All of These

Currently available therapeutic agents approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) reduce relapse rates, but do not reverse or prevent neurodegeneration nor initiate myelin repair. There is thus a great need for effective therapies against MS. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led by Dr. John Katzenellenbogen, have developed novel chloroindazole analogs that show particular promise in promoting remyelination while reducing inflammatory cytokines in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). These novel MS drugs are specific for ERβ and have tremendous potential for the treatment of MS. The compounds are more superior to other estrogenic drugs due to their specificity for ERβ and lack of undesirable effects such as feminization and increased risk of cancer. 

A scalable device design of a dense array of multiple 2D nanopores made from nanoscale semiconductor materials to simultaneously detect multiple DNA strands and identify translocations of many biomolecules in a massively parallel detection scheme. The technology is based on the variation of the transverse sheet current across each membrane. The electronic sensing across the nanopore membrane offers a higher detection resolution compared to ionic current blocking technique in a multi-pore setup, irrespective of the irregularities that occur while fabricating the nanopores in a 2D membrane.

Endometriosis is the growth of endometrial lesions outside of the uterus – these lesions are adherent on various organs in the peritoneum, including the ovaries. It is a major painful and debilitating disease of women of reproductive age. It is also a major cause of infertility and involves both inflammatory pain and tissue proliferation. Past and current endocrine therapies for the treatment of endometriosis have generally proven ineffective. In cases where they have been able to cause reduction in lesions, they have not been very effective in reducing pain. Dr. John Katzenellenbogen and colleagues have developed novel compounds targeting estrogen receptor β (ERβ), one of the two ERs found in uterine tissue and endometrial lesions. These compounds possess growth-suppressive and anti-inflammatory activities. In studies in established mouse models of endometriosis, the compounds prevented the formation of endometriotic lesions and significantly reduced previously established lesions. Immune cell infiltration and markers of inflammation were also suppressed. Formation of new blood vessels and development of nerve patterns following these vessels (likely targeting pain symptoms) were also suppressed in the animal studies.