on the bus

Taken with picplz at 142 Bus.

T celas role in breast cancer metastasis

celldna: Key culprit identified in breast cancer metastasis - (University of California - San Diego) New research at the Univ... http://ow.ly/1bmKUM

Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/celldna/status/37971418834538497

Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

FYI to my bold friends

http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/materia/13462/queda-de-cabelo-e-cancer-de-prosta...

Protein levels influence breast cancer

celldna: Overabundance of protein expands breast cancer stem cells; Two drugs block cancer-promoting chain of events http://ow.ly/1bmsch

Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/celldna/status/37880837118631936

Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

Oestrogen in breast cancer

StemCell_News: Oestrogen Reduces Aggression In Breast Cancer http://mnt.to/f/3R9n

Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/StemCell_News/status/37476003311779840

Sent via TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

Untitled

image of a cancerous cell from here

[...] cancer is our "new normal". The question then will not be if we will encounter this immortal illness in our lives, but when.

The previous quote was something that one of my Lecturers at Uni, Jorge Martins, used to say quite often.

It is important not to be too glib about this idea. Certain cancers are caused largely by preventable exposures to carcinogens or viruses. Lung cancer is directly linked to smoking. Liver cancer has been long associated with inflammation and repair in liver cells caused by hepatitis B and C virus. Cervical cancer is often caused by a sexually transmitted papilloma virus. These cancers do not arise accidentally or "naturally", but are caused by particular behaviours or exposures that can be modified and changed.

But for many other cancers – many types of breast or prostate cancer, for example – there is no identifiable or modifiable risk aside from age itself. These cancers seem to arise not because we have exposed ourselves to a known chemical or behaviour, but because our genes themselves are vulnerable. Our cells divide as we age, and there are errors in copying genes from one division to the next. As mutant genes encrust upon mutant genes in our bodies, our cells are inevitably tugged towards uncontrollable growth – cancer.

 

This is a excerpt of a text that is published in the guardian. I was made aware of if from a tweet. It is itself a excerpt of the book Emperor of All Maladies By Siddhartha Mukherjee. It will make a good read for everyone that is interested to know about cancer.

A "wake-up call"

Yesterday I went to an interview in Manchester.

I went with a bit of fear of the unknown. The project is to work in the subject of Breast Cancer, Sponsored in part by the Breakthrough. 

In preparation for the interview I have looked for the meet the team section in the Breakthrough Charity website because the job offer document did not mention who was the PI.

I have also asked the secretary who was going to interview me: Anthony Howell, Michael Lisanti, Rob Clarke and Goran Landberg. 

I have made my background check on all of them and read a couple of papers from each. And I was scared. I was scared because all of them are well reputed scientist with a track record that some of us (scientist) can only dream of.

I had to make a presentation about my work, I decided to take the talk I gave last year at the BSG (no not the Battle Star Galactica meeting). I though I was going to be under pressure, as my work is only a drop compared to the ocean of papers my interviewers have. Plus the fact that I come from intestinal tissue and only briefly related to cancer. 

Well I was pleasantly surprised that every thing went smooth. All the questions, the answers. I discovered that the "boss" would be Michael Lisanti, and at some point he even said that with my background I would be the ideal person. You always distrust such remarks, there is no way to tell if this is just to make you fell good or if it is a real assessment. The ideal candidate remark should be because I have a background in oxidative stress, I know epithelial tissue biology, epithelial stem cell, stem cell niches, I know about cancer stem cells, I know about stromal interactions, I have experience with different animal models (*disclaimer* I condone any kind of animal cruelty. Laboratory animals live in normal circumstances a happy life) and I am eager to prove myself.

Anyway I left after a brief talk about the state of science in my country, big institues that are being created now (like the Champalimaud foundation Centre for the Unknown) and the almost mandatory subject of public finances. Well they said that they would call me by the end of the week (liars!).

So I got the call this morning. it was a wake up call (9:06 - my new lucky number) and on the other end was a job offer. An offer that I gladly accepted :)

FYI to my bold or getting bold friends

THERE is HOPE!

Hope for the hairless as reactivating follicle stem cells could cure baldness 'within decades'

Scientists have found that stem cells do not develop properly in balding scalps compared with hairy ones. and say that working out a way to make the cells mature properly could allow hair to regrow.

Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1344094/Baldness-cure-decades-reactivating-follicle-stem-cells.html

Or in audio here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9339000/9339609.stm

Tremoço

Tremoço (Lupin beens) also know as "camarão dos pobres" (poor people's prawn) is something that is quite often offered as a snack in Portuguese cafés alongside a cold beer.

Now it seems that the Lupin seeds are being used to create an alternative to animal protein.

see it here http://www.gizmag.com/lupin-seeds-used-for-meat-protein-alternatives/17437/

Happy 2011

Wishing you all a great 2011!

Mine is starting a bit hectic: interview in Manchester on the 4th, and Viva voce in London on the 7th.

Well I wish you all good luck in 2011. I will need some this week.

R

WELCOME II (Portugal) Promoting the Return of Researchers to the European Research Area

If you are a National of any of the “Member States” (MS) or “Associated Countries” (AC); 

MS: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,

Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,

Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,

Sweden, United Kingdom); 

ACs in FP7: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM,

Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland Turkey.

And if you spent the last 3 years in a non-MS/AC country doing research (phd or post-doc).

Then you are elegible to apply to the Welcome II grants from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Budget
The total budget of the Programme is €12.5 million and it is expected that the number of
fellows to be funded will be 54.
The distribution of the indicative budget of the call will consider two different levels of
costs of salaries, according to the experience of the fellow:
Fellow A - Researchers holding a PhD: total cost granted per fellow, including mandatory
costs of the employer: 61000 €/year
Researcher’s gross salary: 3191.82€/ gross salary/month, 14 months/year, plus lunch
subsidy.
Fellow B - Researchers with 5 or more years of research experience after obtaining their
PhD degree: total cost granted per fellow, including mandatory costs of the employer: 68
745 €/year.
Researcher’s gross salary: 3601.03€/month, 14 months/year, plus lunch subsidy.
Other payments refer to:
Travel and mobility allowance: 1600 €/first year;
Research costs: 5000 €/year
Host institution overheads: 5000 €/year/fellow
Top-ups can be negotiated between the host and the candidate.

HIV cure with Stem cells? The Berlin Patient

To make clear from the start: what this study reports is (at this point) a Proof of Concept.

A number of factors need to be accounted for.

This was no simple: "here, drink this solution containing stem cells and you will be HIV free!"

The case of the Berlin Patient, an american citizen living in Berlin, was first reported in 2008 and now, 3 years down the line, there was a follow up of the case. This is still an amazing achievement in one particular patient. 

The abstract from the paper (Allers et al; doi:10.1182/blood-2010-09-309591) (my comments in italic):

HIV entry into CD4+ cells requires interaction with a cellular receptor, generally either CCR5 or CXCR4. 

(CD4 is a primary receptor used by HIV-1 to gain entry into host T cells; T cells play a major role in cellular immunity, being most effective in removing virus-infected cells, but also participates in defending against fungi, protozoans, cancers, and intracellular bacteria. It also plays a major role in transplant rejection)  

We have previously reported the case of an HIV-infected patient in whom viral replication remained absent despite discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy after transplantation with CCR5Δ32/Δ32 stem cells.

(The patient stopped taking drugs for HIV after being transplanted with Bone Marrow Stem cells with mutation in CCR5, these cells are naturally resistant to infection by R5 HIV strains)

However, it was expected that the long-lived viral reservoir would lead to HIV rebound and disease progression during the process of immune reconstitution.

 (Therefore the results were not expected) 

In the present study, we demonstrate successful reconstitution of CD4+ T cells at the systemic level (i.e. in the blood stream) as well as in the gut mucosal immune system following CCR5Δ32/Δ32 stem cell transplantation, while the patient remains without any sign of HIV infection.

(one of problems of radiotherapy is that the immune system gets compromised, killing most, if not all, bone marrow stem cells, therefore impeding the production of new T cells. After transplantation "new bone marrow" the body is able to produce T cells again)

 

This was observed although recovered CD4+ T cells contain a high proportion of activated memory CD4+ T cells, i.e. the preferential targets of HIV, and are susceptible to productive infection with CXCR4-tropic HIV. Furthermore, during the process of immune reconstitution, we found evidence for the replacement of long-lived host tissue cells with donor-derived cells indicating that the size of the viral reservoir has been reduced over time. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient.

So this particular patient apart from being HIV infected, he also suffered from leukemia (blood cancer). He had received a 1st transplant of Bone Marrow stem cells and some time later the cancer came back (relapsed). He received a second transplant from a donor with that rare genetic mutation that conferred resistance to HIV (CCR5Δ32/Δ32). At this time he stopped antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV. Three year later (i.e. now) he seems to be cancer and HIV free.

The good things:

1) It shows that there is a way of erradicating (as it seems) the HIV infection. It shows that scientists are on the right path (but it is probably not the only one)

The not so good things:

1) Transplantation is a major thing (30% of patients die)

2) does it really pay to undergo transplantation when the HIV therapies available today can provide HIV patients with a life span up to 70-80 years?

3) About one in 100 Caucasian people have the mutation (CCR5Δ32/Δ32), finding a compatible match will extremely difficult.

4) (to my understanding) The mutation is only resistant to a strain of HIV.

5) Three years is still a very short time to make this a definite proof.

This is a life-threatening treatment as it is and the next step is to devise strategies to reduce the risks of such therapy. Companies and  Research groups in the US are trying to manipulate the patients own stem cells to try therapies that are similar to the one given to the Berlin patient. At least with would reduced the host-graft rejection that tends to happen in normal transplantations.

Still very interesting (and IMHO much more the the As-Bacteria story...)

The AsBacteria

First was all the hype NASA created about something extraordinary, press releases etc (in science a very typical thing of a lot of smoke but little fire);

Then people wondered if it would be about a new life form or basically the admittance of life forms outside earth (aliens, area 51 etc);

Finally the paper came out and we could know more about the subject. (I have to admit here that I have not read the paper)

I leave you with an paragraph of a science blog that summarizes what I imagined it would be since the beginning:

"Then the stories calmed down, and instead it was that they had discovered an earthly life form that used a radically different chemistry. I was dubious, even at that. And then I finally got the paper from Science, and I'm sorry to let you all down, but it's none of the above. It's an extremophile bacterium that can be coaxed into substiting arsenic for phosphorus in some of its basic biochemistry. It's perfectly reasonable and interesting work in its own right, but it's not radical, it's not particularly surprising, and it's especially not extraterrestrial. It's the kind of thing that will get a sentence or three in biochemistry textbooks in the future."

in http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/12/its_not_an_arsenic-based_life.php

R

Beer butt Chicken!

So I bought a chicken today as I wanted to roast it. 

I was going to do the usual recipe but then I remembered of beer butt chicken.

This is a recipe that receives very good feedback but that I never get round to try.

So hands on. I have losen the skin and rubbed the insides with a mix of a chicken cube, peper, chili powder, grated garlic, grated onion, olive oil and a bit of beer. Mixed the "mix" left over with half a can. Shoved the can up the chicken's arse and oven (175ºC for 1h and 15min more or less).

Will let you know later how it tastes but it does look good!!

btw it is served with baby potatos and chantenay carrots that were parboiled 10 and then roasted for another 10-15 min basted with the juices from the chicken...

nom nom :)

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Snowing in Nottingham in late November

It was a big surprise to find that it was snowing in the early hours of saturday.

Everything was white, and a lot of roads were also covered as the snowfall was not expected until Sunday night.

Everything remains covered in white. as the temperatures dropped to as low as minus 7 deg Celsius last night

Just showing some photos of "my street" and the view from my bedroom window to Jubilee campus and the Aspire!

Keep warm :)

R

See and download the full gallery on posterous

In my Christmas list...

 

 

 

 

DOENÇA  REMÉDIO  POSOLOGIA Alergias Monte Velho  1 copo Anemia Dão Grão Vasco  4 copos    Arterosclerose Douro Esteva 2 copos Bronquite Quinta da Bacalhôa  3 copos Constipação Periquita 4 copos Icterícia Porto Ferreira 2 cálices Diarreia Duas Quintas 4 copos Hepatite  Murganheira Reserva 1 garrafa Ciática  Barca Velha 4 copos Gripe João Pires 2 garrafas Hipertensão Muralhas 1 garrafa Artrite  Raposeira 2 taças Depressão Frei João Bairrada  3 copos Obesidade Porto Real C.ª Velha  5 cálices Cirrose  C.R.F. Reserva 3 garrafas Reumatismo Fundação E. Almeida  2 copos Enxaqueca Herdade do Esporão 4 copos  Lombalgia    Casal Garcia 4 copos  Alzheimer    Fragulho 1/2 copo

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Mo in Need! #Movember

My Friends
almost getting in the last week of #Movember and I am felling a bit down.
The reason being the lack of support to my campaign, last year I managed to raise £400 and this year so far I have managed £135.
I know times are not favorable to give money but hey, like an ad on TV says: every little helps!
So c'mon donate for #movember, just go online to http://uk.movember.com/mospace/101075 and make a donation, as little as 50p or as big as £50!

Have you donated for #Movember ?

Download now or preview on posterous

Since 1st.pdf (615 KB)

Have you? http://uk.movember.com/mospace/101075

Movember - Support the Prostate Cancer Charity - Donate to me!

Hi, 

Once again, this Movember, the month formerly known as November I’ve decided to donate my face to raising awareness about prostate cancer.  My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity. To help, you can either: 

•  Click this link http://uk.movember.com/donate/your-details/member_id/101075/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account . Or,

•  Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.
For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs. 

Thank you in advance for helping me to support men’s health. 

Ricardo Gandara

See and download the full gallery on posterous

#Movember week1

#Movember is on, so c'mon sponsor my PoMo! 

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/101075/ 

and here it is my current Mo!