scholarly journals Bioluminescent Optogenetics: A Novel Experimental Therapy to Promote Axon Regeneration after Peripheral Nerve Injury

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7217
Author(s):  
Arthur W. English ◽  
Ken Berglund ◽  
Dario Carrasco ◽  
Katharina Goebel ◽  
Robert E. Gross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transgenic Mice ◽  
Peripheral Nerve ◽  
Nerve Injury ◽  
Peripheral Nerve Injury ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Axon Regeneration ◽  
Intraperitoneal Administration ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Promising Therapeutic Approach ◽  
Compound Muscle Action Potentials

Functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is poor, mainly due to the slow and incomplete regeneration of injured axons. Experimental therapies that increase the excitability of the injured axons have proven remarkably successful in promoting regeneration, but their clinical applicability has been limited. Bioluminescent optogenetics (BL-OG) uses luminopsins, fusion proteins of light-generating luciferase and light-sensing ion channels that could be used to increase neuronal excitability if exposed to a suitable substrate. Excitatory luminopsins were expressed in motoneurons of transgenic mice and in wildtype mice transduced with adeno-associated viral vectors. Intraperitoneal administration of coelenterazine (CTZ), a known luciferase substrate, generated intense bioluminescence in peripheral axons. This bioluminescence increased motoneuron excitability. A single administration of CTZ immediately after sciatic nerve transection and repair markedly enhanced motor axon regeneration. Compound muscle action potentials were 3–4 times larger than controls by 4 weeks after injury. The results observed with transgenic mice were comparable to those of mice in which the luminopsin was expressed using viral vectors. Significantly more motoneurons had successfully reinnervated muscle targets four weeks after nerve injury in BL-OG treated mice than in controls. Bioluminescent optogenetics is a promising therapeutic approach to enhancing axon regeneration after PNI.

Informed Consent and the Elusive Dichotomy Between Standard and Experimental Therapy

2002 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-408
Author(s):  
Lars Noah
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
Human Experimentation ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Medical Experimentation ◽  
Disclosure Rules ◽  
Near Unanimity

A rich academic literature exists about issues of informed consent in medical care, and, to a lesser extent, about a variety of issues posed by human experimentation. Most commentators regard patient autonomy as a desirable— though in practice often unattainable—goal, and near unanimity exists about the necessity for even fuller disclosure before experimenting on subjects. Although this Article intentionally side-steps the broader debate about informed consent, it challenges the conventional wisdom that special disclosure rules should apply in the experimental context.Clinical trials have become big business. Estimates suggest that as many as twenty million Americans have enrolled in formal biomedical studies, though, as a measure of the full scope of medical experimentation on humans, that figure may represent only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Historically, sponsors of clinical trials recruited subjects informally, counting on word of mouth among physicians and also perhaps posting flyers around college campuses.

scholarly journals COVID-19 lung injury as a primer for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)-related pneumonia in a patient affected by squamous head and neck carcinoma treated with PD-L1 blockade: a case report

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e001870
Author(s):  
Angelo Dipasquale ◽  
Pasquale Persico ◽  
Elena Lorenzi ◽  
Daoud Rahal ◽  
Armando Santoro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Injury ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Nasopharyngeal Swab ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Diagnostic Work ◽  
Work Up ◽  
Diagnostic Work Up

By the beginning of the global pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection has dramatically impacted on oncology daily practice. In the current oncological landscape, where immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of several malignancies, distinguishing between COVID-19 and immune-mediated pneumonitis can be hard because of shared clinical, radiological and pathological features. Indeed, their common mechanism of aberrant inflammation could lead to a mutual and amplifying interaction.We describe the case of a 65–year-old patient affected by metastatic squamous head and neck cancer and candidate to an experimental therapy including an anti-PD-L1 agent. COVID-19 ground-glass opacities under resolution were an incidental finding during screening procedures and worsened after starting immunotherapy. The diagnostic work-up was consistent with ICIs-related pneumonia and it is conceivable that lung injury by SARS-CoV-2 has acted as an inflammatory primer for the development of the immune-related adverse event.Patients recovered from COVID-19 starting ICIs could be at greater risk of recall immune-mediated pneumonitis. Nasopharyngeal swab and chest CT scan are recommended before starting immunotherapy. The awareness of the phenomenon could allow an easier interpretation of radiological changes under treatment and a faster diagnostic work-up to resume ICIs. In the presence of clinical benefit, for asymptomatic ICIs-related pneumonia a watchful-waiting approach and immunotherapy prosecution are suggested.

Immunosenescence: potential causes and strategies for reversal

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Aspinall ◽  
D. Andrew
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
Immune Dysfunction ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Thymic Involution ◽  
Interleukin 7 ◽  
Cell Pool ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Peripheral T Cells ◽  
Laboratory Investigations

Age-related deterioration in immune function has been recognized in many species. In humans the clinical manifestation of such immune dysfunction is age-related increases in the susceptibility to certain infections and in the incidence of some autoimmune disease and certain cancers. Laboratory investigations reveal age-related changes in the peripheral T cell pool, in the predominant phenotype, cytokine production profiles, signalling function and in replicative ability following stimulus with antigen, mitogens or anti-CD3 antibody. These changes in the properties of peripheral T cells are thought to be causally linked to an age-associated involution in the thymus. Our analysis reveals that thymic involution is due to a change in the thymic microenvironment linked to a reduction in the level of available interleukin 7. Treatment with interleukin 7 leads to a reversal of thymic atrophy with increased thymopoiesis. This provides the potential to reverse the immune dysfunction seen in the peripheral T cell pool by replacing old cells with new output generated in the thymus. Problems to overcome in order for such an experimental therapy to be successful require careful analysis in order to provide an optimal strategy to ensure that new T cell emigrants from the thymus have a broad range of specificities and are able to enter the peripheral T cell pool.

scholarly journals Mutations in GDAP1 Influence Structure and Function of the Trans-Golgi Network

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 914
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Binięda ◽  
Weronika Rzepnikowska ◽  
Damian Kolakowski ◽  
Joanna Kaminska ◽  
Andrzej Antoni Szczepankiewicz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Golgi Apparatus ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Charcot Marie Tooth Disease ◽  
Terra Incognita ◽  
And Function ◽  
Golgi Network ◽  
Cell Phenotypes ◽  
Tooth Disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a heritable neurodegenerative disease that displays great genetic heterogeneity. The genes and mutations that underlie this heterogeneity have been extensively characterized by molecular genetics. However, the molecular pathogenesis of the vast majority of CMT subtypes remains terra incognita. Any attempts to perform experimental therapy for CMT disease are limited by a lack of understanding of the pathogenesis at a molecular level. In this study, we aim to identify the molecular pathways that are disturbed by mutations in the gene encoding GDAP1 using both yeast and human cell, based models of CMT-GDAP1 disease. We found that some mutations in GDAP1 led to a reduced expression of the GDAP1 protein and resulted in a selective disruption of the Golgi apparatus. These structural alterations are accompanied by functional disturbances within the Golgi. We screened over 1500 drugs that are available on the market using our yeast-based CMT-GDAP1 model. Drugs were identified that had both positive and negative effects on cell phenotypes. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report of the Golgi apparatus playing a role in the pathology of CMT disorders. The drugs we identified, using our yeast-based CMT-GDAP1 model, may be further used in translational research.

scholarly journals A platform trial in practice: adding a new experimental research arm to the ongoing confirmatory FLAIR trial in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dena R. Howard ◽  
Anna Hockaday ◽  
Julia M. Brown ◽  
Walter M. Gregory ◽  
Susan Todd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia ◽  
Type I Error ◽  
Lymphocytic Leukaemia ◽  
Experimental Therapy ◽  
Type I ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Additional Funding ◽  
Trial Structure ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background The FLAIR trial in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia has a randomised, controlled, open-label, confirmatory, platform design. FLAIR was successfully amended to include an emerging promising experimental therapy to expedite its assessment, greatly reducing the time to reach the primary outcome compared to running a separate trial and without compromising the validity of the research or the ability to recruit to the trial and report the outcomes. The methodological and practical issues are presented, describing how they were addressed to ensure the amendment was a success. Methods FLAIR was designed as a two-arm trial requiring 754 patients. In stage 2, two new arms were added: a new experimental arm and a second control arm to protect the trial in case of a change in practice. In stage 3, the original experimental arm was closed as its planned recruitment target was reached. In total, 1516 participants will be randomised to the trial. Results The changes to the protocol and randomisation to add and stop arms were made seamlessly without pausing recruitment. The statistical considerations to ensure the results for the original and new hypotheses are unbiased were approved following peer review by oversight committees, Cancer Research UK, ethical and regulatory committees and pharmaceutical partners. These included the use of concurrent comparators in case of any stage effect, appropriate control of the type I error rate and consideration of analysis methods across trial stages. The operational aspects of successfully implementing the amendments are described, including gaining approvals and additional funding, data management requirements and implementation at centres. Conclusions FLAIR is an exemplar of how an emerging experimental therapy can be assessed within an existing trial structure without compromising the conduct, reporting or validity of the trial. This strategy offered considerable resource savings and allowed the new experimental therapy to be assessed within a confirmatory trial in the UK years earlier than would have otherwise been possible. Despite the clear efficiencies, treatment arms are rarely added to ongoing trials in practice. This paper demonstrates how this strategy is acceptable, feasible and beneficial to patients and the wider research community. Trial registration ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN01844152. Registered on August 08, 2014

Choice of Tactics for Experimental Therapy of Chronic Heart Failure with ALM-802 Compound

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. V. Barchukov ◽  
I. B. Tsorin ◽  
M. B. Vititnova ◽  
A. O. Efimova ◽  
A. M. Likhosherstov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Chronic Heart Failure ◽  
Experimental Therapy

VISUAL FUNCTION IMPROVEMENT WITH EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY IN MITOCHON DRIAL OPTIC NEUROPATHY

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Jerome Sherman ◽  
Ivan Bodis-Wollner ◽  
Neil Howell
Keyword(s):  
Optic Neuropathy ◽  
Visual Function ◽  
Experimental Therapy
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