Any updates on cullen

[cakes]

I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANY UPDATES FROM DUKE........

[Cure Coming Soon]

Glad you posted this. I'm going to email both professor's asking them there plans for 2011. Thanks right before I go to work

[cakes]

Your welcome thats a good idea ccs.....

[cakes]

Im going to be donating a lot of money to cullen pretty soon this coming febuary i have to jobs so one of my jobs im donating all my money to because i want to see this come out quick. Its going to be atleast 2000 a month cant wait very anxious about this atleast i will know all my money is going to somthing useful thank god finally .does anyone think if its the more money they get the faster they will move to market is that how it goes. And ,move faster in trials i mean how quick can they move to do it well i dont even care about the cure anymore but still want it to come out in the near future. I like the idea about aicuris coming out hopefuly it will come out way before the cure is here.

[cakes]

So from what i just heard bloom isnt coming out with a cure cure hes coming out with the best treatment ???? Is cullen experimenting with a cure or treatment im confused beacause i thought bloom was coming out with a cure ???????????? I want to make sure i donate to the cure not treatment even though we need it but i wanna try and get the cure here fast .

[struggle83]

I don't think any of the researchers being supported by forum members actually have a drug in the works. They are pursuing avenues for potential future drug development.

[Cure Coming Soon]

So from what i just heard bloom isnt coming out with a cure cure hes coming out with the best treatment ???? Is cullen experimenting with a cure or treatment im confused beacause i thought bloom was coming out with a cure ???????????? I want to make sure i donate to the cure not treatment even though we need it but i wanna try and get the cure here fast .

Life-Long Inhibition - Professor David Bloom at University of Florida has created a way to cut the virus’ RNA to prevent reactivation. By designing special enzymes called “hammerhead ribozymes”, he's able to target a so-called “late” gene that releases its protein product relatively late after infection. With late genes, partial corruption of the genetic material is sufficient to shut down virus production, as opposed to “early” genes, which would require total inactivation to hinder the process. When administered by a single injection after the initial infection, the therapy provides life-long inhibition of recurring outbreaks.

Cure - Professor Bryan Cullen at Duke University is figuring out how to switch the virus from latency to its active stage. After it's active and a cold sore appears, it's treatable with the drug acyclovir, which kills replicating HSV-1. Cullen believes that a drug could be developed to block the microRNA that suppress HSV-1 into latency; once it's active, acyclovir can be used to destroy the virus permanently.

[thegoodguy]

CCC,

I know you've heard this before but you guys and gals are the saving grace for sufferers like me. I was actually thinking about ending it all until I ran across your site. Thank you.

Have there been any updates from Drs. Bloom and Cullen? Cure soon?...maybe?

[struggle83]

Cure - Professor Bryan Cullen at Duke University is figuring out how to switch the virus from latency to its active stage. After it's active and a cold sore appears, it's treatable with the drug acyclovir, which kills replicating HSV-1. Cullen believes that a drug could be developed to block the microRNA that suppress HSV-1 into latency; once it's active, acyclovir can be used to destroy the virus permanently.

This one doesn't make sense to me. When you activate the virus all you are doing is starting the process by which the infected neurons create virions. Acyclovir partially inhibits this process but does nothing to actually remove the viral DNA from the cell.

I think there is also evidence that even when the virus is seemingly "dormant", it may still be active doing other things than causing "typical" outbreak symptoms.

[cakes]

I FEEL THE SAME WAY STRUGGLE I DONT UNDERSTAND THAT PART I GUESS IF IT ACTIVATES IT THEN HE CAN KILL IT UNSURE OF HOW THAT WORKS REALLY . BUT IF IT IS A CURE IN THE WORKS THEN WHY NOT DONATE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TO GET IT HERE QUICKER AND TO PERMANANTLY RID THE VIRUS . I THINK THAT HAVING THE VIRUS DOES AFFECT US IN SOME WAYS I THINK IT AFFECTS THE LIVER SOME HOW IF YOU HAVE IT FOR TOO LONG . I BELIAVE CULLEN AT DUKE CAN GET US THE CURE FOR SURE . ITS SO INTENSING KNOWING THIS BUT DONT BE NEGATIVE ABOUT IT JUST GO WITH THE FLOW AND IT WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO US SOONER OR LATER. IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD THEN THERE WILL BE A CURE IN TIME BUT IT MIGHT NOT ALWAYS WORK OUT AT DUKE BUT ALL WE CAN AT LEAST DO FOR KNOW IS ENJOY OUR LIVES AND SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR SOMETHING GOOD TO COME ALONG.

[cakes]

How much does each trial cost and if they had enough money can the drug get here quicker is that true ???

[ATGC]

I think Cullen team needs aboout 1.25 million $ for five year time window (roughly 250 k a year) to complete pre-human trials - if all goes as planned (and do they ever?). After that it is a question of hundred millions investment by a drug company to test the drugin clinical trials. - Now they have two year research sponsorship worth 80 k a year by some drug company interested in prospects.

[cakes]

ok thanks for the info

[Cure Coming Soon]

Here's the latest update from Professor Bloom as of 01-12-11. I haven't received a reply from Professor Cullen.

Here is a brief summary/update on our HSV Ribozyme Therapy work here at UF that you can pass onto the H-CS.com folks:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ribozyme Therapy Project

Our HSV Ribozyme Therapy Team at the University of Florida has been working on a new therapy to treat HSV infections for the last 8 years. Our team consists of Alfred Lewin, Ph.D., an expert on ribozymes; Gregory Schultz, Ph.D., an expert on wound healing in the eye; Sonal Tuli, MD, an expert on the cornea and herpes infections of the eye; and David Bloom, Ph.D., an expert on the molecular biology of herpes simplex virus latency and pathogenesis. The team started work on ribozyme-based therapy for herpes simplex virus targeting a disease in the eye called herpes stromal keratitis, or HSK. This disease responds poorly to the existing herpes treatments and is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the US. The approach uses a specially designed RNA molecule called a ribozyme that destroys an Herpesvirus RNA made from the UL20 gene that required for HSV to make new viruses. After years of work, the team was able to demonstrate that this ribozyme-based therapy had potential to treat not only HSV-1 infections in the eye, but on the skin as well (J. Virology 82:7467-7474, 3008). This started the push to perform the necessary preclinical tests to get approval from the FDA to conduct clinical trials.

In June 2010 the team was awarded $50,000 from the Pepsi Refresh campaign to conduct key studies needed to move this therapy forward. So far these funds have allowed the team to perform additional tests on the ribozymes and to refine the method of delivery. To date the results continue to look very encouraging and in a few months the researchers hope to have the data needed to obtain additional funding for the final phase of preclinical studies. The Pepsi Refresh Award came at a critical time and provided the much needed funds to keep work on this therapy moving forward.

These studies continue to suggest that the ribozyme therapy could provide an alternative therapy to suppress recurrence of not only HSV-1, but possibly HSV-2 as well.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MicroRNA Project with Bryan Cullen at Duke

Dr. Cullen and I are currently collaborating on determining the role of the HSV-1 encoded miRNAs on HSV pathogenesis and latency. My lab is currently constructing deletions/mutations of the miRNAs in order to study their function. In order to obtain funds for testing the miRNA mutants Bryan Cullen and I will be submitting a collaborative grant to the NIH on Feb 5.

These studies will allow us to determine the function of the HSV-1 encoded miRNAs and whether blocking them could interfere with HSV's ability to maintain a latent infection and provide a potential new therapy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Cure Coming Soon]

Here's a Cullen Update.

Needs 200-250k for 2 years of preclinical microRNA experiments. Applying for grant from nih in February which would cover 100k of this (this will be a joint grant to work with Bloom on the microRNA experiments). Also getting 85k per year for 2 years from pharma.

Presenting in Feb in a day long meeting with new pharma partner. Meeting outcome unknown but could have a potential great outcome. Cullen believes time to cure herpes is now.

[cakes]

great update thats good then it should almost cover the trial for this year thats great news thanks . cc .

[mamaem]

thanks for the update CCC!!