Publications by authors named "R Greferath"

The failures of anti-β-amyloid immunotherapies suggested that the very low fraction of injected antibodies reaching the brain parenchyma due to the filtering effect of the BBB may be a reason for the lack of therapeutic effect. However, there is no treatment, as yet, for the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) despite substantial evidence existing of the involvement of TDP-43 protein in the evolution of ALS. To circumvent this filtering effect, we have developed a novel approach to facilitate the penetration of antibody fragments (Fabs) into the brain parenchyma.

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In neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuroinflammation can lead to blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. After intravenous or intra-arterial injection into mice, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) home to the damaged BBB to promote neurovascular repair. Autologous EPCs transfected to express specific therapeutic proteins offer an innovative therapeutic option.

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Preventing tumor neovascularisation is one of the strategies recently developed to limit the dissemination of cancer cells and apparition of metastases. Although these approaches could improve the existing treatments, a number of unexpected negative effects have been reported, mainly linked to the hypoxic condition and the subsequent induction of the pro-oncogenic hypoxia inducible factor(s) resulting from cancer cells' oxygen starvation. Here, we checked in vivo on colon cancer cells an alternative approach.

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Myo-inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP), a synthetic allosteric effector of hemoglobin, increases the regulated oxygen-releasing capacity of red blood cells (RBCs), leading to suppression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and to down-regulation of hypoxia-inducible genes such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). As a consequence, tumor growth is markedly affected. The effect of weekly intravenous injection of ITPP on an orthotopic, syngenic rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model was compared to that for untreated animals and animals subjected to conventional Doxorubicin chemotherapy.

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myo-Inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP), a novel membrane-permeant allosteric effector of hemoglobin (Hb), enhances the regulated oxygen release capacity of red blood cells, thus counteracting the effects of hypoxia in diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular ailments. ITPP-induced shifting of the oxygen-hemoglobin equilibrium curve in red blood cells (RBCs) was inhibited by DIDS and NAP-taurine, indicating that band 3 protein, an anion transporter mainly localized on the RBC membrane, allows ITPP entry into RBCs. The maximum intracellular concentration of ITPP, determined by ion chromatography, was 5.

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