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Structural Biology Scores With Protein Snapshot
In a landmark technical achievement, investigators in the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology have used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to determine the structure of the largest membrane-spanning protein to date.
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Opinion: U.S. Should Double Global Maternal, Child Health Spending; Ban, Chan Want 'Global Solidarity'; Res For Diabetes, HIV/AIDS
U.S. Should Double Newborn, Maternal Health Spending, Encourage Other G8 Countries To Do The Same
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Lambda Legal Files Suit Against Assisted-Living Facility For Allegedly Discriminating Against HIV-Positive Resident
Lambda Legal, a group that represents HIV-positive people, on Tuesday filed a law suit against the Fox Ridge assisted-living facility in North Little Rock, Ark., for allegedly evicting a resident because he is HIV-positive, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.The Rev. Robert Franke, a retired biology and religion professor who was diagnosed with HIV in 1987, moved into Fox Ridge, which is operated by Parkstone Living Center, in February. The day after he moved into the facility, an unidentified administrator told his daughter, Sara Franke Bowling, that her "superiors" said Franke needed to be discharged from the facility "because of his HIV." Franke disclosed his HIV status on application materials before moving into the facility. The suit alleges that Parkstone violated the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act and requests a permanent injunction to prevent the facility from denying apartments or services to people living with HIV/AIDS. The suit also seeks compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys" fees and costs. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele. The facility declined to comment on the suit. Julie Munsell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services, said Arkansas law allows for people who have been discharged for assisted-living facilities to remain in the facility pending a hearing if the discharge is appealed. Munsell said the department"s Long-Term Care Division received notice that Franke was appealing the discharge but that the appeal was later dismissed without a hearing. According to Munsell, facilities are not permitted to discharge residents based on medical diagnoses but that some facilities have said they do not have the capacity to provide care for certain conditions. Munsell also said that Fox Ridge is "claiming that they did not admit this client so there is no need for a hearing." Scott Schoettes, staff attorney for Lambda"s HIV Project, said that Franke was not seeking medical care from Fox Ridge, although the facility does provide medical services. "He didn"t require any services beyond which they were licensed to provide," Schoettes said. Franke"s eviction is "particularly blatant and egregious, but unfortunately, not all that uncommon," Schoettes said, adding, "This happens all across the country. We want to send a message that this kind of discrimination is not going to be tolerated" (Satter, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/13).
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IOPHARM Presents Positive Indibulin Translational And Dose Scheduling Data At ASCO

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIOP) announced today that it presented positive data from both a Phase Ib clinical trial and preclinical dosing studies of orally administered indibulin (ZybulinTM or ZIO-301), the Company"s novel tubulin binding agent, at the 45th Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting held in Orlando, FL, May 29th to June 2nd. In the Phase Ib study, oral indibulin was administered with oral capecitabine (XelodaTM) in patients with advanced solid tumors. Trial results presented are for 7 patients who had received a median of three prior therapies. All 7 patients were evaluable for safety, and 4 for efficacy. Three patients had stable disease for a minimum of 6 cycles with 1 patient ongoing in their 11th cycle of treatment. There were no dose limiting toxicities and therefore no maximum tolerated dose was established. Adverse events included hand-and-foot syndrome (capecitabine), fatigue, vomiting, loss of appetite and headaches, and were easily managed. There was no reported neurotoxicity, consistent with other Phase I and preclinical data with indibulin. There was early activity seen in breast, colon, bladder and prostate cancers with this sub-optimal dose level and schedule, which is encouraging with regard to further study using mathematically-optimized dose scheduling, the subject of the preclinical data also presented. The preclinical results were derived from mathematical modeling applying Norton-Simon models in breast cancer xenografts. The work was conducted by the Company under the direction of Dr. Larry Norton (Harmon Hill). Formal analyses revealed that the major effect of therapy occurs in five days of exposure, which is not manifest on gross inspection until one week thereafter. Therefore an intermittent schedule based on five days of drug administration preserves full activity while minimizing the possibility of toxicity. A Phase I/II study in breast cancer using this highly novel scheduling strategy is in development under the direction of two leading breast cancer specialists, Dr. Clifford Hudis in the United States and Dr. Jose Baselga in Spain. "Indibulin is not only an interesting drug because it is active against taxane-resistant cells without the neurotoxicity seen with all the other tubulin binding agents, but also because mathematical modeling has revealed a novel dose-schedule that promises to maximize efficacy and minimize toxicity in the clinic. Also, it is oral, so it is potentially of value to the entire world"s population", commented Dr. Larry Norton, senior author on this presentation. To view the presentation please visit here. ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.


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