Cancer megafunds with in silico and in vitro validation: accelerating cancer drug discovery via financial engineering without financial crisis.

Advances in financial engineering are radically reshaping the biomedical marketplace. For instance, new methods of pooling diversified drug development programs by placing them in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) have been proposed to create a securitized cancer megafund allowing for debt and equity participation. In this study, we perform theoretical and numerical simulations that highlight the role of empirical validation of the projects comprising a cancer megafund.

Aged mice repeatedly injected with plasma from young mice: a survival study.

It was reported using various biological models that the administration of blood factors from young animals to old animals could rejuvenate certain functions. To assess the anti-aging effect of young blood we tested the influence of repeated injections of plasma from young mice on the lifespan of aged mice. One group of 36 CBA/Ca female mice aged 10-12 months was treated by repeated injections of plasma from 2- to 4-month-old females (averaging 75-150 μL per injection, once intravenously and once intraperitoneally per week for 16 months).

Probabilistic sequence alignments: realistic models with efficient algorithms.

Alignment algorithms usually rely on simplified models of gaps for computational efficiency. Based on correspondences between alignments and structural models for nucleic acids, and using methods from statistical mechanics, we show that alignments with realistic laws for gaps can be computed with fast algorithms. Improved performances of probabilistic alignments with realistic models of gaps are illustrated.

Hypoxia and dehydroepiandrosterone in old age: a mouse survival study.

Background: Survival remains an issue in pulmonary hypertension, a chronic disorder that often affects aged human adults. In young adult mice and rats, chronic 50% hypoxia (11% FIO2 or 0.5 atm) induces pulmonary hypertension without threatening life.