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Researchers develop new technique to predict enzymes known to accelerate diseases

Predicting how atherosclerosis, osteoporosis or cancer will progress or respond to drugs in individual patients is difficult.

3 Nov 2012

Mass spectrometry can help visualize how drugs work inside living cells to kill infectious microbes

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers report that mass spectrometry, a tool currently used to detect and measure proteins and lipids, can also now allow biologists to "see" for the first time exactly how drugs work inside living cells to kill infectious microbes.

3 Nov 2012

State of glycocalyx barrier indicates vascular risk in dialysis patients

The glycocalyx barrier – a mesh of proteoglycans and associated glycosaminoglycans present on vascular endothelium – is impaired in patients with renal failure, probably contributing to their predisposition to endothelial dysfunction and vascular disease, say researchers.

2 Nov 2012

Study identifies monoacylglycerol lipase as new therapeutic target to treat Alzheimer's

Research led by Chu Chen, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has identified an enzyme called Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) as a new therapeutic target to treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease.

2 Nov 2012

NJH researchers discover novel target for treatment of food allergies

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a novel target for the treatment of food allergies. Erwin Gelfand, MD, and his colleagues report in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that levels of the enzyme Pim 1 kinase rise in the small intestines of peanut-allergic mice. Inhibiting activity of Pim 1 markedly reduced the allergic response to peanuts.

2 Nov 2012

Genetic underpinning of placebo effect identified

US researchers have identified a gene that appears to be responsible for the placebo effect.

1 Nov 2012

Omeros initiates enrollment in OMS824 Phase 1 trial for schizophrenia and Huntington's

Omeros Corporation today announced that the first subject has been enrolled in the Company's Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating OMS824, the lead compound in Omeros' phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) program.

1 Nov 2012

Blocking hyaluronidase activity can help repair brain damage associated with MS

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that blocking a certain enzyme in the brain can help repair the brain damage associated with multiple sclerosis and a range of other neurological disorders.

1 Nov 2012

Scientists discover first selective inhibitors of DAGL enzymes

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered the first selective inhibitors of an important set of enzymes. The new inhibitors, and chemical probes based on them, now can be used to study the functions of enzymes known as diacylglycerol lipases (DAGL), their products, and the pathways they regulate.

1 Nov 2012

Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis: an interview with Ellen Mowry

Vitamin D is actually a hormone. For the most part, humans obtain vitamin D through sun exposure. Ultraviolet light from the sun promotes the conversion of a compound in the skin to pre-vitamin D.

31 Oct 2012

Oxidative stress occurs in genetic models of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency

A team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Teckman in the Department of Pediatrics at St. Louis University, have demonstrated that oxidative stress occurs in a genetic model of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

30 Oct 2012

Autoantibody aids identification of hyperexcitability disorders

Researchers have found that testing for a glycine receptor autoantibody aids the identification of a broad spectrum of autoimmune brainstem/spinal cord hyperexcitability disorders.

29 Oct 2012

Precision receives U.S. patent allowance for DNE technology

Precision BioSciences, Inc., a leader in the field of genome engineering, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Application 13/457,041.

29 Oct 2012

Triapine shows promise in treating breast cancer

Students at Tennessee Tech University are developing and testing a series of chemical compounds that show promise of stopping cancer in its tracks.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers use baker's yeast to identify new therapies for Lou Gehrig's disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastatingly cruel neurodegenerative disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to move, speak and, finally, breathe.

29 Oct 2012

Scientists develop new prototype ultra sensitive disease sensor

Scientists have developed a prototype ultra-sensitive sensor that would enable doctors to detect the early stages of diseases and viruses with the naked eye, according to research published today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

29 Oct 2012

Scientists identify mechanism via Top2b enzyme that drives doxorubicin-induced heart damage

Doxorubicin, a 50-year-old chemotherapy drug still in widespread use against a variety of cancers, has long been known to destroy heart tissue, as well as tumors, in some patients.

29 Oct 2012

Study describes how Dbr1 gene halts toxic buildup of TDP-43-a protein

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how modifying a gene halts the toxic buildup of a protein found in nerve cells. These findings point to a potential new tactic for treating a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease)-a fatal disease for which there is no cure.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers figure out 3D shape of promising TB drug target

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have figured out the three-dimensional shape of the protein responsible for creating unique bonds within the cell wall of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The bonds make the bacteria resistant to currently available drug therapies, contributing to the alarming rise of these super-bacteria throughout the world.

26 Oct 2012

mTor molecule plays a significant role in myeloid differentiation

University of Illinois cell and developmental Biology professor Fei Wang and colleagues have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage.

26 Oct 2012