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Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Promising new research provides evidence that ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be treatable using neural stem cells.

20 Dec 2012

Researchers uncover mechanism that switches off cell transport regulating proteins

Researchers at the RUB and from the MPI Dortmund have uncovered the mechanism that switches off the cell transport regulating proteins. They were able to resolve in detail how the central switch protein Rab is down-regulated with two "protein fingers" by its interaction partners.

20 Dec 2012

Umbilical cord stem cell therapy shows promise in infant BPD

Researchers have successfully used human umbilical cord stem cells to partially prevent damage and restore lung structure and function in an experimental animal model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

19 Dec 2012

The association alfa-enolase/plasmin is a new selective target for treating muscular pathologies

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have described a new selective target in muscle regeneration. This is the association of alpha-enolase protein and plasmin.

19 Dec 2012

MITF protein may help develop effective drug treatments for melanoma

Scientists at The University of Manchester have identified a protein that appears to hold the key to creating more effective drug treatments for melanoma, one of the deadliest cancers.

From The University of Manchester 19 Dec 2012

Vismodegib team wins Drug Discovery of the Year award

The British Pharmacological Society proudly announces that its first annual Drug Discovery of the Year award has been won by the discovery team developing vismodegib for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer).

19 Dec 2012

Ion channel acts as powerful ‘brake’ after epileptic seizures

Given that epilepsy impacts more than 2 million Americans, there is a pressing need for new therapies to prevent this disabling neurological disorder. New findings from the neuroscience laboratory of Mark S. Shapiro, Ph.D., at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, published Dec. 20 in the high-impact scientific journal, Neuron, may provide hope.

19 Dec 2012

Cholesterol plays a key role in regulating proteins involved in cell signaling

Cholesterol plays a key role in regulating proteins involved in cell signaling and may be important to many other cell processes, an international team of researchers has found.

19 Dec 2012

Australian scientists receive grants for research on cancer, malaria and rheumatoid arthritis

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have received more than $16 million in Australian Government funding to pursue research into cancer, malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and the immune system, it was announced today.

19 Dec 2012

New antibiotic principle for fighting bacterial infections

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have presented a new principle for fighting bacterial infections, in other words, a new type of antibiotic, in the FASEB Journal.

19 Dec 2012

University of Maryland, Baltimore hosts first national conference on oral and systemic health

By hosting the first national conference on oral and systemic health in Baltimore on Dec. 10, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) took another major step toward true interprofessional health care education, says Jay A. Perman, MD, president of the University.

19 Dec 2012

Tumor cells manipulate unfolded protein response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that tumor cells use stress signals to subvert responding immune cells, exploiting them to actually boost conditions beneficial to cancer growth.

19 Dec 2012

Targeting km23-1 protein may slow the spread of cancer cells

The spread of cancer cells may be slowed by targeting the protein km23-1, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

19 Dec 2012

Budding yeast an acceptable model system to study KP1019 anti-cancer drug

Researchers have found that the budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an acceptable model system to study KP1019, an anti-cancer drug that uses ruthenium, a rare metal, a new study found. Researchers had previously been interested in studying KP1019 because it is believed to cause cancer cell death and is not known to have negative secondary side effects for healthy tissues.

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

EMD Serono's L-BLP25 Phase III NSCLC trial does not meet primary endpoint

EMD Serono, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today that the Phase III STARTa trial of its investigational product L-BLP25 (formerly referred to as Stimuvax) in patients with unresectable, locally advanced stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not meet its primary endpoint to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS).

19 Dec 2012

Riverside Methodist Hospital treats first PAD patient with Cook Medical's Zilver PTX device

Just weeks after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Cook Medical's Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent, Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has treated the first patient with the device as part of Cook's U.S. commercial launch.

19 Dec 2012

Myostatin responsible for initiation of muscle loss: Study

A research study from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has yielded important breakthroughs on how the body loses muscle, paving the way for new treatments for aging, obesity and diabetes.

19 Dec 2012

MiR-122 plays a critical role in the life cycle of hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus has evolved to invade and hijack the basic machinery of the human liver cell to ensure its survival and spread. Researchers at the University of North have discovered how hepatitis C binds with and repurposes a basic component of cellular metabolism known as a microRNA to help protect and replicate the virus.

19 Dec 2012

Jagaricin and antifungal drugs: an interview with Prof Christian Hertweck

Most people have already experienced a fungal infection (mycosis) of the outer layer of the skin, athlete’s foot or ringworm. Whereas such infections may be cumbersome and often difficult to cure, usually they are not dangerous. However, in cases where a fungus causes a systemic infection, this is, it infects internal organs such as lungs or brain, the infection may turn into a life-threatening disease. Of course, only pathogenic fungi cause problems and the degree of virulence varies.

18 Dec 2012