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UC Riverside professor to co-lead '1000 Fungal Genomes' project

Jason Stajich, an assistant professor of plant pathology and microbiology at the University of California, Riverside, is a member of an international research team that, in collaboration with the Joint Genome Institute of the U.S. Department of Energy, has embarked on a five-year project to sequence 1000 fungal genomes from across the Fungal Tree of Life.

10 Nov 2011

Merck's NEXPLANON 68 mg now available in the U.S.

Merck today announced that NEXPLANON (etonogestrel implant) 68 mg, a long-acting, progestin-only single-rod hormonal contraceptive, is now available in the United States.

10 Nov 2011

Johns Hopkins researchers unravel how breast cancer metastasizes

The spread of breast cancer is responsible for more than 90 percent of breast cancer deaths. Now, the process by which it spreads—or metastasizes—has been unraveled by researchers at Johns Hopkins. Reporting in two papers, the researchers have discovered the switch that enables breast cancer cells to travel to and be received in the lungs.

9 Nov 2011

Potential fish enzyme biomarker for environmental toxins

The level of the enzyme carbonyl reductase (CBR) is elevated in the livers of fish that have been exposed to cleaned wastewater. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg can show that CBR has properties that may make it suitable to be used as a biomarker, an early warning signal of environmental toxins. The aim of the project is to achieve better environmental monitoring.

9 Nov 2011

New results from BioCryst's BCX4208 Phase 2b gout study

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presents new results from its Phase 2b randomized, double-blind, dose-response study of BCX4208 in patients with gout who have failed to reach the clinically important serum uric acid (sUA) goal of <6 mg/dL on allopurinol alone.

8 Nov 2011

Low-grade inflammatory processes drive development of osteoarthritis

In a study to be published online Nov. 6 in Nature Medicine, investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that the development of osteoarthritis is in great part driven by low-grade inflammatory processes.

8 Nov 2011

Researchers match protein to the job it performs in human body

Scientists at Rochester Institute of Technology and Dowling College are engaged in a similar game with higher stakes. Instead of cards, they are matching the protein to the job it performs in the human body. Their research could lead to drugs that target proteins and switch on or off specific functions associated with various diseases.

8 Nov 2011

DSM and Svelte Medical Systems enter into license and supply agreement

DSM, and Svelte® Medical Systems, Inc., a privately held company developing next generation endovascular therapies, today announced they have entered into a license and supply agreement granting Svelte the right to use DSM’s proprietary bioerodible amino acid based drug carrier in the design of their All In One non-thrombogenic, non-inflammatory drug-eluting stent system.

7 Nov 2011

Mediterranean Diet beneficial even without weight loss

The benefits of the Mediterranean Diet go beyond weight loss, even when weight loss isn't achieved. Researchers from St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, studied 12 patients without diabetes who had nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and the results of their study demonstrated that liver health was improved even without weight loss.

7 Nov 2011

Karolinska Institute researchers discover novel cancer drug target

Vivolux AB, a drug discovery company specialized in cancer treatment, announced today that data that forms the basis for one of the company's promising projects has been published in the journal Nature Medicine. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute have discovered a novel cancer drug target.

7 Nov 2011

Unprecedented detailed description of MAP kinase complex structure

In many pharmaceutical company and university laboratories, scientists are looking closely at kinase complexes because the enzymes play key roles in essential cell functions. By taking unusual steps to examine a kinase complex, researchers at Brown University and the National Institutes of Health have found a sought-after prize: an unprecedentedly detailed description of its structure complete with a rare location on its structure that could be a target for new therapeutic drugs.

7 Nov 2011

PKM2 enzyme has important non-metabolic functions in cancer formation

The embryonic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has a well-established role in metabolism and is highly expressed in human cancers. Now, a team led by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in advance online publication of the journal Nature that PKM2 has important non-metabolic functions in cancer formation.

7 Nov 2011

Dual imaging approach could improve diagnosis, treatment of coronary artery disease

A new device that combines two microimaging technologies can reveal both the detailed anatomy of arterial linings and biological activities that, in coronary arteries, could indicate the risk of heart attacks or the formation of clots in arterial stents.

7 Nov 2011

Researchers discover two effective cancer killers

Researchers at the University of Southern California have identified two molecules that may be more effective cancer killers than are currently available on the market.

7 Nov 2011

Blocking APE1 enzyme could provide new way to kill cancer cells

BLOCKING a key DNA damage repair enzyme, called APE1, could provide a new way to kill cancer cells containing faulty BRCA genes, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool.

7 Nov 2011

Researchers identify surprising mechanism that facilitates protein interactions

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified an unexpected mechanism facilitating some protein interactions that are the workhorses of cells and, in the process, identified a potential new cancer drug development target.

5 Nov 2011

X-ray crystallography identifies structure of apoA-I molecule

Using a sophisticated technique of x-ray crystallography, researchers Xiaohu Mei, PhD, and David Atkinson, PhD, from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have for the first time obtained an "image" of the structure and the precise arrangement of the atoms in a truncated form of the apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) molecule.

5 Nov 2011

Common gut pathogen increases activity of SMO gene and causes colon tumors

Working with lab cultures and mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a strain of the common gut pathogen Bacteroides fragilis causes colon inflammation and increases activity of a gene called spermine oxidase (SMO) in the intestine.

5 Nov 2011

Arginase-2 enzyme plays a major role in diabetic nephropathy

The enzyme arginase-2 plays a major role in kidney failure, and blocking the action of this enzyme might lead to protection against renal disease in diabetes, according to researchers.

5 Nov 2011

Heidelberg scientists identify single protein responsible for varicose veins

Dr. Thomas Korff and his group at the Division of Cardiovascular Physiology of Heidelberg University's Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology have now shown that the pathological remodeling processes causing varicose veins are mediated by a single protein.

5 Nov 2011