Ligand News and Research

RSS

New AI system revolutionizes drug design and vaccine development

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of structural biology. In May 2024, DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs launched AlphaFold 3 (AF3), a revolutionary AI system capable of predicting the 3D structures and interactions of proteins, nucleic acids, small molecules, ions, and other biomolecules with remarkable precision.

10 Oct 2025

New fluorescent molecule could be used to generate clearer images of tumors

MIT chemists have designed a new type of fluorescent molecule that they hope could be used for applications such as generating clearer images of tumors.

6 Oct 2025

Engineered CAR T cells show promise against solid tumors

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, which uses a patient's own immune cells to fight cancer, has emerged as a powerful way to treat lymphoma and other blood cancers.

2 Oct 2025

Combining radiopharmaceuticals with targeted radiation improves progression-free survival in prostate cancer patients

A new clinical trial finds that people with a limited number of metastases from recurrent prostate cancer lived significantly longer without disease progression when they received a radiopharmaceutical drug before targeted radiation, compared with radiation alone.

29 Sep 2025

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals key genes and potential targeted drugs for OA treatment

Researchers from the Department of Orthopedics at Taicang TCM Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine have made significant strides in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying osteoarthritis (OA).

26 Sep 2025

New quintuple agonist shows promise for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes

Much excitement has built in recent years on the new class of incretin drugs that include glucagon-like-peptide-1 inhibitor (single agonists such as semaglutide) and also dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and GLP-1 receptor agonists (dual agonists such tirzepatide).

21 Sep 2025

Advancing drug discovery with AI, generative chemistry, and 3D molecular design

Discover how AI, generative chemistry, and 3D molecular design are revolutionizing drug discovery.

From Optibrium Ltd. 18 Sep 2025

Triple negative breast cancer exploits lymph node niches to block immune defense

In almost all solid tumors - i.e. cancers with a solid tissue structure - the detection of tumor cells in the lymph nodes is considered a decisive marker for the progression of the disease.

16 Sep 2025

Study reveals how centenarians preserve youthful immune defenses

Researchers mapped immune cells from centenarians, their offspring, and younger controls across three cohorts using multi-omics single-cell profiling. They found that centenarians retain leaner helper pools but have enhanced cytotoxic and NK cell programs, along with reinforced NK–T communication networks.

15 Sep 2025

Texas Tech research team earns $3 million renewal to advance stroke therapy

Stroke research aims to understand the brain's self-protective and repair mechanisms. Gaining detailed insight into these mechanisms is crucial as such knowledge could lead to newly developed medications and interventions which mimic or engage the brain's self-protective/repair mechanisms, leading to innovative stroke therapies.

13 Sep 2025

Scientists uncover brain circuit that turns cravings into eating behavior

Researchers found that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis integrates pleasure signals from central amygdala prodynorphin neurons and hunger signals from agouti-related peptide neurons to drive consumption. Manipulating this bed nucleus of the stria terminalis circuit bidirectionally altered food intake and body weight in mice.

11 Sep 2025

SLIT2 protein levels in the eye and blood linked to cognitive function

Neurocognitive impairments are classified by pathological changes with potential for destruction of neural tissue. One change known to occur in neurodegenerative disorders is an accumulation of proteins causing pathological damage.

11 Sep 2025

Tarlatamab and anti-PD-L1 therapy combination demonstrates manageable safety profile in first-line ES-SCLC

Clinical data presented today demonstrates the combination of tarlatamab with anti-PD-L1 therapy as first-line maintenance has an acceptable safety profile and resulted in unprecedented overall survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).

8 Sep 2025

New protein-based therapeutic tool could change the way we treat diseases

A team of scientists at Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) has created a protein-based therapeutic tool that could change the way we treat diseases caused by harmful or unnecessary cells.

3 Sep 2025

New reaction approach expands possibilities for drug discovery building blocks

A new approach to an established reaction boosts the ability to synthesize vinylic ethers - key building blocks for many molecules important to human health.

28 Aug 2025

Stress in mothers causes eczema in newborn mice through immune cell changes

Maternal prenatal stress in mice disrupts fetal mast cell programming, triggering eczema-like skin inflammation and heightened sensitivity after birth. The findings reveal how corticosterone-driven immune and neuronal changes in utero may set the stage for pediatric eczema risk.

28 Aug 2025

Researchers develop novel exosome-based therapeutic agent for treating traumatic CNS injuries

Traumatic injuries of the central nervous system (CNS)-such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)-are characterized by oxidative damage and neuroinflammation.

28 Aug 2025

Reengineered enzyme enables precise detection of cell surface glycans

Sugars known as glycans form dense envelopes around cells. But they're often ignored in biological investigations because, unlike DNA, proteins and other cellular components, tools to study them are lacking.

14 Aug 2025

AI model can design optimal drug candidates without any prior molecular data

Traditional drug development methods involve identifying a target protein (e.g., a cancer cell receptor) that causes disease, and then searching through countless molecular candidates (potential drugs) that could bind to that protein and block its function.

11 Aug 2025

High-dose vitamin D strengthens bones in very low birth weight infants

Research indicates that high-dose vitamin D improves bone health in very low birth weight preterm infants, highlighting its role in early development.

8 Aug 2025