Biomedical subjects

Hugo Alberto Barrera-Saldaña

Publications and source records attributed to Hugo Alberto Barrera-Saldaña.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

[Genetic therapy of cancer].

Gene therapy is a new modality of treatment in which a gene is used to modify or add new biochemical properties to a patient's target cells with therapeutics purposes. Currently, this experimental therapy is under intensive development as an alternative to treat cancer, because it is possible that this therapy may generate a higher antineoplastic activity, more tissue selectivity and less contralateral effects than conventional therapy. After a decade of preclinical and clinical assays, still there are several obstacles that impose limits to the antineoplastic efficacy of this therapy. However, with the advances in molecular biology and related fields, there is a promise to improve, expand and strength the powerful antineoplastic arsenal of gene therapy.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Experimental models for hepatitis C virus (HCV): new opportunities for combating hepatitis C.

Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global public health issue. More than 200 million people in the world are infected with HCV. Hepatitis C is considered one of the main causes of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation. The identification of the viral genome quickly allowed delineation of genomic organization, and the structure and biochemical characterization of the proteins of HCV. However, it has been difficult to study its life cycle, as well as the development of antiviral agents due to the lack of a system of permissible culture. Numerous attempts have been reported to establish an in vitro system for the study of HCV. Recently, a system of efficient culture was established that allows replication of subgenomic molecules of HCV in a cell line of human hepatoma. In this revision, after a brief description of the molecular biology, means of transmission and clinical characteristics of hepatitis C, some of the experimental models are described that have been developed to date, focusing mainly on the subgenomic replicon system and their use in the development of new antiviral treatments.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Proteins in a DNA world: expression systems for their study.

Every day, new proteins are discovered and the need to understand its function arises. Human proteins have a special interest, because to know its role in the cell may lead to the design of a cure for a disease. In order to obtain such information, we need enough protein with a high degree of purity, and in the case of the human proteins, it is almost impossible to achieve this by working on human tissues. For that reason, the use of expression systems is needed. Bacteria, yeast, animals and plants have been genetically modified to produce proteins from different species. Even "cell-free" systems have been developed for that purpose. Here, we briefly review the options with their advantages and drawback, and the purification systems and analysis that can be done to gain understanding on the function and structure of the protein of interest.

Amino Acid Sequence↗