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Researchers develop antibody drug that could treat diabetic retinopathy
The life-saving diabetic medication insulin, developed at the University of Toronto 100 years ago, was the first biologic therapy – a protein to treat disease. Now, a new biologic therapy developed by U of T researchers has potential to reverse a common diabetes complication.
A team led by Stéphane Angers, professor and associate dean of research at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, has developed a synthetic antibody as a promising treatment for diabetic retinopathy, which causes blindness and affects about 30 per cent of diabetes patients.
“This study has shown that these antibodies are very attractive therapeutics to restore blood-retina barrier defects,” said Rony Chidiac, a post-doctoral researcher in the Angers lab and lead author of the study.
Pharmacy
U of T researchers develop antibody drug that could treat diabetic retinopathy A team led by U of T researcher Stéphane Angers has developed a synthetic antibody as a promising treatment for diabetic retinopathy, which causes blindness and affects about one third of diabetes patients (photo by Tetra Images via Getty Images)
The life-saving diabetic medication insulin, developed at the University of Toronto 100 years ago, was the first biologic therapy – a protein to treat disease. Now, a new biologic therapy developed by U of T researchers has potential to reverse a common diabetes complication.
A team led by
Targeted therapies could exploit unique metabolic features of pancreatic cancer cells
Probing the unique biology of human pancreatic cancer cells in a laboratory has yielded unexpected insights of a weakness that can be used against the cells to kill them.
Led by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PM) Scientist Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky, researchers showed that about half of patient-derived pancreatic cancer cell lines are highly dependent or addicted to the protein peroxiredoxin 4 (PRDX4), as a result of the altered metabolic state of the cancer cell.
This addiction is vital for the cancer cell s survival, thereby also making it a precise, potential target against the cancer.
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IMAGE: Senior author and Princess Margaret Scientist Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky s research reveals the potential of targeted therapies to exploit unique metabolic features of pancreatic cancer cells. view more
Credit: Visual Services, UHN
(Toronto, Friday, May 7, 2021) Probing the unique biology of human pancreatic cancer cells in a laboratory has yielded unexpected insights of a weakness that can be used against the cells to kill them.
Led by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PM) Scientist Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky, researchers showed that about half of patient-derived pancreatic cancer cell lines are highly dependent or addicted to the protein peroxiredoxin 4 (PRDX4), as a result of the altered metabolic state of the cancer cell.
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Radiation can be life-saving for a child with a brain tumour. But the therapy can also cause damage to the brain that leaves deficits in cognitive function, including learning and memory challenges.
Now, thanks to funding from Medicine by Design, a University of Toronto scientist and her team are closer to finding a way to protect the brain from damage for children who must be treated with cranial radiation by using a drug commonly used to treat diabetes.
“We found that if we gave metformin, which is an approved, safe drug used to treat diabetes, as a pre-treatment in animal models, we could actually stop the damage from happening,” says