Small Molecules News and Research

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New finding on key protein opens door to potential therapies for chronic illnesses

Scientists have determined unexpected characteristics of a key protein linked to blood pressure control and to nerve growth, pain control and heart tissue regeneration. The findings, published April 5 online in the journal Nature, opens doors to potential new therapies to control cardiovascular disease and pain.

6 Apr 2017

MSU and Venn Therapeutics develop promising therapy to delay B16 melanoma tumor growth

Michigan State University researchers presented promising cancer therapy results at the American Association for Cancer Research International Meeting in Washington, DC.

5 Apr 2017

X-ray study sheds new light on promising drug target

Researchers hope to design a new generation of drugs against an array of deadly diseases. The task, however, is costly, arduous and often ineffective. One of the key challenges is understanding a particular class of proteins adorning cell surfaces, which are the targets of the majority of pharmaceutical drugs.

5 Apr 2017

Scientists find new drug target to improve cardiac output in heart failure patients

Researchers led by Julian E. Stelzer, PhD, associate professor in the department of physiology and biophysics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have found a new target for drug developers seeking straightforward ways to improve cardiac output in heart failure patients.

4 Apr 2017

Scientists develop novel technique to screen non-coding DNA of genome for diseases

Researchers have developed a method to swiftly screen the non-coding DNA of the human genome for links to diseases that are driven by changes in gene regulation.

4 Apr 2017

Research findings offer potential explanation for opioid-induced itching

Opioids have long been an important tool in the world of pain management, but the side effects of these drugs - from addiction and respiratory failure to severe itching and dizziness, can be overwhelming.

27 Mar 2017

Researchers identify novel compounds that decrease glucose production in liver cells

Scientists may have found a new tool for studying—and maybe even treating—Type 2 diabetes, the form of diabetes considered responsible for close to 95 percent of cases in the United States.

27 Mar 2017

Research suggests novel strategy to target genetic anomaly in prostate cancers

New research suggests a novel strategy to target a genetic anomaly that occurs in half of all prostate cancers.

24 Mar 2017

Research findings could open new avenue to develop treatments for Alzheimer's disease

Thin parts of the cell membranes of neurons turn out to be particularly vulnerable to a protein that collects in the brain of people with Alzheimer's disease, according to a University of Michigan researcher.

23 Mar 2017

Researchers unravel how drug interacts with ribosome to halt protein production

The discovery of a chemical compound that halts the production of a small set of proteins while leaving general protein production untouched suggests a new drug search strategy: Find compounds that target undesired proteins before they are even made.

23 Mar 2017

Study: Unsaturated fatty acid metabolism associated with progression of Alzheimer's disease

A new study published in PLOS Medicine's Special Issue on Dementia has found that the metabolism of omega-3 and omega-6 unsaturated fatty acids in the brain are associated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

22 Mar 2017

TSRI researchers develop new drug candidates to target prostate and triple negative breast cancers

Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have designed two new drug candidates to target prostate and triple negative breast cancers.

9 Mar 2017

Pittcon 2017: reflections from the floor

Pittcon 2017 commenced with a fascinating talk by world-renowned optogenetics expert Dr. Karl Deisseroth, D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

From Pittcon 9 Mar 2017

Researcher shows how natural molecule can promote axon repair

A foray into plant biology led one researcher to discover that a natural molecule can repair axons, the thread-like projections that carry electrical signals between cells. Axonal damage is the major culprit underlying disability in conditions such as spinal cord injury and stroke.

9 Mar 2017

New drug-like compound shows potential to treat symptoms of lupus

Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, has proved difficult to treat, but a new international study co-led by a Rush University Medical Center researcher suggests that a drug starting through the pipeline could ameliorate or even eliminate the symptoms in most sufferers.

7 Mar 2017

NovAliX's new laboratory to use cryo-TEM for facilitating small molecule and biologic drug discovery

A new contract research laboratory operated by France-based NovAliX will provide pharmaceutical companies with access to high-resolution cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) by Thermo Fisher Scientific for facilitating small molecule and biologic drug discovery.

3 Mar 2017

Scientists use molecular bait strategy to capture and isolate cancer-prone protein

Scientists from the Center for Self-assembly and Complexity (CSC) successfully isolated a cancer-prone protein by fishing out the proteins using 'molecular bait'.

2 Mar 2017

Duke researchers discover potential cause for ALS syndromes using mouse models

A team of researchers at Duke University Medical Center led by Dr. Paulo Ferreira and whose work was supported by the National Institutes of Health has found that derailing the transport of certain receptors that carry cargoes from and to the nucleus of motor neurons causes motor neuron disease in mice.

1 Mar 2017

Using Spherical Nucleic Acids to Track and Treat Disease

Spherical nucleic acids are structures that are made by taking a nanoparticle template and using chemistry to arrange short strands of DNA or RNA on the surface of those particles. The spherical core of the nanoparticle creates a spherical arrangement of DNA or RNA, similar to tiny little balls of nucleic acids.

From Pittcon 1 Mar 2017

New compounds with potent anticancer activity could lessen side effects of oncological treatments

The Universitat Jaume I, the Spanish Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and the University of Pavia have patented new compounds with potent anticancer activity in breast and colon tumour cell lines that have low toxicity in healthy cells, which can dramatically decrease side effects during chemotherapy treatment.

23 Feb 2017