Molecule News and Research

RSS

Single protein plays a major role in prion diseases

A single protein plays a major role in deadly prion diseases by smashing up clusters of these infectious proteins, creating the "seeds" that allow fatal brain illnesses to quickly spread, new Brown University research shows.

23 Jan 2007

Sequella receives FDA fast track status for pulmonary tuberculosis drug

Sequella, Inc. has announced it has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for SQ109, the company's proprietary lead drug candidate for treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

22 Jan 2007

Nanoparticles yield delivery tools for therapeutic nucleic acids

Cancer researchers hold great hope that nucleic acid-based therapeutics, such as anticancer genes, antisense oligonucleotides, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules, will prove to be powerful antitumor agents.

16 Jan 2007

Biomimetic amplification of nanoparticle homing to tumors

A collaborative, multidisciplinary team of researchers has created nanoparticles that act much like a developing clot to target tumors.

16 Jan 2007

Fibrinogen molecule structure acts as a molecular spring

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences have shown that a well-known protein structure acts as a molecular spring, explaining one way that clots may stretch and bend under such physical stresses as blood flow.

14 Jan 2007

Lilly to change global manufacturing operations

Eli Lilly and Company has announced several strategic changes to its global manufacturing operations to better support the company's current product portfolio and evolving drug pipeline.

14 Jan 2007

Blue-green algae may lead to exciting class of anti-cancer drugs

Combining synthetic chemistry techniques with a knowledge of the properties and actions of enzymes, scientists have been able to produce an exciting class of anti-cancer drugs originally isolated from blue-green algae.

10 Jan 2007

Retinoblastoma gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta

An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages.

10 Jan 2007

Amphora sells oncology target to Genentech

Amphora Discovery Corporation, a small molecule drug discovery company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Genentech, Inc. pursuant to which Genentech will purchase Amphora's entire program for an unnamed oncology target with the potential to treat multiple oncology indications.

9 Jan 2007

TrkB and its role in learning and memory

For the first time researchers investigate the molecular basis of memory in living mice.

9 Jan 2007

Dark state and DNA

Chemists at Ohio State University have probed an unusual high-energy state produced in single nucleotides - the building blocks of DNA and RNA - when they absorb ultraviolet (UV) light.

9 Jan 2007

Retinoblastoma gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta

9 Jan 2007

Allergic reactions to insulin have declined and Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion could reduce them further

A review of published research from the University of Liege, Belgium, reveals a decline in the number of people experiencing allergic reactions to insulin. This is largely due to better purification of animal insulin and the introduction of human recombinant insulin.

8 Jan 2007

Abnormal hair development and apparent follicular transformation to mammary gland in the absence of Hedgehog signaling

One single molecule determines how stem cells in the hair follicle develop. A study at the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University in Sweden has shown that cells that should give rise to hair can instead give rise to mammary gland cells in mice who lack this molecule.

8 Jan 2007

Interleukin-13 receptor-targeted nanovesicles are a potential therapy for glioblastoma multiforme

Glioblastoma multiforme is among the most aggressive and difficult cancers to treat. Now, researchers at Penn State University have shown that a lipid-based nanoparticle, designed to bind to a specific receptor found on malignant brain cells but not healthy ones, improves the potency of a common anticancer drug and slows significantly the growth of glioblastoma in mice.

8 Jan 2007

Optical and magnetic resonance imaging of cell death and platelet activation using annexin A5-functionalized quantum dots

By combining a quantum dot with a novel carrier of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agent gadolinium, a team of investigators at the University of Maastricht, in The Netherlands, has developed a nanoparticle that can spot apoptosis, or programmed cell death, using both MRI and fluorescence imaging.

8 Jan 2007

In vivo biodistribution and highly efficient tumour targeting of carbon nanotubes in mice

In the first experiment of its kind, investigators at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (CCNE-TR), based at Stanford University, have shown that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) wrapped in poly(ethylene glycol), or PEG, can successfully target tumors in living animals.

8 Jan 2007