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Researchers find compound that reverses type 1 myotonic dystrophy

A compound already used to treat pneumonia could become a new therapy for an inherited muscular wasting disease, according to researchers at the University of Oregon and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York.

7 Nov 2009

Research reveals new biological function of polycystins in regulating pressure sensing

What is the role of proteins called polycystins in patients with polycystic kidney disease? A team of researchers from CNRS and INSERM, led by Eric Honoré from the Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IPMC, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis/CNRS) has elucidated the molecular and cellular mechanisms linked to polycystin malfunctions that cause this common hereditary disease.

6 Nov 2009

Aureus Pharma to provide new AurSCOPE knowledge databases for sanofi-aventis’ R&D division

Aureus Pharma, a leading provider of knowledge management solutions to accelerate discovery in the life sciences industry, announces today the extension of its knowledge database agreement with sanofi-aventis research & development for an additional three-year term.

5 Nov 2009

Patient enrollment in three late-stage clinical trials completed

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today patient enrollment is complete in three of its late-stage clinical trials.

5 Nov 2009

Third quarter 2009 financial results announced by Synta Pharmaceuticals

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

4 Nov 2009

Caliper Life Sciences to use SRU Biosystems’ label-free BIND technology for new functional assays

SRU Biosystems today announced that Caliper Life Sciences will use SRU Biosystems’ label-free BIND® technology to offer new functional assays as part of its Discovery Alliances and Services.

3 Nov 2009

Optical system for simultaneous imaging electrical and metabolic quantities in the heart

Cardiac rhythm disorders can result from disturbances in cardiac metabolism. These metabolic changes are tightly linked with specific cardiac electrophysiology (CEP) abnormalities, such as depressed excitability, impaired intra- and extracellular conductivities, wave propagation block, and alteration of conduction velocity, action potential amplitude, and duration.

24 Oct 2009

Hydra Biosciences and Cubist Pharmaceuticals join to develop novel ion channel drugs

Hydra Biosciences today announced that they have entered into an agreement with Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for a joint collaboration to develop novel ion channel drugs.

20 Oct 2009

Advanced Projects Group and Cellectricon collaborate to produce the Dynaflow HT patch clamp equipment system

The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world leading supplier of innovative automation for life science applications today announced its Advanced Projects Group, has successfully collaborated with Cellectricon, the Swedish provider of innovative screening solutions for drug discovery, to produce fully automated high throughput patch clamp equipment known as the Dynaflow®HT System.

From Cellectricon 14 Oct 2009

Eric Boerwinkle receives $26 million federal stimulus grant to identify genetic factors influencing common diseases

Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D., a professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, has received a $26 million federal stimulus grant to lead an effort to pinpoint genetic factors affecting the risk of heart, lung and blood diseases.

12 Oct 2009

Researchers discover that ATP transmits temperature information to afferent sensory neurons

A Japanese research group led by Prof. Makoto Tominaga and Dr. Sravan Mandadi (National Institute for Physiological Sciences: NIPS) found that ATP plays a key role in transmitting temperature information from skin keratinocytes to afferent sensory neurons. Their findings were presented in the Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology published on October 2009.

9 Oct 2009

New computer modeling technique to study how the brain works

The human brain has evolved over millions of years to become a vast network of billions of neurons and synaptic connections. Understanding it is one of humankind's greatest pursuits.

3 Oct 2009

NIH awards DiscoveryBioMed a Phase 2 SBIR grant for research on hypertension and cystic fibrosis

DiscoveryBioMed, Inc. (DBM) today announced that it has been awarded a $750,000 Small Business Innovations Research (SBIR) Phase 2 grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue the research into the discovery and development of small molecules to alleviate multiple chronic human diseases including cystic fibrosis (CF), hypertension and chronic kidney diseases with hypertension.

28 Sep 2009

NIH Director's Pioneer Award and New Innovator Award for Duke scientists

Two Duke University Medical Center scientists have won prestigious National Institutes of Health Director's awards to pursue novel research.

24 Sep 2009

New findings may help identify treatments for diabetes and hyperinsulinemia

By investigating a rare and severe form of diabetes in children, University of Iowa researchers have discovered a new molecular mechanism that regulates specialized pancreatic cells and insulin secretion. The mechanism involves a protein called ankyrin, which UI researchers previously linked to potentially fatal human heart arrhythmias.

9 Sep 2009

CIHR funds for Alzheimer's and stroke research

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has announced a grant totaling more than a million dollars for John F. MacDonald's research on Alzheimer's disease.

7 Sep 2009

Carbon nanotubes may help regrow nerve tissue according to a research study

Carbon nanotubes hold many exciting possibilities, some of them in the realm of the human nervous system. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes may help regrow nerve tissue or ferry drugs used to repair damaged neurons associated with disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and perhaps even paralysis.

28 Aug 2009

Comprehensive review on the pharmacology of sigma receptors published in Journal of Pharmacology Therapeutics

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("ANAVEX" or the "Company") reports the publication of a comprehensive review of the pharmacology of sigma receptors and their possible clinical application in the peer-reviewed Journal of Pharmacology Therapeutics.

28 Aug 2009

Study reveals high cholestrol as a cause of cardiac arrhythmias

Cholesterol can affect the flow of the electrical currents that generate the heart beat, according to a study from two UBC cardiovascular researchers funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon. The research team has just published the important discovery about the causes of cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) in one of the world's leading scientific journals.

24 Aug 2009

Discovery of mechanism that allows hepatitis C virus to remain in the body for decades

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that the virus blocks the actions of a specific ion channel in the cell membrane that would usually trigger apoptosis - the cell's self-destruct programme - and in doing so, has evolved another way of protecting itself from being eliminated from the body.

19 Aug 2009