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Universite de Montreal researchers are developing leptin-based pill to control hunger

A Universit- de Montr-al research team is developing a pill composed of leptin, the protein that tells our brain to stop eating. "Mice deprived of leptin will not stop eating. They become so big they have trouble moving around," says Mo-se Bendayan, a pathology professor at the Universit- de Montr-al Faculty of Medicine who has studied the leptin protein extensively.

27 Jan 2010

Promising results in mice could prevent fatal iron buildup in humans

A new study shows that a protein found in blood alleviates anemia, a condition in which the body's tissues don't get enough oxygen from the blood. In this animal study, injections of the protein, known as transferrin, also protected against potentially fatal iron overload in mice with thalassemia, a type of inherited anemia that affects millions of people worldwide.

27 Jan 2010

Random lasers may prove useful for diagnosing cancer, say Utah researchers

When University of Utah scientists discovered a new kind of laser that was generated by an electrically conducting plastic or polymer, no one could explain how it worked and some doubted it was real.

24 Jan 2010

Loss of key proteins may account for molecular abnormalities associated with myotonic dystrophy

Research on the genetic defect that causes myotonic muscular dystrophy has revealed that the mutation disrupts an array of metabolic pathways in muscle cells through its effects on two key proteins.

24 Jan 2010

Curis prices registered direct offering

Curis, Inc. announced today that it has priced a registered direct offering of 6,449,288 units, at a price of $2.52 per unit, for gross proceeds of $16.25 million before deducting placement agents’ fees and estimated offering expenses. Each unit consists of one share of the company's common stock and a warrant to buy 0.25 of a share of the company's common stock. The warrants will be exercisable for a period of five years beginning on the date of issuance, at an exercise price of $3.55 per share.

22 Jan 2010

ACS Chemical Biology report supports zebrafish for drug development

By combining the tools of medicinal chemistry and zebrafish biology, a team of Vanderbilt investigators has identified compounds that may offer therapeutic leads for bone-related diseases and cancer.

22 Jan 2010

The American Journal of Pathology: Highlights from February 2010 issue

A group led by Dr. Peter Lloyd Jones at the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland; the University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA has demonstrated that tenascin-C affects proto-oncogene function in breast cancer. Their report can be found in the February 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 Jan 2010

Findings may provide new insights into diabetes; suggest novel targets for drug intervention

The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) makes cameo appearances throughout the body, but its leading role is as the opening act in the stress response, jump-starting the process along the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that CRF also plays a part in the pancreas, where it increases insulin secretion and promotes the division of the insulin-producing beta cells.

22 Jan 2010

COTI's novel small molecule effective against pancreatic cancer in animal model

Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. announced more positive results today from animal experiments carried out at a prominent Canadian cancer research facility. This new series of experiments adds to the impressive data package for COTI-2, demonstrating efficacy both as a single agent and in combination with current first line therapies, as well as low toxicity in several different animal models of human cancers.

21 Jan 2010

New class of HCV inhibitors discovered by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company developing antiviral therapies, announced today the publication of research from the labs of Stanford scientist and Eiger Founder, Dr. Jeffrey Glenn, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues entitled, "Identification of a Novel Class of HCV Inhibitors". Published in the January 20th edition of Science and Translational Medicine, the research validates a domain, termed 4BAH2, within the non-structural protein (NS4B) of the HCV genome, as essential for HCV replication and describes the development of a high-throughput screen leading to the identification of small molecule inhibitors of 4BAH2.

21 Jan 2010

Study identifies new mechanism that causes allergic response in people

WHAT: A new study in human cells has singled out a molecule that specifically directs immune cells to develop the capability to produce an allergic response. The signaling molecule, called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), is key to the development of allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis (eczema) and food allergy.

21 Jan 2010

Maturation disorders of nerve terminals may trigger autism

For brain cells to communicate, the contacts to each other must function. The protein molecule neuroligin-1 plays an important role in this as it stimulates the necessary maturation processes at the contact sites (synapses) of the nerves.

21 Jan 2010

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals reports positive results from its LX4211 Phase 2 trial in type 2 diabetic patients

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering breakthrough treatments for human disease, obtained positive results from a recently completed Phase 2 study of LX4211 in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. LX4211 is a once-per-day, orally-delivered, small molecule drug candidate that inhibits the sodium-dependent glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2), lowering the accumulation of glucose in the body and reducing caloric load.

20 Jan 2010

Copper-free version of click chemistry crafted to create biomolecular probes

For the first time, the widely used molecular synthesis technique known as click chemistry has been safely applied to a living organism. Researchers with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have crafted a unique copper-free version of click chemistry to create biomolecular probes for in vivo studies of live mice. Conventional click chemistry reactions require a copper catalyst that is toxic to cells and organisms.

20 Jan 2010

Patients Medical offers prevention tips for patients during heart health month

Patients Medical, a leading integrative medical center in New York, offers prevention tips for patients during heart health month. William Lee, MD, PhD, FACC, a Metabolic Cardiologist and Director of Cardiology at Patients Medical, has a unique approach to medicine which incorporates both traditional and alternative practices to provide patients complete care. He believes good health starts with good heart health.

20 Jan 2010

TUM biophysicists map changes in energy landscape of zipper-like protein molecule

Biophysicists at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have published the results of single-molecule experiments that bring a higher-resolution tool to the study of protein folding. How proteins arrive at the three-dimensional shapes that determine their essential functions - or cause grave diseases when folding goes wrong - is considered one of the most important and least understood questions in the biological and medical sciences.

20 Jan 2010

Scientists study fruit fly to identify key molecular signal in cancer metastasis

Scientists trying to understand how cancer cells invade healthy tissue have used the fruit fly's metamorphosis from maggot to flying insect as a guide to identify a key molecular signal that may be involved in both processes.

20 Jan 2010

HSF1A stimulates more protein chaperones and reduces protein misfolding

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have found some compounds that improve a cell's ability to properly "fold" proteins and could lead to promising drugs for degenerative nerve diseases, including Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

20 Jan 2010

European Patent Office grants a patent for Rexahn Pharmaceuticals' RX-3117

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that the European Patent Office has granted a patent for its novel anti-cancer compound, RX-3117.

20 Jan 2010

Microbiologists explain why apples are beneficial for health

Why does an apple a day keep the doctor away? New research published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology contributes to our understanding of why eating apples is good for you.

20 Jan 2010