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Reata, Abbott partner to develop and commercialize AIMs for chronic diseases

Abbott and Reata Pharmaceuticals today announced that they have entered into a worldwide collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize Reata's portfolio of second-generation oral antioxidant inflammation modulators.

12 Dec 2011

Scientists identify importance of novel protein-regulating mechanism

For years, science has generally considered the phosphorylation of proteins -- the insertion of a phosphorous group into a protein that turns it on or off -- as perhaps the factor regulating a range of cellular processes from cell metabolism to programmed cell death. Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified the importance of a novel protein-regulating mechanism -- called sulfenylation -- that is similar to phosphorylation and may, in fact, open up opportunities to develop new types of drugs for diseases such as cancer.

12 Dec 2011

Rare genetic condition provides insight into how pancreas develops

A rare genetic disorder has given researchers at the University of Exeter a surprising insight into how the pancreas develops. The finding provides a clue to how it may be possible to 'programme' stem cells - master cells in the body that can develop into specialised cells - to become pancreatic cells.

12 Dec 2011

PCI-32765 produces durable remissions in Phase I/II CLL clinical trial

A new, targeted approach to treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia has produced durable remissions in a Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with relapsed or resistant disease, investigators report at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

12 Dec 2011

ACE inhibitors, ARBs have different effects on heart health of dialysis patients

Two seemingly similar blood pressure-lowering drugs have different effects on the heart health of dialysis patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

12 Dec 2011

Gene therapy can reduce painful bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia B

Symptoms improved significantly in adults with the bleeding disorder hemophilia B following a single treatment with gene therapy developed by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and demonstrated to be safe in a clinical trial conducted at the University College London (UCL) in the U.K.

12 Dec 2011

Study explains molecular basis for cherubism disease

The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute's Drs. Frank Sicheri, Tony Pawson and Sebastian Guettler, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Rottapel at the Ontario Cancer Institute, have uncovered the detailed architecture of a crucial component of Tankyrase, a protein linked to the bone development disorder cherubism and involved in a myriad of cellular processes.

9 Dec 2011

Study may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients

A study that may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients is underway at Georgia Health Sciences University.

9 Dec 2011

Researchers discover potential target for cherubism

Cancer researchers studying genetic mutations that cause leukemia have discovered a connection to the rare disease cherubism, an inherited facial bone disorder in children.

9 Dec 2011

Women with non-melanoma skin cancers more likely to have smoked cigarettes

Women who have non-melanoma skin cancers are more likely to have smoked cigarettes compared to women without skin cancer, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., who published study results in a recent issue of Cancer Causes & Control.

9 Dec 2011

Scientists discover mechanism that controls 'fat switch' in the body

Scientists at Warwick Medical School have made an important discovery about the mechanism controlling the body's 'fat switch', shedding new light on our understanding of how proteins regulate appetite control and insulin secretion.

9 Dec 2011

Breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body

Scientists from the University of Leicester and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have announced a breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body.

9 Dec 2011

H. pylori bacterium produces urease to neutralize gastric acid

A research team led by scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is releasing study results this week showing how a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, that causes more than half of peptic ulcers worldwide and that has been implicated in stomach cancer has managed for eons to turn the acidic environment of the human gut into one in which it can thrive.

8 Dec 2011

BCX4945 proves effective at clearing malaria infections

An antimalarial agent developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University proved effective at clearing infections caused by the malaria parasite most lethal to humans - by literally starving the parasites to death. The novel research, carried out on a small number of non-human primates, could bolster efforts to develop more potent therapies against one of the world's leading killers.

8 Dec 2011

First study to identify molecular mechanism that links inflammation to cancer epigenetics

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists report that sharp rises in levels of reactive oxygen molecules, and the inflammation that results, trigger biochemical changes that silence genes in a pattern often seen in cancer cells. The researchers confirmed this gene-silencing effect in mice that develop inflammation-induced colon cancer.

8 Dec 2011

New research on bed bug's ability to withstand genetic bottleneck of inbreeding

New research on the bed bug's ability to withstand the genetic bottleneck of inbreeding, announced today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting, provides new clues to explain the rapidly growing problem of bed bugs across the United States and globally.

7 Dec 2011

King's College London submits first clinical grade xeno-free hES cell lines to the UKSCB

Stem cell scientists at King's College London will announce they have submitted to the UK Stem Cell Bank (UKSCB) their first clinical grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines that are free from animal-derived products, known as 'xeno-free' stem cells.

7 Dec 2011

Supercomputer simulations give insight into proteins involved in drug detoxification

Supercomputer simulations at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are giving scientists unprecedented access to a key class of proteins involved in drug detoxification.

7 Dec 2011

Report shows how mutant gene influences lipid metabolism

People who carry a malfunctioning copy of a particular gene are especially good at clearing fat from their systems. The report in the December Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows how the mutant gene influences metabolism in this way.

7 Dec 2011

Study evaluates whether genetic GST polymorphisms increase risk of ALD in alcoholics

It has been widely observed that only a small percentage of alcoholics develop cirrhosis of the liver, the most advanced form of alcoholic liver disease (ALD); the reason why all alcoholics do not develop such disease is not known. The present study from Spain, that includes original work and a meta-analysis, evaluates whether genetic polymorphisms that determine levels of glutathione-S-transferases (GST) relate to the risk of developing ALD among alcoholics.

6 Dec 2011