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Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

An international team including scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has identified the molecular "lock" that the deadly Ebola virus must pick to gain entry to cells.

27 May 2015

Brain protein plays key role in controlling binge drinking

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that a brain protein has a key role in controlling binge drinking in animal models. They found that deleting the gene for this protein in mice ramped up alcohol consumption and prevented the brain from signaling the rewarding properties of alcohol.

12 May 2015

Scientists report that enzyme that alters testosterone to estrogen has big impact in healthy, injured brain

An enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen appears to have significant impact in a healthy and injured brain, scientists report.

5 May 2015

UTHealth scientists use new methods to explore naturally occurring 'knockout humans'

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are helping to make precision medicine a reality by sequencing entire exomes of people to assess chronic disease risk and drug efficacy. The results of a study on this topic were published in Nature Genetics on Monday.

30 Apr 2015

Tumor necrosis factor helps regulate sensitivity to bitter taste

New research from the Monell Center reveals that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), an immune system regulatory protein that promotes inflammation, also helps regulate sensitivity to bitter taste. The finding may provide a mechanism to explain the taste system abnormalities and decreased food intake that can be associated with infections, autoimmune disorders, and chronic inflammatory diseases.

22 Apr 2015

BioReliance inks non-exclusive license agreement with QTS for proprietary B-CLEAR technology

BioReliance, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation's biologics and early-development services business under SAFC Commercial, is pleased to announce a non-exclusive license agreement with Qualyst Transporter Solutions for its proprietary B-CLEAR technology.

21 Apr 2015

UAB scientist explores the bone development function of runx2 gene

Amjad Javed, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has taken a major step forward in understanding the bone development function of a gene called runx2, which could lead to future ways to speed bone healing, aid bone bioengineering, stem osteoporosis and reduce arthritis.

30 Mar 2015

Iceland paint a genomic picture for an entire nation

Researchers in Iceland have published the largest ever studies of whole-genome data and effectively deduced the genetic code of “an entire nation.”

26 Mar 2015

Mutations in hair keratins increase risk for dental defects, caries

Today at the 93rd General Session and Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, researcher Olivier Duverger, National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Md., USA, will present a study titled "Hair Keratins as Structural Organic Components of Mature Enamel: The Link Between Hair Disorders and Susceptibility to Dental Caries."

20 Mar 2015

New technology developed to determine resistance to rabies virus

Researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife Research have developed a new technology to determine sensitivity or resistance to rabies virus.

20 Mar 2015

BeiGene chooses SAFC's CHOZN Platform to support oncology drug development

Sigma-Aldrich Corporation today announced that SAFC Commercial, its custom manufacturing services business unit, has entered a commercial sales and service contract with leading biopharmaceutical company, BeiGene.

11 Mar 2015

CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology targets every gene in the genome in animal cancer model

For the first time, CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology has been employed in a whole organism model to systematically target every gene in the genome.

6 Mar 2015

Scientists identify promising new therapeutic target for prostate cancer

Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California scientists have found a promising new therapeutic target for prostate cancer. The findings offer evidence that a newly discovered member of a family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) promotes prostate cancer cell growth. The protein, GPR158, was found while the researchers were looking for new drug targets for glaucoma.

20 Feb 2015

Pancreatic cancer cells know a way to sidestep chemotherapy, reveal Fox Chase researchers

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease. The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for 2014 show that over 46,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and more than 39,000 will die from it. Now, research led by Timothy J. Yen, PhD, Professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center, reveals that one reason this deadly form of cancer can be so challenging to treat is because its cells have found a way to sidestep chemotherapy.

30 Jan 2015

Penn scientists explore potential therapeutic target for cerebral cavernous malformations

Tens of millions of people around the world have abnormal, leak-prone sproutings of blood vessels in the brain called cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). These abnormal growths can lead to seizures, strokes, hemorrhages, and other serious conditions, yet their precise molecular cause has never been determined.

27 Jan 2015

Study leads to discovery of rare genetic disorder

Recently, a grassroots effort initiated by families and clinicians led to the discovery of a human genetic disorder with severe consequences that is linked to a mutation in the human NGLY1 gene. In a big step towards understanding the effects of this mutation, research by scientists at the RIKEN-Max Planck Joint Research Center in Japan implicates the enzyme ENGase as the factor responsible for deficient protein degradation that occurs in the absence of mouse Ngly1 gene expression.

19 Jan 2015

TSRI researchers identify enzyme that produces inflammatory lipid molecules in the brain

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has identified an enzyme that produces a class of inflammatory lipid molecules in the brain. Abnormally high levels of these molecules appear to cause a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder, and that disorder now may be treatable if researchers can develop suitable drug candidates that inhibit this enzyme.

13 Jan 2015

Researchers identify a single protein as root cause of multiple allergic reactions

Johns Hopkins and University of Alberta researchers have identified a single protein as the root of painful and dangerous allergic reactions to a range of medications and other substances. If a new drug can be found that targets the problematic protein, they say, it could help smooth treatment for patients with conditions ranging from prostate cancer to diabetes to HIV

17 Dec 2014

TSRI scientists identify 'mechanoreceptor' protein that mediates sense of touch in mammals

A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved a long-standing mystery in neuroscience by identifying the "mechanoreceptor" protein that mediates the sense of touch in mammals.

5 Dec 2014

New single-cell genetic profiling techniques help uncover variation in pluripotent stem cells

Stem cells offer great potential in biomedical engineering due to their pluripotency, which is the ability to multiply indefinitely and also to differentiate and develop into any kind of the hundreds of different cells and bodily tissues. But the precise complexity of how stem cell development is regulated throughout states of cellular change has been difficult to pinpoint until now.