Osstem Developed Synthetic Peptide and Completes Patent Registration

Korean dental implant manufacturer, Osstem, has completed the development and pre-clinical test of “Synthetic Peptide,” a new material that enhances the performance of dental implant. 

According to the company, the synthetic peptide is “a bone-promoting protein; any implant surface-treated with this material will promote bone formation in gums with insufficient bone volume”. The practice by dentists currently is to  transplant additional bone or insert bone-like materials in the gum to place the implant when there is not enough bone surrounding the implant. 

The company said that once implants that have been surface-treated with synthetic peptide are released, even patients with insufficient volume of gum bone will have no problem undergoing an implant operation and one that will drastically shorten the treatment period.

While other bone-promoting proteins are available, the cost of such products are more expensive and they have to be stored at -5℃. In contrast, Osstem’s synthetic peptide can be stored at normal temperature. The company can also lower the cost to 1/1,000 that of existing products, hence easily commercializing the product. The company has already registered the patent for synthetic peptide in January and is scheduled to start clinical test in 2010, and the product will be released commercially in 2012. By the company’s estimates, synthetic peptides could provide the backbone for 4th generation implant technology and is expected to replace products capturing more than 50% of the world’s dental implant market, which is valued at KRW 4 trillion as of 2012.

Portable X-ray for Medical Imaging could soon be a Reality

Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) recently developed a portable X-ray source using carbon nanostructures, paving the way for X-ray nondestructive examination using dry batteries as a power source. 

According to the report, Ryoichi Suzuki (Leader), the Advanced Defect-Characterization Research Group, the Research Institute of Instrumentation Frontier (Director: Yoshio Akimune) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (President: Hiroyuki Yoshikawa), In cooperation with Dialight Japan Co., Ltd. (President: Masanori Haba) and Life Technology Research Institute, Inc. (President: Yoshihisa Ishiguro), has developed practical portable X-ray sources with a cold-cathode electron source using carbon nanostructures.

Main Body of the Developed X-ray Source. Photo from AIST.

The X-ray sources use carbon nanostructures as field-emission electron sources. Due to the absence of a heater or a filament, it can promptly generate X-rays whenever required and does not require preheating. In addition, energy is consumed only while X-rays are being generated, allowing X-rays with an energy of more than 100 keV (the level needed in nondestructive inspection or medical diagnostics) can be generated from dry batteries or a USB power source.  The report also mentions that “the technology also is applicable to an electron beam with a power of more than 10 kW generating X-rays for ultrahigh-speed imaging, which contributes to new applications that require ultra-rapid X-ray inspection.”

Setup for X-ray transmission imaging using a portable X-ray source. Photo from AIST.

According to the report, the developed X-ray tube with a high-voltage power source can be hand-carried in a case, and used to generate X-rays on site.  The photo from AIST on the top shows the setup for X-ray transmission imaging using a low-power model of portable X-ray tube housed in a small case (measuring 37 cm × 13 cm × 35 cm) together with a power source.  This X-ray source can be used in nondestructive inspection and medical diagnostics in the same way as a conventional hot-cathode X-ray source.  The portable X-ray source is convenient to use because it eliminates warm-up time, a big issue for conventional hot-cathode X-ray tubes, and generate X-rays promptly whenever needed. We could really see the applications of a portable X-ray for use in outdoor medical field like helping refugees and for medical emergency use after a natural disaster like an earthquake and a tsunami. 

Scehmatic Diagram showing how the X-ray tubes work. Picture from AIST.

Fermented Extract of Noni Fruit to aid in Fighting Cancer

According to a report published by Oncology Reports, a fermented extract of the Noni fruit ,which is commonly found in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, could help the immune system attack cancer cells, and may provide long-term cancer protection. The Noni fruit, scientifically known as Morinda citrifolia, has been used in Polynesian folk medicine for more than 2,000 years.

The Noni Fruit. Photo from Flickr.

The report, published by lead author Yanzhang Wei, PhD, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University, and Assistant Director of the Clemson University Biomedical Institute, mentioned that fermented Noni may contain some bacterial and/or fungal materials, which may have the potential to engage the innate immune system through toll-like receptors (TLRs). The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defense against infection, and toll-like receptors are important proteins that help trigger this immune response.

Dr. Wei and his colleagues evaluated the use of a fermented liquid extract from the Noni fruit (fermented Noni exudate, or fNE) to prevent and treat cancer.

For the prevention study, female mice were injected with one of three substances: fNE, a phosphate-balanced solution (PBS, which is similar to saline solution), or lipopolysaccharides (LPS, a natural toxin found in bacteria and in fermented Noni juice) for three days. Then the researchers injected the mice with lung cancer and sarcoma cells. Meanwhile for the treatment study, the mice were first injected with the cancer cells, and then treated with three doses of fNE, LPS, or PBS.

The results of the prevention study was that after the mice were injected with fNE, they developed greater numbers of immune cells such as granulocytes (a type of white blood cell) and natural killer (NK) cells, indicating that fNE had stimulated their immune system.

In the treatment study, a month after receiving fNE for sarcoma treatment or prevention, more than 85 percent of the mice were not only alive, but also cancer-free. For lung cancer tumor cells, fNE also was effective, although the tumor prevention rate was slightly lower (62 percent). Meanwhile, all of the mice that received PBS or LPS died.

The study also showed that fNE not only warded off cancer immediately—it also provided long-term protection. When the mice that had received fNE were injected with sarcoma tumor cells a second time, 15 out of 16 of them rejected the tumors.

Similar experiments were conducted with nude mice (a laboratory mouse from a strain with a genetic mutation that causes a deteriorated or absent thymus gland, resulting in an inhibited immune system due to a greatly reduced number of T cells) and beige mice (strain of mice that are immune deficient). All of the nude mice eventually died, but fNE was able to prolong their lives. The beige mice died within 20 days of receiving the cancer cells, which the authors say was because they lacked functional NK cells. These cells of the innate immune system were responsible for the majority of the response to fNE treatment.

“These results indicate that the activation of the first line of defense of the innate immune system is absolutely necessary to kill the tumor cells,” the authors write. However, the innate immune system alone is not enough to wipe out tumors. It must work in conjunction with the adaptive immune system—the part of the immune system that protects against re-exposure to the same harmful substances. fNE appears to activate both aspects of the immune system to destroy cancers.

Future studies will help researchers gain a better understanding of how fNE stimulates the immune system, and determine whether it might be effective against other types of cancers. For now, the fruit extract shows great promise as a cancer-fighting agent. “I feel positive that fNE or its derivatives will provide useful new options for cancer, especially for cancer prevention,” Dr. Wei says.