Protagen to Support Pfizer Clinical Drug Development

Two enzymes, TAK1 and IKK, have been identified as important kinases involved in the regulation of pyroptosis - a highly inflammatory form of programmed cell death, which often forms part of the antimicrobial response.

Almost 95% of people with early-diagnosed breast cancer will require surgery and it’s often the first line of treatment for people with brain tumors, for example. But despite improvements in surgical techniques over the past decade, the cancer often comes back after the procedure. Now, a team has developed a spray gel embedded with immune-boosting drugs that could help.

These bacteria persister cells stop replicating and can remain in this dormant, ‘sleeper-cell’ state for days, weeks or even months. When antibiotic treatment has been stopped, if some of these bacterial cells spring back to life, they can trigger another infection.