Small Molecules News and Research

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New approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for treating muscular dystrophy

In a new study that could ultimately lead to many new medicines, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have adapted a chemical approach to turn diseased cells into unique manufacturing sites for molecules that can treat a form of muscular dystrophy.

3 Sep 2014

Scientists develop synthetic amino acid that can impact 3D structure of bioactive peptides

One of the greatest challenges in modern medicine is developing drugs that are highly effective against a target, but with minimal toxicity and side-effects to the patient. Such properties are directly related to the 3D structure of the drug molecule.

1 Sep 2014

Insulin can protect cells of pancreas from acute pancreatitis

Scientists from The University of Manchester have discovered that insulin can protect the cells of the pancreas from acute pancreatitis - a disease for which there is currently no treatment.

21 Aug 2014

UC Santa Cruz cancer researcher receives $350,000 to develop novel drugs for breast cancer

UC Santa Cruz cancer researcher Seth Rubin has received a $350,000 grant to fund his work toward the development of a new class of drugs for treating breast cancer. The grant is a Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award from the congressionally directed medical research programs of the U.S. Department of Defense.

19 Aug 2014

New therapeutic strategy to combat common genetic risk factor for ALS, FTD

A team of researchers at Mayo Clinic and The Scripps Research Institute in Florida have developed a new therapeutic strategy to combat the most common genetic risk factor for the neurodegenerative disorders amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

15 Aug 2014

Oncothyreon acquires Alpine Biosciences to enable targeted delivery of multiple therapeutic agents

Oncothyreon Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the development of innovative therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it has acquired Alpine Biosciences, Inc., of Seattle, Washington, a privately held biotechnology company developing protocells, a nanoparticle platform technology designed to enable the targeted delivery of multiple therapeutic agents, including nucleic acids, proteins, peptides and small molecules.

12 Aug 2014

Altering the circadian rhythm: an interview with Dr. Doug Kojetin, The Scripps Research Institute

The circadian rhythm is affected by many different stimuli—such as sleep and light, which are the most broadly appreciated ways—but also eating— all of which can modulate, or change, important processes in our bodies such as temperature, production of hormones or other signalling small molecules, cellular regeneration, and others.

6 Aug 2014

Scientists discover new pathway to manipulate, maintain human ESCs in a "na-ve"

For years, researchers and patients have hoped that embryonic stem cells (ESCs)-capable of forming nearly any cell type in the body-could provide insight into numerous diseases perhaps even be used to treat them. Yet progress has been hampered by the inability to transfer research and tools from mouse ESC studies to their human counterparts, in part because human ESCs are "primed" and slightly less plastic than the mouse cells.

26 Jul 2014

BU researchers find possible way to prevent Alzheimer's disease

Boston University School of Medicine researchers may have found a way to delay or even prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD). They discovered that pre-treatment of neurons with the anti-aging protein Klotho can prevent neuron death in the presence of the toxic amyloid protein and glutamate.

25 Jul 2014

Unnatural DNA bases: an interview with Professor Floyd E. Romesberg, The Scripps Research Institute

The natural DNA bases that form the letters of DNA are usually referred to as G, C, A, and T. Those are only the first letters of the chemical names. They’re often called nucleotides by their scientific name and all of them have in common a phosphate part, a sugar part and a nucleobase part.

21 Jul 2014

A personalized approach for patients with ccRCC-related mutations

In an analysis of small molecules called metabolites used by the body to make fuel in normal and cancerous cells in human kidney tissue, a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania identified an enzyme key to applying the brakes on tumor growth.

21 Jul 2014

Chemoprevention and colon cancer: an interview with Dr. John Letterio, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

The basic idea of cancer chemoprevention is to arrest or reverse the progression of premalignant cells towards full malignancy, using physiological mechanisms that do not kill healthy cells.

16 Jul 2014

Biochemists find groups of tiny protein loops that help bacteria to establish infection

When it comes to infecting humans and animals, bacteria need a helping hand. Kansas State University biochemists have found the helping hand: groups of tiny protein loops on the surface of cells.

16 Jul 2014

New drug delivered through skin effective in treatment of breast cancer

A drug that has proven effective in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, but with serious side-effects, may be delivered effectively through the skin using a new topical drug-delivery system.

11 Jul 2014

Scientists develop RNA that binds cGMP

The transmission of signals within cells is dependent on cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) as an important secondary messenger. German scientists have now developed an RNA that binds cGMP. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, it is possible to suppress the cGMP signal cascade in genetically modified cells that produce this RNA.

10 Jul 2014

Researchers develop new "nanojuice" to help doctors better identify human gut

Located deep in the human gut, the small intestine is not easy to examine. X-rays, MRIs and ultrasound images provide snapshots but each suffers limitations. Help is on the way.

7 Jul 2014

Complete analysis of regenerative medicine market

According to a new market research report by Allied Market Research titled, "GlobalRegenerative MedicineMarket (Technology, Applications, Geography) - Industry Analysis, Trends, Opportunities and Forecast, 2013-2020", the global regenerative medicine market will reach $ 67.6 billion by 2020 from $16.4 billion in 2013, registering a CAGR of 23.2% during forecast period (2014 - 2020).

30 Jun 2014

University of Louisville researchers take a step forward in battle against lung cancer

Researchers at the University of Louisville have uncovered a cadre of small molecules that tell certain proteins to kill lung cancer cells. The team, led by Chi Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine, published its finding in the April 2014 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

28 Jun 2014

Personalized antibiotic therapy can help fight antibiotic-resistant infections

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned last fall that the U.S. faces "potentially catastrophic consequences" if it doesn't act quickly to combat the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, which kill about 23,000 Americans a year.

27 Jun 2014

Molecule that blocks bone destruction could provide potential therapeutic target for osteoporosis

UT-Southwestern cancer researchers have identified a promising molecule that blocks bone destruction and, therefore, could provide a potential therapeutic target for osteoporosis and bone metastases of cancer.

26 Jun 2014