Fighting cancer with measels

Canadian researchers have discovered that a tumor cell marker is a receptor for measles virus, suggesting the possible use of measles virus to help fight cancer. Their findings appear in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens .

Figure 2 shows that PVRL4 can function as an entry factor for the w/t measels virus

In a nutshell, Christopher D. Richardson and his team at Dalhousie University showed that measles virus can infect human airway epithelial cells and many adenocarcinoma cell lines. They also demonstrated that PVRL4, a tumour marker that is highly expressed on many lung, breast, colon, and ovarian tumors, converts cells that were resistant to measles viral infections, to cells that could support virus infections. Hence, the authors suggest that future experiments be done to investigate whether an oncolytic measels virus can be used to specifically target tumour cells expressing PVRL4, thus preferentially targetting lung, breast, colon and ovarian tumour cells.

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Citation: Ryan S. Noyce, Daniel G. Bondre, Michael N. Ha, Liang-Tzung Lin, Gary Sisson, Ming-Sound Tsao, & Christopher D. Richardson (2011). Tumor Cell Marker PVRL4 (Nectin 4) Is an Epithelial Cell Receptor for Measles Virus PLoS Pathogens : doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002240

Biotechnology News

MS Society of Canada welcomes federal commitment to fund CCSVI trials

June 29, 2011 – Toronto – Today, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, announced that the federal government will fund Phase I/II level clinical trials on chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and MS.

The MS Society of Canada has called upon the federal government and provinces and territories to fund therapeutic clinical trials and has committed $1 million towards the financial cost of a clinical trial. Many jurisdictions have responded and we encourage others to as well.

We are pleased to see that the federal government and CIHR have kept MS at the top of their healthcare agendas. The topic of CCSVI is an important one for the MS community and people living with MS have asked for definitive answers.

This recommendation was based upon a meeting of the CIHR’s scientific expert working group, which met yesterday, and unanimously recommended the design and launch of a Phase I/Phase II therapeutic clinical trial. The highlights from this meeting will be posted on the CIHR website.

The CIHR meeting highlights indicate that the seven funded studies are progressing well. As of July 1, 2011, the studies will be at their halfway point, concluding in July 2012. One year interim progress reports will be available in the coming weeks and will be posted on mssociety.ca and ccsvi.ca.

The MS Society of Canada will continue to monitor all developments related to CCSVI. People living with MS are at the center of our work and this will continue to be what drives us as we move through this exciting new phase of MS research.

Clink: http://mssociety.ca/en/releases/nr_20110629.htm

Contributing to Canadian science 1,000 letters at a time

Rob Annan, on the Researcher Forum blog (www.don’tleavecanadabehind.wordpress.com) wrote a post today encouraging the Canadian scientific community to join Dr. Reinhart Reithmeier’s in his “1,000 Letters Project.”

Dr. Reithmeier is the current Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto and a firm believer that the CIHR requires further government investment for Canadian researchers to remain competitive on the international scientific stage. The 1,000 letters project calls for Canadians to send 1,000 letters to Minister of Health, Prime Minister, Finance Minister and their local MP concerning the need for further investment.

According to Reithmeier:

The letter should be positive and include the following elements:

• Re: CIHR
• thank the government for its many investments in health research
• tell a personal story on the positive impact of CIHR and how the research we conduct improves the health and prosperity of Canadians
• raise a concern about the research enterprise, operating grants, international competitiveness, etc
• suggest further government investments in CIHR (e.g., The 7% Solution: a government commitment to an additional investment of 7% per year in CIHR would double its budget to $2
  billion in 10 years.)

The federal budget is expected to be tabled in two weeks and so the time is now to heed Dr. Reithmeier’s call. Full instructions on how to participate can be found on the 1,000 letters call for participation.

Government of Canada boosts efforts to find treatments for pediatric cancers and rare genetic diseases

Two new research teams of top doctors and scientists from across Canada will embark on an ambitious goal to identify the genes that cause the most challenging types of cancer and rare diseases in children, and find new treatments. The announcement was made by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). He was joined by Royal Galipeau, MP for Ottawa-Orléans.

“Our Government is investing in promising medical research to improve the health of Canadians and strengthen our economy,” said Minister Goodyear. “This investment in world-leading research will help find important new treatments for children with cancer and rare genetic diseases.”

“The destructive impacts of these diseases on Canadians are recognized by our Government,” said the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health. “By supporting these programs Canada will play a key role in the advancement of new technologies to find innovative treatments for Canadians affected by these devastating diseases.”

The Government of Canada will invest $4.5 million for the two projects – $2.5 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $2 million from Genome Canada, [$600,000] from Genome British Columbia and [$500,000] from Génome Québec. Researchers from the two teams are based in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The two teams announced today are:

Finding of Rare Disease Genes in Canada (FORGE Canada)

• Dr. Kym Boycott (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and her team of researchers across Canada will study more than seventy childhood genetic disorders. Using new made-in-Canada sequencing technology, they will study children and families across the country in order to help discover disease-causing genes.

The Canadian Pediatric Cancer Genome Consortium

• Dr. Poul Sorensen (University of British Columbia) and his team will use some of the most powerful gene sequencing technologies ever developed to probe the genomes (DNA) of up to six of the most challenging childhood cancers known. The researchers will use leading edge sequencing technology to rapidly scan the DNA of the entire human genome that is contained in tumour cells.

“The next ten years in health research will be defined by our understanding of genomics and its effect on how we develop new treatment methods and monitoring tools,” said Dr. Pierre Chartrand, Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “Here at CIHR we are focusing on the application of a patient orientated research model, and you cannot get more patient oriented than helping defeat childhood cancer and rare diseases.”

“Canada is now poised to take a leading position in disease gene discovery – opening up exciting new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr. Pierre Meulien, President and CEO of Genome Canada.

source: CIHR

Canadian Heavyweights to Invest Millions in Microbiome Research

A significant new investment will allow researchers to investigate the trillions of microorganisms that reside in or on the human body and the role they play in health and disease as well as develop new detection methods and treatment options for several chronic diseases. The announcement was made last Thursday at the Ontario Science Centre by representatives from the Government of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Genome British Columbia, Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC).

“Genome British Columbia is pleased to be partnering with CIHR on this important initiative and to be able to support two leading BC scientists and their teams in areas of research that will have a significant impact on the health of many of Canadians,” says Dr. Alan Winter, President and CEO of Genome British Columbia. “This work will build upon existing technologies and capacity developed over recent years through Genome BC, Genome Canada and CIHR funding and has excellent potential for positive results in the fields of immunological disorders and female reproductive health.”

Lois Brown, Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora announced, on behalf of Minister Aglukkaq, over $14 million in federal funding over five years to support seven new research teams. As well, $1.4 million in funding is being provided by Genome British Columbia, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The research teams are based in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

“The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada is very pleased to partner with CIHR and others in microbiome research. Inflammatory bowel disease is believed to be caused by abnormal immune responses resulting from a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers in conjunction with gut microbes. Hence, microbiome research is integral to finding ways to prevent and cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which affect one in 160 Canadians,” says Kevin W. Glasgow, MD, FRCPC and CEO of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada.

“This exciting initiative offers new hope to all people with cystic fibrosis – the most common, fatal, genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults,” said Cathleen Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “Our Foundation is proudly supporting one of the teams of the Canadian Microbiome Initiative. This team will investigate the role microbes play in the severity and progression of infection in the lungs of individuals with cystic fibrosis.”

“The CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity (III) is proud to support our seven research teams from across the country that exemplifies the innovation necessary to address and treat a wide range of conditions,” said Dr. Marc Ouellette, Scientific Director for CIHR. “The goal of this initiative is to discover which microbial communities exist in different parts of the human body and to explore how these communities impact and influence human health or disease.”

The funded projects include:

1. The Vaginal Microbiome Project
2. Understanding the physiological and genetic bases of inflammatory bowel disease
3. Modeling and mapping microbial diversity and function with marker genes, genomes and metagenomes
4. Assessing the breadth and depth of cystic fibrosis-associated polymicrobial respiratory tract infections
5. Impact of the microbiodata on immune development and disease
6. Synergy in microbiodata research
7. Respiratory tract microbiome dynamics and the interplay of commensal bacteria with resident pathogens

For a full description of all funded projects see the CIHR backgrounder on funded projects.

See the original press release on the CIHR website.