to advance ocean science, technology and education. This is the first expedition of the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and the first joint international expedition to send live images and other data from sea to scientists on watch at Exploration Command Centers ashore both in Indonesia and the United States.
21 2010
Trius Therapeutics Awarded U.S. Department of Defense Contract to Develop Novel Antibiotics from Marine Natural Product Libraries
Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today that it has been awarded a new four and a half year contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, for the development of novel antibiotics directed against gram-negative bacterial pathogens. Trius may receive up to $29.5 million in support of development efforts under the new DTRA contract, which is funded as part of DTRA’s Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI). Pursuant to the contract, Trius will apply its proprietary Focused Antisense Screening Technology (FAST) discovery platform to identify the targets of antibacterial compounds from marine natural product libraries developed in the laboratory of Dr. William Fenical, Distinguished Professor of Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Trius will then apply its structure-based drug design and development capabilities in an effort to optimize promising antibacterial compounds for activity against gram-negative biodefense pathogens such as Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis and Burkholderia pseudomallei. Trius believes that these compounds will also be active against gram-negative pathogens involved in common hospital acquired infections.
23 2010
AstraZeneca signs deal for pain drugs from sea snails
AstraZeneca has linked up with Australian biotechnology company Xenome to develop pain drugs derived from the venom of sea snails.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s MedImmune unit has been screening Xenome’s library of 2,000 compounds for drug candidates in the area of pain management for over a year and has now obtained exclusive licences for four peptides. Financial details have not been disclosed but but the Brisbane-based firm will be eligible to receive milestone and royalty payments.
23 2010
Aquapharm completes £4.2 million investment
Aquapharm Biodiscovery, a leading marine biotechnology company based at the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology in Oban, Scotland, today announces the close of a £4.2 million investment from existing investors Aescap Venture, Tate & Lyle Ventures, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and NESTA. Alongside the completion of the financing, Aquapharm has appointed the seasoned biotech entrepreneur Simon Best as CEO. Current CEO and founder Andrew Mearns Spragg will take up the role of Chief Technical Officer.
The additional finance will be used towards the further development and commercialisation of Aquapharm’s product portfolio produced from over 7,250 marine micro-organisms. Natural products from this unique source of new biological and chemical diversity are already being exploited commercially with major partners such as Croda Plc and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in the personal care and pharmaceutical fields respectively. New collaborations in further applications such as nutrition are also in the pipeline.
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