MicroRNA News and Research

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In genetics, microRNAs (miRNA) are single-stranded RNA molecules of 21-23 nucleotides in length, which regulate gene expression. miRNAs are encoded by genes from whose DNA they are transcribed but miRNAs are not translated into protein (i.e. they are non-coding RNAs); instead each primary transcript (a pri-miRNA) is processed into a short stem-loop structure called a pre-miRNA and finally into a functional miRNA. Mature miRNA molecules are partially complementary to one or more messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, and their main function is to down-regulate gene expression.

Santaris Pharma establishes its operations in the U.S.

Santaris Pharma A/S, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing RNA-based drugs targeted to disease-related mRNAs and microRNAs, today announced it has established operations in the United States. Internally and through its partners, the Company has a robust drug development pipeline including programs to treat metabolic disorders, infectious and inflammatory diseases, cancer and rare genetic disorders.

16 Sep 2009

Alnylam and Medtronic announce pre-clinical research findings from their Huntington’s disease program

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), the world’s leading developer of medical devices, announced today the presentation of new pre-clinical research findings from their Huntington’s disease program at the 2009 World Congress on Huntington’s Disease held September 12-15, 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

15 Sep 2009

miR-200 supression shifts primary lung cancer to metastatic disease

Primary lung cancer shifts to metastatic disease by suppressing a family of small molecules that normally locks the tumor in a noninvasive state, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Sept. 15 edition of Genes and Development.

15 Sep 2009

USPTO allows Isis an additional patent for single-stranded RNAi technology

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY) announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed an Isis patent application that further expands the scope of the "Crooke" patent estate. The newly allowed patent broadly covers methods of cleaving a target RNA via a double-stranded ribonuclease mechanism, including the RNAi mechanism, with chemically modified, single-stranded RNA-containing drugs.

11 Sep 2009

EPO issues grant for a patent in Kreutzer-Limmer III patent series

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a notification of intent to grant for a patent in the Kreutzer-Limmer III patent series (EP Application No 02702247.4). This patent series stems from the pioneering RNAi research performed by scientists at Ribopharma AG, which was acquired by Alnylam in 2003.

10 Sep 2009

Research on the role of microRNAs in cellular processes

RNAs, serving as a mere intermediary between DNA and proteins, were long regarded as a poor relation by researchers, attracting little interest. However, following the discovery of small RNAs known as microRNAs, they have increasingly been moving into the limelight. MicroRNAs bind to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby regulating the translation of genes into proteins.

10 Sep 2009

Second-quarter fiscal 2009 results announced by Rosetta Genomics

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), a leading developer of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2009.

9 Sep 2009

Rosetta Genomics and AXA Diagnostics sign exclusive distribution agreement

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), a leading developer of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, and AXA Diagnostics, a privately owned company that markets specialized diagnostic tests, announced today the signing of an exclusive distribution agreement in Italy for Rosetta Genomics’ three currently available diagnostic tests.

8 Sep 2009

Proteostasis Therapeutics to use GeneGo's MetaCore integrated software

GeneGo, Inc., the leading systems biology tools company, announced today that Proteostasis Therapeutics has licensed its data mining and analysis platform, MetaCore. Proteostasis Therapeutics is the first company dedicated to the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics based upon understanding the body's Proteostasis Network. The Proteostasis Network maintains the body's natural balance of proteins to protect us from numerous diseases.

8 Sep 2009

microRNAs analysis could detect pancreatic cancer

A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the September edition of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

5 Sep 2009

Novel methodology developed to extract microRNAs from cancer tissues

Researchers led by Dr. Soheil Dadras at the Stanford University Medical Center have developed a novel methodology to extract microRNAs from cancer tissues. The related report by Ma et al, "Profiling and discovery of novel miRNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded melanoma and nodal specimens," appears in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

28 Aug 2009

MicroRNAs in saliva could aid in the detection of oral cancer

Researchers continue to add to the diagnostic alphabet of saliva by identifying the presence of at least 50 microRNAs that could aid in the detection of oral cancer, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

26 Aug 2009

Researchers shed light on critical neurological process and mental retardation

With more than 1,500 eyes, not much escapes the fruit fly's sight. Now, a new research report in the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org), describes how researchers from the United States and Ireland used those eyes to "see" new proteins necessary for memory.

25 Aug 2009

Santaris Pharma to discover and develop new RNA-based medicines for treating rare genetic disorders

Santaris Pharma A/S, a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing RNA-based drugs targeted to disease-related mRNAs and microRNAs, today announced a multi-year worldwide strategic alliance with Shire plc to discover and develop new RNA-based medicines to treat rare genetic disorders.

24 Aug 2009

Novel microRNA plays a major role in invasive breast cancer development

Research led by Suresh Alahari, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that a tiny piece of RNA appears to play a major role in the development of invasive breast cancer and identified a gene that appears to inhibit invasive breast cancer.

20 Aug 2009

Alnylam and Tekmira to collaborate on RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that they will jointly participate in a new research collaboration focused on the discovery of novel cationic lipids and lipid nanoparticles for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

6 Aug 2009

miR-21 molecule plays early and important role in nonsmoking lung cancer

The cause of lung cancer in never-smokers is poorly understood, but a study led by investigators at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and at the National Cancer Institute has identified a molecule believed to play an early and important role in its development.

28 Jul 2009