Targeted Delivery of Small Interfering RNA Using Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles

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White Tea Could Keep You Healthy And Looking Young

White tea may be good for your health, according to new research by Kingston University and Neal’s Yard Remedies. (Credit: Image courtesy of Kingston University)

ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) — Next time you’re making a cuppa, new research shows it might be wise to opt for a white tea if you want to reduce your risk of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or even just age-associated wrinkles. Researchers from Kingston University teamed up with Neal’s Yard Remedies to test the health properties of 21 plant and herb extracts. They discovered all of the plants tested had some potential benefits, but were intrigued to find white tea considerably outperformed all of them.

Professor Declan Naughton, from the School of Life Sciences at Kingston University in South West London, said the research showed white tea had anti-ageing potential and high levels of anti-oxidants which could prevent cancer and heart disease. “We’ve carried out tests to identify plant extracts that protected the structural proteins of the skin, specifically elastin and collagen,” he explained. “Elastin supports the body’s natural elasticity which helps lungs, arteries, ligaments and skin to function. It also helps body tissue to repair when you suffer wounds and stops skin from sagging.” Collagen is a protein found in connective tissues in the body and is important for skin, strength and elasticity, he added.

Results showed white tea prevented the activities of the enzymes which breakdown elastin and collagen which can lead to wrinkles that accompany ageing. These enzymes, along with oxidants, are associated with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Professor Naughton said: “These enzymes and oxidants are key components of normal body processes. However, in inflammatory conditions, suppressing the activities of these excess components has been the subject of decades of research. We were surprised to find such high activity for the white tea extracts in all five tests that were conducted.”

The researchers were blown away by exactly how well the white tea had performed. “We were testing very small amounts far less than you would find in a drink,” Professor Naughton, one of the country’s leading specialists on inflammation, said. “The early indicators are that white tea reduces the risk of inflammation which is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers as well as wrinkles.”

Eight of the other plants and herbs analysed also helped protect against the breakdown of both elastin and collagen. After white tea, bladderwrack performed well followed by extracts of cleavers, rose, green tea, angelica, anise and pomegranate.

Dr Pauline Hili, Technical Director for Neal’s Yard Remedies, said: “We are really excited by this research as it helps us to remain innovative and at the cutting edge of natural skin care. Celebrating the plants used in the Neal’s Yard Remedies products and understanding their specific actions on the skin is what it is all about. The Kingston University research program helps us to create safe, highly effective and cutting-edge products so it’s an ideal partnership for us.”

Journal reference:

1. Tamsyn SA Thring, Pauline Hili, Declan P Naughton. Anti-collagenase, anti-elastase and anti-oxidant activities of extracts from 21 plants. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2009, 9:27 (4 August 2009) [link]

Adapted from materials provided by Kingston University, via AlphaGalileo.

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Structure Of 'Beneficial' Virus That Can Infect Cancer Cells Solved

A research team has solved the 3-D structure of Seneca Valley Virus-001. (Credit: Image courtesy of Scripps Research Institute)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2008) — The 3-D structure of the virus, known as Seneca Valley Virus-001, reveals that it is unlike any other known member of the Picornaviridae viral family, and confirms its recent designation as a separate genus "Senecavirus." The new study reveals that the virus's outer protein shell looks like a craggy golf ball — one with uneven divets and raised spikes — and the RNA strand beneath it is arranged in a round mesh rather like a whiffleball.

"It is not at all like other known picornaviruses that we are familiar with, including poliovirus and rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold," says the study's senior author, Associate Professor Vijay S. Reddy, Ph.D., of The Scripps Research Institute. "This crystal structure will now help us understand how Senecavirus works, and how we can take advantage of it."

The Senecavirus is a "new" virus, discovered several years ago by Neotropix Inc., a biotech company in Malvern, Pennsylvania. It was at first thought to be a laboratory contaminant, but researchers found it was a pathogen, now believed to originate from cows or pigs. Further investigation found that the virus was harmless to normal human cells, but could infect certain solid tumors, such as small cell lung cancer, the most common form of lung cancer.

Scientists at Neotrophix say that, in laboratory and animal studies, the virus demonstrates cancer-killing specificity that is 10,000 times higher than that seen in traditional chemotherapeutics, with no overt toxicity. The company has developed the "oncolytic" virus as an anti-cancer agent and is already conducting early phase clinical trials in patients with lung cancer.

But the researchers still did not know how the virus worked, so they turned to Reddy. He and his Scripps Research team, especially Sangita Venkataraman, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher, determined the Senecavirus crystal structure.

Reddy describes the differences they found between other picornaviruses and the Senecavirus as like variations among car models of the same manufacturer. "The chassis is the same, but the body style is different," he says. "How the body of a virus is shaped determines how it infects cells."

The structure of the Senecavirus is also depicted at http://viperdb.scripps.edu/, the "Virus Particle Explorer" developed at Scripps Research by Reddy and his colleagues. The online database is a worldwide resource for information on the structure of viral particles; it contains details of 253 viruses to date.

Once the structure of Seneca Valley Virus-001 was solved, researchers went on to identify several areas on the viral protein coat that they think might hook onto receptors on cancer cells in the process of infecting them. The researchers are now conducting further investigations on this process. "It will be critically important to find out what region of its structure the virus is using to bind to tumor cells, and what those cancer cell receptors are," Reddy says. "Then we can, hopefully, improve Senecavirus enough to become a potent agent that can be used with many different cancers."

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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Journal reference:

1. S. Venkataraman, V. Reddy, Seshidhar P. Reddy, Neeraja Idamakanti, Paul L. Hallenbeck and Jackie Loo. Structure of Seneca Valley Virus-001, an oncolytic picornavirus representing a new genus. Structure, Vol 16, 1555-1561, 08 October 2008 [link]

Adapted from materials provided by Scripps Research Institute.

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Scripps Research Institute (2008, October 8). Structure Of 'Beneficial' Virus That Can Infect Cancer Cells Solved. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 8, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/10/081008151320.htm