Biochemistry News and Research

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Cancer drug can neutralize toxic RNA that causes myotonic dystrophy

A group of researchers has shown for the first time in cells and in a mouse model that a drug used to treat cancer can neutralize the toxic RNA that causes the prolonged muscle contractions and other symptoms of myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy.

11 Dec 2015

Stanford researchers invent new technique to dramatically accelerate protein evolution

All living things require proteins, members of a vast family of molecules that nature "makes to order" according to the blueprints in DNA.

8 Dec 2015

Researchers unveil relationship between ovarian cancer and obesity

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease, one that's hard to detect until it has progressed significantly. More than 75 percent of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have metastasis at the time of diagnosis, resulting in a low five-year survival rate of less than 30 percent.

8 Dec 2015

New model of arterial thrombus formation is similar to popular video game

A group of biophysicists, including representatives from MIPT, has developed a mathematical model of arterial thrombus formation, which is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes.

1 Dec 2015

Scientists can accurately measure microbial growth rates inside gastrointestinal tracts

For the first time, scientists can accurately measure population growth rates of the microbes that live inside mammalian gastrointestinal tracts, according to a new method reported in Nature Communications by a team at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School.

1 Dec 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers develop method to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a method to efficiently turn human stem cells into retinal ganglion cells, the type of nerve cells located within the retina that transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain. Death and dysfunction of these cells cause vision loss in conditions like glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

1 Dec 2015

Could statins treat muscular dystrophy? An interview with Dr. Nick Whitehead and Dr Stan Froehner

In addition to their well established cholesterol lowering benefits, statins also have potent anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and antioxidant effects, which continue to be identified in a wide range of diseases.

30 Nov 2015

Researchers use magic-angle-spinning NMR to unveil structure of CAP-Gly protein

A latticework of tiny tubes called microtubules gives your cells their shape and also acts like a railroad track that essential proteins travel on. But if there is a glitch in the connection between train and track, diseases can occur.

26 Nov 2015

Study: Mother Nature may help lower cholesterol levels in pregnant women

When it comes to effective solutions for lowering cholesterol levels in pregnant women, Mother Nature may know best.

26 Nov 2015

Study points to new avenue for developing potential strategies to thwart HIV virus

Nearly 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV. When the virus destroys so many immune cells that the body can't fight off infection, AIDS will develop. The disease took the lives of more than a million people last year.

26 Nov 2015

WPI researchers awarded $1.3 million NIH grant to study use of copper to battle bacterial invader

Copper is an essential micronutrient that all organisms need to maintain healthy metabolism. But unless it is bound to proteins, copper is also toxic to cells. With a $1.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will conduct a systematic study of copper in the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), a leading cause of hospital-associated infections that is increasingly resistant to antibiotics, with the hope of discovering new drug targets that might allow cells in the body to use copper to fight back against this bacterial invader.

25 Nov 2015

Notre Dame researchers discover compound that speeds up diabetic wound healing

Non-healing chronic wounds are a major complication of diabetes, which result in more than 70,000 lower-limb amputations in the United States alone each year. The reasons why diabetic wounds are resistant to healing are not fully understood, and there are limited therapeutic agents that could accelerate or facilitate their repair.

23 Nov 2015

Rutgers research reveals mechanism to prevent benign kidney tumor from becoming cancerous

Research from investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey examining the inner workings of a rare non-cancerous (benign) kidney tumor has revealed a mechanism to prevent this type of tumor from becoming cancerous (malignant).

22 Nov 2015

New data shows ALS-008176 drug safe and effective against RSV infection

Alios BioPharma, Inc., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies announced that the New England Journal of Medicine will publish findings from a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) challenge study for ALS-008176, a cytidine nucleoside analog with activity against RSV.

20 Nov 2015

Protein aggregates as harmful as neurodegenerative-disease-related proteins, shows study

Scientists at the forefront of cutting-edge research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s have shown that the mere presence of protein aggregates may be as important as their form and identity in inducing cell death in brain tissue.

20 Nov 2015

Research findings may lead to potential therapeutic target for treating inflammatory bowel diseases

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have shown that a pathogen-sensing molecule plays a vital role in keeping gastrointestinal (GI) systems healthy.

20 Nov 2015

Scientists identify way to sensitize drug-resistant glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy

Scientists from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and clinicians from Carilion Clinic have discovered how to sensitize drug-resistant human glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy.

20 Nov 2015

Study may lead to development of highly accurate screening test for early-stage ovarian cancer

Studying blood serum compounds of different molecular weights has led scientists to a set of biomarkers that may enable development of a highly accurate screening test for early-stage ovarian cancer.

17 Nov 2015

Changes in cellular metabolites regulate earliest stages of embryonic stem cell development

Changes in cellular metabolites have been shown to regulate embryonic stem cell development at the earliest stages of life. Metabolites are simple compounds generated during life-sustaining chemical activities in cells.

17 Nov 2015

Research collaboration aims to develop new drug for slow-healing chronic wounds

The biotech company Omnio based in Swedish Umeå, and led by researcher Tor Ny at Umeå University, launches a research collaboration with the Canadian pharmaceutical company ProMetic to develop a new drug for slow-healing chronic wounds. The collaboration includes funding for clinical studies of a drug based on the blood plasma protein plasminogen.

15 Nov 2015

Biochemistry News and Research

Cancer drug can neutralize toxic RNA that causes myotonic dystrophy

Stanford researchers invent new technique to dramatically accelerate protein evolution

Researchers unveil relationship between ovarian cancer and obesity

New model of arterial thrombus formation is similar to popular video game

Scientists can accurately measure microbial growth rates inside gastrointestinal tracts

Johns Hopkins researchers develop method to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells

Could statins treat muscular dystrophy? An interview with Dr. Nick Whitehead and Dr Stan Froehner

Researchers use magic-angle-spinning NMR to unveil structure of CAP-Gly protein

Study: Mother Nature may help lower cholesterol levels in pregnant women

Study points to new avenue for developing potential strategies to thwart HIV virus

WPI researchers awarded $1.3 million NIH grant to study use of copper to battle bacterial invader

Notre Dame researchers discover compound that speeds up diabetic wound healing

Rutgers research reveals mechanism to prevent benign kidney tumor from becoming cancerous

New data shows ALS-008176 drug safe and effective against RSV infection

Protein aggregates as harmful as neurodegenerative-disease-related proteins, shows study

Research findings may lead to potential therapeutic target for treating inflammatory bowel diseases

Scientists identify way to sensitize drug-resistant glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy

Study may lead to development of highly accurate screening test for early-stage ovarian cancer

Changes in cellular metabolites regulate earliest stages of embryonic stem cell development

Research collaboration aims to develop new drug for slow-healing chronic wounds

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