Publications by authors named "D Falb"
Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disease that is characterized by an inability to metabolize phenylalanine (Phe), which can result in neurotoxicity. To provide a potential alternative to a protein-restricted diet, we engineered Escherichia coli Nissle to express genes encoding Phe-metabolizing enzymes in response to anoxic conditions in the mammalian gut. Administration of our synthetic strain, SYNB1618, to the Pah PKU mouse model reduced blood Phe concentration by 38% compared with the control, independent of dietary protein intake.
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- Brown fat is important for burning energy and may help prevent obesity, but the processes that determine brown-fat cell development are not well understood.
- Researchers have isolated a specific group of progenitor cells (ScaPCs) from brown fat, white fat, and muscle, each with unique properties and potential to become brown fat.
- ScaPCs from brown fat are already committed to becoming brown fat, while those from muscle and white fat can be induced to do so with the right signals, like BMP7, which may differ in effectiveness based on whether the source is from obesity-resistant or obesity-prone mice.
Object: The aim in this study was to detect and quantify antibody responses against recombinant human osteogenic protein 1 (OP-1) and to compare these responses to patient clinical outcomes and safety information.
Methods: A controlled, open-label, randomized, prospective, multicenter pivotal study was performed in which patients with single-level Grade I or II degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (Meyerding classification) and spinal stenosis underwent decompression and uninstrumented posterolateral spinal arthrodesis. Three hundred thirty-six patients were randomized in a 2:1 fashion to receive either OP-1 Putty or autogenous iliac crest bone graft.
Article Synopsis
- BMPs are clinically important for stimulating bone growth, but require large quantities to be effective due to the presence of antagonists that may reduce their efficacy.
- BMP-6 demonstrates greater resistance to noggin inhibition and is more effective than BMP-7 in promoting bone formation and osteoblast differentiation.
- A specific lysine residue (lysine 60) in BMP-6 enhances its resistance to noggin, and modifying other BMPs to include this residue can improve their therapeutic potential against noggin antagonism.
Design of second generation therapeutic recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins.
Cytokine Growth Factor Rev
March 2010
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are growth factors belonging to the TGF beta super family. To date, more than twenty human BMPs have been identified. Of these, BMP-2 and BMP-7 (also known as osteogenic protein 1 or OP-1) are the only BMPs used clinically.
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