Scientists have identified a gene known as Jund, which controls the activity of a group of cells thought to be responsible for potentially severe inflammation of the kidney. This discovery could offer a route for tackling the auto-immune destruction of kidney tissue which can occur in lupus patients, subsequently causing renal failure.

Jund regulates the activity of macrophages, cells which help us fight infection by eating up cellular debris and pathogens, and stimulating immune cells. The new research showed that when these cells are overactive, they can destroy healthy kidney tissue.

Professor Aitman, who led the Medical Research Council team, said: "We are hoping that this discovery will allow us to find a new and effective way of treating this potentially fatal form of kidney failure. By reducing the activity of the Jund gene, we were able to reduce activity of inflammatory cells that can become overactive in certain diseases of the kidney. Such a therapy would be of obvious benefit to patients suffering from auto-immune diseases such as lupus. This would allow them to avoid dialysis and maintain their quality of life."

The study has been published in Nature Genetics.

In the new issue of Cell Transplantation a study demonstrated the potentials of menstrual blood as a source of stromal stem cells with the ability to differentiate into a variety of cell lineages.

Tests showed that MenSCs could differentiate into adipogenic, chondrogenic, osteogenic, ectodermal, mesodermal, cardiogenic, and neural cell lineages. According to Patel, the sample MenSCs expanded rapidly and maintained greater than 50 percent of their telomerase activity when compared to human embryonic stem cells and better than bone marrow-derived stem cells. "Studies have demonstrated that MenSCs are easily expandable to clinical relevance and express multipotent markers at both the molecular and cellular level," concluded Patel.

Researchers emphasized the importance of the abundance and plasticity of MenSCs. Based on the results of their studies, they noted the potential for MenSCs in regenerative transplantation therapies for many different organs and tissues. "The need for regenerative therapies using cells with the ability to engraft and differentiate is vast," said Patel.

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This week's issue of Nature features the draft genome of the transgenic 'SunUp' Papaya, the first commercial virus-resistant transgenic fruit tree to be sequenced. From Nature News:

The papaya genome will be of interest to scientists interested in the dietary benefits of different fruits, the evolution of fruiting trees, and other basic questions of biology. Data from the genome will also help in designing field-based assays to differentiate hermaphroditic plants from female ones - a task that currently takes farmers three to four months of cultivation to achieve. Farmers prefer the hermaphroditic plants for easier pollination.

In addition to insights regarding its evolutionary path, the genome analysis also revealed that papaya has fewer functional genes than any other flowering plant already sequenced, but contains more genes for enzymes involved in cell-wall expansion, starch production and for production of volatile compounds.

Read more from the University of Illinois report.

Scientists have engineered a cyanobacteria to produce sugars which may be used as raw material for ethanol and designer fuels production.

Nobles made the new cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) by giving them a set of cellulose-making genes from a non-photosynthetic "vinegar" bacterium, Acetobacter xylinum, well known as a prolific cellulose producer.

The new cyanobacteria produce a relatively pure, gel-like form of cellulose that can be broken down easily into glucose.

Considering that the bacteria can be grown in production facilities on non-agricultural lands using salty water unsuitable for human consumption or crops, and that the sugars produced are more readily convertible to ethanol, the authors suggest that the bacteria may be a feasible alternative to using plant crops for biofuel production.

Scientists from the University of Granada were able to isolate and purify potential an anti-cancer drug candidate and a neurogenic vasodilatation inhibitor (for the treatment of migraine), from the plants Baccharis latifolia, and elecampe (Dittrichia viscosa), respectively. The bioactive compound is called ilicic acid.

Julieta Verónica used the elecampe plant, abundant in the Mediterranean area, to obtain a method for taking out and purifying a natural product known as ilicic acid. This acid has been used to develop an effective method of chemical synthesis and of industrial interest towards the pharmacologically active &-eudesmol (against migraine) and ß-eudesmol which inhibits "in vivo" selectively, the proliferation of endothelial cells, being a promising antiangiogenic.

Likewise, these researchers have made another important discovery: they have used the germacrona compound, obtained from the 'Baccharis latifolia', a plant growing in the Bolivian Andes, in a new chemical synthesis of the antitumoral ß-element. This natural product serves to inhibit selectively the vascular endothelial brain cells and it has been used as an agent to prevent cancer in brain tumours and metastases from brain and lung cancer, preventing its growth. Besides, it has been proved that it leads to apoptosis and stops the cellular differentiation process and inhibits neoplasm metastases, so it can be used in lung neoplasm chemotherapy as well as in colon, stomach or brain chemotherapy, etc.

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Photo: Dittrichia viscosa, from Wikimedia

A recently published study (pdf file) indicates that tagatose, a type of natural sugar already approved by the U.S. FDA as a low-calorie sweetener, may be an effective drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.

Tagatose is a sugar similar to fructose and can be found naturally in some dairy products. Only 20 percent of tagatose that is ingested is fully metabolized, principally in the liver, following a metabolic pathway identical to that of fructose. The FDA deemed it a safe sweetener for foods and beverages in 2001. The sugar substitute, marketed under the name Naturlose, is used in ready-to-eat cereals, sodas, mouthwash, toothpaste, lipstick and over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

"In addition to its potential for treating Type 2 diabetes, tagatose shows potential for promoting weight loss and raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, both important ancillary effects in controlling diabetes," the authors say, adding that tagatose is also an antioxidant and a prebiotic, both of which are considered important to good health.

Phase III clinical trials are currently underway.

Source: University of Maryland Medical Center