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LOX enzyme can create scarred microenvironment that enhances cancer spreading

What to fear most if faced by a cancer diagnosis is the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body. This process called metastasis accounts for over 90% of cancer patient deaths and therefore is a strong focus for cancer researchers.

28 Jan 2013

TSRI scientists to identify, test and develop drug candidates for several neurodegenerative disorders

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have been awarded approximately $1.2 million from the U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to identify, test and develop a series of drug candidates for a number of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease and several neurodegenerative disorders.

28 Jan 2013

IRHOM2-targeted drugs can effectively treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

28 Jan 2013

Telomerase gene mutation immortalizes deadly skin cancer

About ten percent of all cases of malignant melanoma are familial cases. The genome of affected families tells scientists a lot about how the disease develops. Prof. Dr. Rajiv Kumar of the German Cancer Research Center together with Prof. Dr. Dirk Schadendorf from Essen University Hospital studied a family where 14 family members were affected by malignant melanoma.

28 Jan 2013

Apelin-12 levels increased in childhood asthma

Children with asthma demonstrate significantly increased serum levels of the adipokine apelin-12, researchers report.

25 Jan 2013

Gastrointestinal, liver effects common after doxycycline in cats

Doxycycline, an antibiotic derivative of tetracycline, commonly results in adverse gastrointestinal side effects and increased liver enzyme activity in cats, report German researchers.

25 Jan 2013

Asthma link to cleaning jobs supported

Having a cleaning job and being regularly exposed to cleaning products significantly increase a person’s risk for asthma, suggest results from a long-term UK study.

25 Jan 2013

Researchers identify cancer-associated mutations

Two new mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the "dark matter" of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven't been previously found.

25 Jan 2013

Targeting key HIV protein could stop HIV infection from progressing to AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine may have found an "Achilles heel" in a key HIV protein. In findings published online today in Chemistry and Biology, they showed that targeting this vulnerable spot could stop the virus from replicating, potentially thwarting HIV infection from progressing to full-blown AIDS.

25 Jan 2013

Researchers initiate first gene therapy clinical trial for Fabry disease

Researchers in Calgary have launched the first gene therapy clinical trial in the world for Fabry disease, a rare inherited enzyme deficiency that can shorten the lifespan of people who have it by as much as 40 years.

24 Jan 2013

Tofacitinib improves disease activity and inhibits progression of joint damage in RA patients

A Phase 3 clinical trial demonstrates that tofacitinib improves disease activity and inhibits progression of joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who did not respond to methotrexate (MTX).

24 Jan 2013

Enterococcal cytolysin synthetase helps form distinctly different, 3-D protein ring structures

While working out the structure of a cell-killing protein produced by some strains of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, researchers stumbled on a bit of unusual biochemistry. They found that a single enzyme helps form distinctly different, three-dimensional ring structures in the protein, one of which had never been observed before.

23 Jan 2013

New targeted enzyme replacement therapy can treat X-linked myotubular myopathy

A collaborative research team including a Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) pediatric neuropathologist successfully mitigated some of the effects of a muscular disease by using a new targeted enzyme replacement therapy strategy from 4s3 Bioscience.

23 Jan 2013

Studies identify cellular pathways involved in governing day-night pattern of circadian rhythms

UC Irvine-led studies have revealed the cellular mechanism by which circadian rhythms - also known as the body clock - modify energy metabolism and also have identified novel compounds that control this action. The findings point to potential treatments for disorders triggered by circadian rhythm dysfunction, ranging from insomnia and obesity to diabetes and cancer.

23 Jan 2013

IntelliCell receives U.S. patent allowance for ultrasonic cavitation method

IntelliCell BioSciences, Inc. announced that on January 17, 2013 the Company received a notice of allowance regarding its U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/323,030 entitled "Ultrasonic Cavitation of Adipose Tissue to Produce Stromal Vascular Fraction Regenerative Cells."

23 Jan 2013

Adult onset asthma linked to jobs involving cleaning agents

The strongest evidence seems to be for jobs involving cleaning or cleaning agents, the research suggests. The authors base their findings on the job histories up to the age of 42 of almost 7,500 British adults born in 1958, all of whom were taking part in the National Child Development Study, which is tracking the long term health of more than 11,000 people living in Britain.

22 Jan 2013