Discovery Stems From Here

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating side effect of many commonly-used chemotherapy drugs, and in severe cases can result in the discontinuation of a cancer treatment. By understanding the mechanisms through which chemotherapeutics induce neuropathic pain, researchers aim to develop effective treatments designed specifically to alleviate the condition. These will combat the dose-limitation imposed on chemotherapeutics, as well as offering utility for conditions including multiple sclerosis, diabetes and HIV.

Many commonly used chemotherapy drugs cause unpleasant side effects and complications. Of these, neuropathic pain can be particularly debilitating. Most of the current treatments for neuropathic pain are medications that were originally approved for other health disorders, such as anti-depressants and anti-seizure drugs. These have their own accompanying problems, and since no single drug is effective against all forms of neuropathic pain, it is essential that new therapeutic agents are developed specifically for the treatment of this condition.

Through the previous blogs in this series, we have understood the challenges which somatic cells face when changing their career path to become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), the ways in which we can induce this change, and how we might assess whether this is the right career for the cells through pluripotency and differentiation assays.

In our previous blog we likened somatic cell reprogramming to a career change. Once a somatic cell has been converted to an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC), the next stage in the process can be thought of as an appraisal or performance review. This is essential to confirming that the reprogrammed cell is behaving as expected.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) include coronary heart disease, stroke, myocardial infarction and heart failure. They are the leading cause of mortality globally, with CVD accounting for 31% of deaths worldwide in 2015. Within the UK alone 27.4% of male deaths and 25.2% of female deaths in 2015 were due to CVD.