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Women are more susceptible to damaging effects of alcohol than men

Women are more susceptible to the damaging effects of alcohol than men because they are generally smaller in stature and have less body water than men, according to a leading Houston hepatologist.

16 Dec 2013

Pregnant women, infants should avoid unpasteurized milk products, urge pediatricians

Pregnant women, infants and young children should avoid raw or unpasteurized milk and milk products and only consume pasteurized products, according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

16 Dec 2013

Researchers identify new method to predict outcomes in heart failure patients

Researchers at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified a new method to determine whether a patient's heart will fail, which in the future may help physicians better treat patients and tailor therapeutic interventions.

16 Dec 2013

Polyunsaturated fatty acids play key role in embryonic development

One classical question in developmental biology is how different tissue types arise in the correct position of the developing embryo. While one signaling pathway that controls this process has been well described, unexpected findings from a team led by Carnegie's Steven Farber reveal the importance of polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism in this process. It is published online December 12 in Developmental Cell.

13 Dec 2013

Scientists bring stem cell science directly to patients

Scientists from UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research are bringing stem cell science funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency, directly to patients in two exciting new clinical trials scheduled to begin in early 2014.

13 Dec 2013

Z-endoxifen may provide better treatment for women with estrogen positive breast cancer

A Phase I trial of endoxifen, an active metabolite of the cancer drug tamoxifen, indicates that the experimental drug is safe, with early evidence for anti-tumor activity, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The findings indicate that Z-endoxifen, co-developed by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute, may provide a new and better treatment for some women with estrogen positive breast cancer and, in particular, for those women who do not respond to tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

13 Dec 2013

Mitochondrial enzyme SIRT5 regulates proteins involved in metabolism

The Sirtuin family of protein deacylases has received considerable attention in recent years due to its links to longevity, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic regulation.

12 Dec 2013

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reported that a virulent new strain of influenza - the virus that causes the flu - appears to retain its ability to cause serious disease in humans even after it develops resistance to antiviral medications. The finding was included in a study that was published today in the journal Nature Communications.

12 Dec 2013

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Biochemical sleuthing by an Indiana University graduate student has ended a nearly 50-year-old search to find a megamolecule in bacterial cell walls commonly used as a target for antibiotics, but whose presence had never been identified in the bacterium responsible for the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States.

12 Dec 2013

Elevated BACE1 activity in mild cognitive impairment could be early indicator of AD, says study

The critical enzyme beta-secretase1 (BACE1) is known to be elevated in brains with sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD). Scientists have now found increased levels of BACE1 in brains with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), suggesting that BACE1 activity is important for conversion of mild cognitive impairment to AD and may be an early indicator of AD.

12 Dec 2013

New study may pave way for more effective treatment for deadly childhood cancer

A new study by Canadian researchers may pave the way for more effective treatment of an aggressive and deadly type of brain tumour, known as ETMR/ETANTR. The tumour, which is seen only in children under four, is almost always fatal, despite aggressive treatment. The study proposes a new model for how this brain tumour develops and suggests possible targets to investigate for novel therapies.

12 Dec 2013

Researchers find decreased energy metabolism in heart cells as significant independent risk factor

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a new way to predict which heart failure patients are likely to see their condition get worse and which ones have a better prognosis. Their study is one of the first to show that energy metabolism within the heart, measured using a noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging test, is a significant predictor of clinical outcomes, independent of a patient's symptoms or the strength of the heart's ability to pump blood, known as the ejection fraction.

11 Dec 2013

Crealta to acquire all assets of Savient Pharmaceuticals

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Savient") announced that it has reached agreement on the terms of an acquisition agreement with Crealta Pharmaceuticals LLC ("Crealta") through which Crealta would acquire substantially all of the assets of Savient, including all KRYSTEXXA® assets, for gross proceeds of approximately $120.4 million.

11 Dec 2013

Study shows children with ALL can safely receive intravenous infusions of chemotherapy

Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of pediatric cancer, can safely receive intravenous infusions of a reformulated mainstay of chemotherapy that has been delivered via painful intramuscular injection for more than 40 years, research suggests.

11 Dec 2013

Pronai Therapeutics reports positive results from PNT2258 Phase II study on lymphoma

ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in developing nucleic acid therapeutics, presented safety and efficacy data from its ongoing Phase II study yesterday at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

11 Dec 2013

Merck provides update on MK-8931 investigational oral therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today provided an update on the development program for MK-8931, a novel investigational oral β-amyloid precursor protein site-cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor.

11 Dec 2013

High cholesterol fuels growth and spread of breast Cancer

Researchers at Duke Medicine conclude that high cholesterol may make breast cancer worse when they found that a byproduct of cholesterol functions like the hormone estrogen, leading to increases in the growth and spread of breast cancer. Studies have previously shown the link between obesity and breast cancer, but the exact cause of the increased risk had not been identified.

11 Dec 2013

Beta-carotene: An important and safe precursor for vitamin A

A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine study in the November 22 issue of Journal of Biological Chemistry, explains how vitamin A is generated from beta carotene, its dietary precursors. The discovery sheds new light into how beta carotene’s enzymes are utilized differently contributing to the vitamin’s production. This insight will help guide solutions for vitamin A deficiency, a global public health problem affecting more than half of all countries, according to the World Health Organization.

11 Dec 2013

Genzyme granted Priority Review for Cerdelga investigational oral therapy for Gaucher disease

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted a six-month Priority Review designation to its New Drug Application (NDA) for Cerdelga™ (eliglustat), an investigational oral therapy for adult patients with Gaucher disease type 1.

11 Dec 2013

Discovery could lead to new way to combat cancer

One way to defeat an opponent is to cut off its supply lines. Tumors are no different. The supply lines for tumors are the blood vessels that ferry oxygen and nutrients to the cells. Restricting the blood vessels that feed tumor cells can shrink the tumor. A cross-institutional international team of scientists recently discovered a new, important step of the process that grows new blood vessels, a discovery that could lead to a new way to combat cancer.

11 Dec 2013

Enzyme News and Research

Women are more susceptible to damaging effects of alcohol than men

Pregnant women, infants should avoid unpasteurized milk products, urge pediatricians

Researchers identify new method to predict outcomes in heart failure patients

Polyunsaturated fatty acids play key role in embryonic development

Scientists bring stem cell science directly to patients

Z-endoxifen may provide better treatment for women with estrogen positive breast cancer

Mitochondrial enzyme SIRT5 regulates proteins involved in metabolism

New drug-resistant strain of bird flu appears to retain ability to cause serious disease in humans

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Elevated BACE1 activity in mild cognitive impairment could be early indicator of AD, says study

New study may pave way for more effective treatment for deadly childhood cancer

Researchers find decreased energy metabolism in heart cells as significant independent risk factor

Crealta to acquire all assets of Savient Pharmaceuticals

Study shows children with ALL can safely receive intravenous infusions of chemotherapy

Pronai Therapeutics reports positive results from PNT2258 Phase II study on lymphoma

Merck provides update on MK-8931 investigational oral therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

High cholesterol fuels growth and spread of breast Cancer

Beta-carotene: An important and safe precursor for vitamin A

Genzyme granted Priority Review for Cerdelga investigational oral therapy for Gaucher disease

Discovery could lead to new way to combat cancer

Biochemistry eBook

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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