Presented herein are methods for preventing or treating tumor growth, tumor metastasis and/or abnormal proliferation of tumor cells in a subject, wherein the methods involve administration of a pharmaceutical composition comprising methylnaltrexone. Also presented herein are methods for inhibiting or slowing the growth of a tumor in a subject, wherein the methods include selecting a subject who is a suitable candidate for treatment with methylnaltrexone, and administering a composition comprising methylnaltrexone to the subject.

Described herein is the finding that patients with Sjögren's syndrome exhibit a statistically significant increase in expression of BMP6 in the salivary gland, relative to healthy control subjects. Also described herein is the finding that overexpression of BMP6 in the salivary glands of mice results in an increase in electrical potential across the salivary gland. Thus, provided herein are methods of diagnosing a subject as having Sjögren's syndrome, or at risk for developing Sjögren's syndrome, by measuring the level of BMP6 expression in a salivary gland of a subject, measuring electrical potential in a salivary gland of a subject, or both. Also provided herein are methods of treating a subject with Sjögren's syndrome by administering an agent that inhibits expression of BMP6 expression or activity. Also described herein is the use of XIST and MECP2 as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for male Sjögren's syndrome patients.

Herein is reported a method for the production of a polypeptide that is biologically active as n-mer comprising a nucleic acid encoding a fusion polypeptide according to the following formula (B.sub.n-CS.sub.o-I.sub.s-CS.sub.p-FC-CS.sub.q-I.sub.tCS.sub.r-B.sub.m).sub.u, wherein B denotes a polypeptide that is biologically active as n-mer and forms non-defined aggregates/multimers upon expression in the absence of a fused Fc-region, FC denotes a heavy chain Fc-region polypeptide, CS denotes a cleavage site, and I denotes an intervening amino acid sequence, wherein FC does not substantially bind to an Fc-receptor, recovering the fusion polypeptide from the cell or the cultivation medium, optionally cleaving the fusion polypeptide with a protease, and thereby producing a polypeptide that is biologically active as n-mer and forms non-defined aggregates/multimers upon expression in the absence of a fused Fc-region.

A sensor that may be implanted within a living animal (e.g., a human) and may be used to measure an analyte (e.g., glucose or oxygen) in a medium (e.g., interstitial fluid, blood, or intraperitoneal fluid) within the animal. The sensor may include a sensor housing and an analyte indicator covering at least a portion of the sensor housing. The sensor may include a drug-eluting matrix that covers at least a portion of the analyte indicator. The drug-eluting matrix may include one or more openings configured to allow the medium to pass through the drug-eluting matrix and come into contact with the analyte indicator. The sensor may include one or more therapeutic agents. The one or more therapeutic agents may reduce deterioration of the analyte indicator. The one or more therapeutic agents may be incorporated within the drug-eluting matrix.

The instant invention relates to novel compounds useful for visualizing cell senescence, their preparation and use. In particular, this invention relates to novel fucose and amino-quinoline derivatives useful as senescence traces and their preparation.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for determining the renal glomerular filtration rate or assessing the renal function in a patient in need thereof. The system includes a computing device, a power supply, one or more sensors, and at least one tracer agent that fluoresces when exposed to electromagnetic radiation. The electromagnetic radiation is detected using the sensors, and the rate in which the fluorescence decreases in the patient is used to calculate the renal glomerular filtration rate in the patient.

Systems and methods for providing a clotting factor VIII (CFVIII) dosing regimen include collecting two blood samples from a patient after an infusion of CFVIII and determining a CFVIII clearance based on the two blood samples, and determining if a patient has a half-life greater than a predetermined threshold. A pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of the patient is determined using a Bayesian model of pharmacokinetic profiles of sampled patients having similar body weight or age of the patient. A first weight is applied to the Bayesian model of pharmacokinetic profiles of sampled patients if the half-life of the patient is greater than the predetermined threshold, and a second weight, less than the first weight, is applied to the Bayesian model of pharmacokinetic profiles of sampled patients if the half-life of the patient is less than the predetermined threshold. A dosing regimen is determined for the patient based on the PK profile.

Provided is a peptide for targeting colorectal cancer, a composition for diagnosing radioresponsiveness-dependent prognosis of colorectal cancer using the peptide, and a drug delivery use of the peptide, wherein a functional peptide capable of targeting cancer has been discovered so as to implement personalized diagnosis and treatment for individual patients having cancer, in consideration of problems occurring during treatment in which treatment cases of respective patients differ due to different therapeutic responses resulting from genetic differences in the individual patients.

Disclosed are methods for detecting pain in a subject, such as a mammal (e.g., a human), using brain activity, e.g., as determined by electroencephalography. The methods are useful for treating or reducing the likelihood of pain in a subject by determining power amplitude from the power spectral density of the waveforms and, e.g., administering a therapeutic agent to the subject. The methods disclosed herein may also be utilized to screen for a therapeutic agent that decreases power amplitude using a non-human animal subject. The methods also feature the stimulation of thalamic reticular nucleus of a subject to treat or reduce pain.

Labels and methods are provided for detecting deposits, including drusen, sub-retinal deposits, basal laminar and linear deposits, and the like. The labels can detect the presence, progression, or regression of hydroxyapatite, which can be indicative of the presence or the potential to develop such deposits. The labels can include a conjugate comprising a hydroxyapatite binding moiety and a label moiety, which can provide a detectable signal upon binding of the conjugate to hydroxyapatite. The labels and methods can be utilized to detect deposits in eye tissue, such as the retina, brain tissue, or the like. Methods are also provided for utilizing the present labels to predict or diagnose a neurodegenerative disease, including age-related macular degeneration. Accordingly, some methods can predict or diagnose age-related macular degeneration, including early signs or advanced forms thereof, based on the presence of hydroxyapatite in a tissue sample obtained from a subject.