Phosphatase News and Research

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Researchers use RNAi libraries to identify regulators of apoptosis and chemoresistance

Using targeted RNA interference, or RNAi libraries, researchers at Harvard Medical School describe the first large-scale classification of kinase and phosphatase gene families on the basis of their role in apoptosis and cell survival. This study appears in the June issue of Nature Cell Biology.

10 Jun 2005

New series of human drug targets available to all researchers

The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), an Anglo-Canadian charitable consortium of public and private agencies including Oxford University, announced recently that it has delivered its first 50 human and malaria protein structures into the public domain on budget and two months ahead of schedule.

6 Jun 2005

Secreted signaling protein called Wnt10b secret to new drugs for preventing or treating osteoporosis

Leaping tall buildings in a single bound may be out of the question, but the genetically engineered "supermice" in Ormond MacDougald's laboratory at the University of Michigan Medical School are definitely stronger than average.

22 Feb 2005

How do you remember your own name?

How do you remember your own name? Is it possible ever to forget it? The memory trace, or engram, "feels" like it is stored permanently in the brain and it will never be forgotten.

16 Jan 2005

Wiping out a protein in skin cancer cells could significantly stall melanoma tumor development

The protein, Akt3, appears to be responsible for promoting tumor cell survival and development in 43 percent to 60 percent of non-inherited melanomas.

13 Dec 2004

Enzyme that normally alters the activity of other protein molecules in cells may also help prevent cancer

The enzyme is known as PTPRO (for “protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-type O”). When the gene responsible for producing PTPRO is silenced, as can happen in lung cancer, for example, the amount of the enzyme drops, allowing the cells to grow when they shouldn’t.

11 Nov 2004

Shp2 protein plays a critical role in obesity

A team of researchers led by The Burnham Institute's Gen-Sheng Feng, Ph.D. has discovered that a protein called Shp2 plays a critical role in obesity.

11 Nov 2004

Newly discovered gene could be a significant contributor to diabetes in Americans

A gene involved in the action of insulin is associated with type 2 diabetes and the body’s response to insulin, report scientists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

25 Oct 2004

Discovery of new protein involved in regulating the second most commonly mutated tumor suppressor in human tumors

Scientists in Tokyo have discovered a new protein, named PICT-1, that is involved in regulating PTEN, the second most commonly mutated tumor suppressor in human tumors.

22 Oct 2004

$Analysis shows Teriparatide reduces fracture risk independent of bone turnover$

Analysis shows Teriparatide reduces fracture risk independent of bone turnover

Data presented yesterday at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) show that the ability of teriparatide to prevent fractures remained consistent regardless of pretreatment bone turnover status.

5 Oct 2004

Signet Laboratories has announced the release of ACUITY mouse-on-mouse polymer detection system

Signet's ACUITY(TM) Mouse-on-Mouse Polymer Detection System is a sensitive biotin-free detection system for use with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies on mouse or rat tissue. ACUITY(TM) Mouse-on-Mouse provides cost savings by enabling researchers to use less antibody, while increasing staining intensity and eliminating background.

9 Aug 2004

Early patient response to Forteo in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Changes in markers of bone remodeling after one month of treatment with FORTEO® (teriparatide [rDNA origin] injection) may provide important early evidence of treatment response, according to new data presented today at the 86th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society (ENDO).

17 Jun 2004

Tumour suppressor gene family may be key to new colon cancer drugs

In the hunt for new cancer drug targets, scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered mutations in a family of genes linked to more than a quarter of colon cancers, as well as several other common cancers including breast and lung.

20 May 2004

Causes of hepatitis and potential therapies that may improve care presented in study

Hepatitis, a potentially serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver, is a major problem worldwide. Hepatitis A is generally food-borne, while hepatitis B and C spread primarily through parenteral or sexual routes. Hepatitis B and C can be life-long, potentially deadly chronic infections.

19 May 2004

First filing for zoledronic acid in metabolic bone disease

One 15-minute infusion of the intravenous bisphosphonate zolendronic acid more rapidly reduced the biochemical markers of bone turnover in patients with Paget's disease than was seen in a head-to-head comparison with the oral treatment risedronate (95% vs. 75% response rate).

17 May 2004

Fluorescent molecule used to examine real time chemical reactions that result in smooth-muscle contraction

Smooth muscle, found in the walls of blood vessels and in internal organs such as lungs, stomach and the bladder, contracts as the end result of a series of chemical reactions. In a new study, UT Southwestern researchers report that one set of chemical reactions resulting in the contraction of the smooth-muscle cells is augmented by a second chemical pathway that kicks in when the first pathway is limited.

5 Apr 2004