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Blocking interaction of JNK enzyme may counteract neuron destruction

Oxidative stress is a primary villain in a host of diseases that range from cancer and heart failure to Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

11 Jan 2013

PKM-zeta-less adult mice still able to form long-term memories

A study by Johns Hopkins researchers has shown that a widely accepted model of long-term memory formation - that it hinges on a single enzyme in the brain - is flawed. The new study, published in the Jan. 2 issue of Nature, found that mice lacking the enzyme that purportedly builds memory were in fact still able to form long-term memories as well as normal mice could.

4 Jan 2013

Kareus announces start of KU-046 Phase I study in Alzheimer's

Kareus Therapeutics SA, the private biotechnology company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for the unmet treatment of age-related and chronic diseases, today announces the start of a Phase I clinical study following the Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the development of KU-046, a first-in-class disease modifying new chemical entity discovered for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease using Kareus' proprietary bioenergetics and KARLECT platforms.

3 Jan 2013

Aeterna Zentaris reaches SPA agreement with FDA for AEZS-108 Phase 3 trial in endometrial cancer

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") on a Special Protocol Assessment ("SPA") for an upcoming Phase 3 registration trial in endometrial cancer with its doxorubicin peptide conjugate, AEZS-108. The SPA agreement states that the proposed trial protocol design, clinical endpoints and planned analyses are acceptable to the FDA to support a regulatory submission.

29 Dec 2012

Researchers study response of living cells to artificial protein

One approach to understanding components in living organisms is to attempt to create them artificially, using principles of chemistry, engineering and genetics. A suite of powerful techniques-collectively referred to as synthetic biology-have been used to produce self-replicating molecules, artificial pathways in living systems and organisms bearing synthetic genomes.

28 Dec 2012

Protein in human blood platelets points to a new weapon against malaria

One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe.

28 Dec 2012

Researchers develop unique approach to calpain inhibition

Calpain, a calcium-regulated enzyme, is essential to a host of cellular processes, but can cause severe problems in its overactivated state. It has been implicated as a factor in muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. As such, finding and exploiting calpain inhibitors is an important area of research.

28 Dec 2012

Pergamum’s DPK-060 Phase II trial on acute external otitis meets primary end-point

Pergamum AB announced today that the primary end-point was met in the randomized Phase II trial of DPK-060 for treatment of acute external otitis.

21 Dec 2012

Study finds new signaling pathway involved in development of chronic inflammation of brain cells

The number of Alzheimer's patients will continue to dramatically increase in the next several decades. Various teams of researchers worldwide are feverishly investigating precisely how the illness develops. A

20 Dec 2012

GI bacteria exert some control over their hosts' appetites: Review

Over the last half decade, it has become increasingly clear that the normal gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria play a variety of very important roles in the biology of human and animals. Now Vic Norris of the University of Rouen, France, and coauthors propose yet another role for GI bacteria: that they exert some control over their hosts' appetites.

20 Dec 2012

Adiponectin flags up pancreatic cancer risk

Circulating levels of adiponectin may provide a novel marker for identifying individuals who are at an increased risk for pancreatic cancer, report researchers.

19 Dec 2012

Metallic probe can detect fibrils from misfolded proteins in real time

Rice University scientists have discovered a new way to look inside living cells and see the insoluble fibrillar deposits associated with Parkinson's disease.

19 Dec 2012

New MIT technology may help make cancer biomarker detection much easier

Finding ways to diagnose cancer earlier could greatly improve the chances of survival for many patients. One way to do this is to look for specific proteins secreted by cancer cells, which circulate in the bloodstream. However, the quantity of these biomarkers is so low that detecting them has proven difficult.

17 Dec 2012

Scientists identify new antibiotic substances in Russian Brown frog's skin

Following up on an ancient Russian way of keeping milk from going sour - by putting a frog in the bucket of milk - scientists have identified a wealth of new antibiotic substances in the skin of the Russian Brown frog. The study appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.

13 Dec 2012

Unigene announces results from oral PTH Phase 2 study on osteoporosis

Unigene Laboratories, Inc., a leader in the design, delivery, manufacture and development of peptide-based therapeutics, today announced that the results of its successful Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating an experimental oral parathyroid hormone (PTH) analog for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women has been published online by Bone, the Official Journal of the International Bone and Mineral Society.

13 Dec 2012

Bicycle Therapeutics secures £3.75 million equity financing for drug discovery

Bicycle Therapeutics, a next generation biotherapeutics company co-founded by Sir Gregory Winter and Professor Christian Heinis, today announced that it had secured a tranched equity financing of £3.75 million to invest in selection of drug candidates using its bicyclic peptide technology platform.

10 Dec 2012

DOW Chemical to attend the 4th World Drug Delivery & Formulation Summit

The pharmaceutical industry is experiencing a massive paradigm shift as the era of the highly profitable blockbusters comes to a close. In an attempt to remain competitive, companies are under more pressure than ever to push novel compounds through the development pipeline and so it has been largely left to those in formulation and delivery to optimise their product portfolio using winning business strategies and leading technologies.

10 Dec 2012

BlueGenics aims to discover new drugs from deep sea to combat osteoporosis

Searching for substances from the deep sea to combat osteoporosis and other human common diseases is one of the objectives of the new European research project "BlueGenics" which has received funding of EUR 6 million from the European Commission.

10 Dec 2012

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Despite treatment with imatinib, a successful drug that targets chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a deadly type of cancer, some patients may continue to be at risk for relapse because a tiny pool of stem cells is resistant to treatment and may even accumulate additional genetic aberrations, eventually leading to disease progression and relapse. These leukemia stem cells are full of genetic errors, loaded with potentially lethal breaks in DNA, and are in a state of constant self-repair.

10 Dec 2012

Novel antidepressant targets brain receptors responsible for learning and memory

A first-of-its-kind antidepressant drug discovered by a Northwestern University professor and now tested on adults who have failed other antidepressant therapies has been shown to alleviate symptoms within hours, have good safety and produce positive effects that last for about seven days from a single dose.

7 Dec 2012