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Whitehead researchers develop new type of genetic screen for human cells

Whitehead researchers have developed a new type of genetic screen for human cells to pinpoint specific genes and proteins used by pathogens, according to their paper in Science.

27 Nov 2009

MICARDIS receives Health Canada approval to reduce the risk of non-fatal stroke

MICARDIS(R) (telmisartan) has received Health Canada approval to reduce the risk of non-fatal stroke or non-fatal myocardial infarction in patients 55 years or older at high risk of developing major cardiovascular events who cannot tolerate an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor.

26 Nov 2009

Researchers uncover atomic-level action of ring-shaped protein motors

The atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring-shaped protein motors has been uncovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) using a state-of-the-art protein crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source (ALS).

25 Nov 2009

Health watch: When you eat just as vital to what you eat

When you eat may be just as vital to your health as what you eat, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their experiments in mice revealed that the daily waxing and waning of thousands of genes in the liver—the body's metabolic clearinghouse—is mostly controlled by food intake and not by the body's circadian clock as conventional wisdom had it.

25 Nov 2009

Faulty enzyme may contribute to malignant brain tumour formation

Around 70 per cent of people with a type of brain tumour - called a low-grade glioma - have a faulty version of an enzyme called IDH1. The mutation is also found in a significant proportion of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia.

25 Nov 2009

Enzyme that plays an important role in the formation of breast tumours identified

A team of US scientists found that the enzyme lysyl oxidase (LOX) alters the structure of collagen - the major component of connective tissue - in the cells surrounding the growing tumour.

25 Nov 2009

Shanghai Biolaxy receives IND approval for insulin formulation to treat diabetes

Shanghai Biolaxy announced the Chinese State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) has approved the investigational new drug application (IND) for its oral insulin project (Nodlin), an innovative insulin formulation to treat diabetes. This IND approval allows Biolaxy to initiate its first phase I clinical study.

24 Nov 2009

Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers tips to reduce gas

Passing gas -- flatulence -- is normal and happens to everyone. But for some people, excessive gas and pain interfere with normal activities. The November issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers tips to reduce gas.

24 Nov 2009

Shire submits a MAA for velaglucerase alfa in Europe

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has submitted a MAA to the European Medicines Agency for velaglucerase alfa, the company's enzyme replacement therapy in development for the treatment of Type 1 Gaucher disease.

24 Nov 2009

Study: Impaired oxidation in liver associated with progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

A recent metobolomics study by researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond found that impaired peroxisomal oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is associated with the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

24 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene linked to the progression of gliomas

23 Nov 2009

Mutated IDH1 gene has novel enzyme activity consistent with cancer-causing gene: Study

Agios Pharmaceuticals today announced that its scientists have established, for the first time, that the mutated IDH1 gene has a novel enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. This breakthrough discovery shows that the mutated form of IDH1 produces a metabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), which may contribute to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas, the most common type of brain cancers.

23 Nov 2009

Winship-led team identifies a way to exploit cancer cells' taste for glucose

The pedal-to-the-metal signals driving the growth of several types of cancer cells lead to a common switch governing the use of glucose, researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.

23 Nov 2009

Carvedilol in combination with ACE inhibitors may benefit cardiac patients

In a new study, researchers report that a class of heart medications called beta-blockers can have a helpful, or harmful, effect on the heart, depending on their molecular activity.

21 Nov 2009

NHLBI-supported research shares new strategies on hypertension, heart defect and air pollution

New education strategies for better controlling hypertension and research suggesting a possible link between short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution and increased risk of constricted blood vessels are among the research highlights from studies supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the American Heart Association's 2009 Scientific Sessions in Orlando held Nov. 14-18.

20 Nov 2009

Scientists anticipate new approaches in drug development to combat prion infection

The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells. With these findings, published in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München anticipate new approaches in drug development to combat prion infection.

20 Nov 2009

Scientists find how 4-HB is metabolized by the body

It's a naturally occurring brain chemical with an unwieldy name: 4-hydroxybutyrate (4-HB). Taken by mouth, it can be abused or used as a date-rape drug.

20 Nov 2009

Curemark begins enrolling patients in Phase III clinical trials for CM-AT

Curemark LLC, (www.curemark.com), a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that the company has begun enrolling patients in Phase III clinical trials for CM-AT, its autism treatment, at three additional clinical trial sites.

20 Nov 2009

New biomarkers can predict patients' response to certain drugs

Recent advances in cancer therapeutics have led to the discovery of biomarkers that can predict patient response to certain drugs. Screening for mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGRF) prior to non-small cell lung cancer treatment, for example, has been shown to indentify patients who are likely to respond to treatment with erlontinib. This maximizes the drug's impact, and spares patients who are not likely to benefit from being subjected to potentially debilitating side effects.

19 Nov 2009

FDA: Plavix-Prilosec combination may reduce anti-clotting effect

Patients should avoid using the stomach acid reducer Prilosec/Prilosec OTC (omeprazole) with the anti-clotting drug Plavix (clopidogrel), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Nov. 17.

19 Nov 2009