Signaling Pathway News and Research

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Severe inflammatory diseases: Blocking "death messenger" might be a promising treatment

The signaling molecule CD95L, known as "death messenger," causes an inflammatory process in injured tissue after spinal cord injuries and prevents its healing. This discovery was published by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center. In mice, the researchers found out that if they switch off CD95L, the injured spinal cord heals and the animals regain better ability to move. Therefore, substances which block the death messenger might offer a new approach in the treatment of severe inflammatory diseases.

4 Mar 2010

New class of breast cancer: Overexpression of LRP6 gene could be a potential marker

A newly identified cancer biomarker could define a new subtype of breast cancer as well as offer a potential way to treat it, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Their findings will be published in the March 1 online early edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

2 Mar 2010

Semafore Pharmaceuticals awarded U.S. patent covering PI-3 kinase inhibitor prodrugs

Semafore Pharmaceuticals today announced today announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued United States Patent Number 7,662,977 entitled “PI-3 Kinase Inhibitor Prodrugs.” This composition of matter patent covers a genus of novel compounds that includes SF1126, Semafore’s clinical stage, small molecule inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), two key members of the PI3K signaling pathway that is vital to several essential biological processes, such as cell proliferation and survival.

25 Feb 2010

Biochemical link between misery and death discovered

In ongoing work to identify how genes interact with social environments to impact human health, UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death. In addition, they found a specific genetic variation in some individuals that seems to disconnect that link, rendering them more biologically resilient in the face of adversity.

25 Feb 2010

Arsenic exposure may increase cancer risk, says study

Researchers have found a new oncogenic signaling pathway by which the environmental toxin arsenic may lead to adverse health effects, including bladder cancer. These study results are published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

24 Feb 2010

ATM tumor-suppressor also recognizes damage caused by ROS and orders autophagy

ATM, a protein that reacts to DNA damage by ordering repairs or the suicide of the defective cell, plays a similar, previously unknown role in response to oxidative damage outside of the nucleus, researchers report this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

19 Feb 2010

Researchers identify defective signaling pathway that contributes to the severity of cystic fibrosis

In a study that could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with the cystic fibrosis, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a defective signaling pathway that contributes to disease severity.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers discover Dab2 protein that switches on EMT process

Reporting in Nature Cell Biology, researchers describe the discovery of a specific protein called disabled-2 (Dab2) that switches on the process that releases cancer cells from the original tumor and allows the cells to spread and develop into new tumors in other parts of the body.

15 Feb 2010

Sustamine L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine supplement increases performance in endurance exercise and activity

A clinical study by Dr. Jay Hoffman, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey, has shown Sustamine™ L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine, increases performance in endurance exercise and activity. The study was published on February 3, 2010, in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN), a peer-reviewed journal covering various aspects of sports nutrition, supplementation, exercise metabolism, and/or scientific policies related to sports nutrition.

12 Feb 2010

Seaside Therapeutics granted U.S patent covering methods of treating autism

Seaside Therapeutics LLC today announced the issuance of U.S. patent 7,648,993 B2 (‘993 patent), which covers methods of treating autism with group 1 antagonists of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) pathway. An earlier related patent, U.S. patent 6,890,931 B2 (‘931 patent), was issued in 2005 and covers methods of treating Fragile X Syndrome, the most common known cause of autism, with group 1 antagonists of the mGluR pathway.

10 Feb 2010

Autism Speaks: Ten most significant autism research achievements in 2009

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization has released its annual list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year. Every year, Autism Speaks documents the progress made toward its mission to discover the causes and treatment for autism spectrum disorders, and compiles a list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year.

10 Feb 2010

Study shows cellular circuitry is more complex than previously thought

Using an elaborate sleuthing system they developed to probe how cells manage their own division, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that common but hard-to-see sugar switches are partly in control.

6 Feb 2010

Progenics Pharmaceuticals to present preclinical data of multiplex PI3K inhibitors

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of preclinical data on a series of novel compounds that simultaneously blocked two critical pathways involved in the growth and survival of cancer cells.

4 Feb 2010

Research suggests growth factor gene plays a central role in palate development

Cleft palate has been linked to dozens of genes. During their investigation of one of these genes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were surprised to find that cleft palate occurs both when the gene is more active and when it is less active than normal.

3 Feb 2010

Abbott signs licensing agreement with Pierre Fabre SA to develop and commercialize cancer antibody h224G11

Abbott announced today an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Pierre Fabre SA to develop and commercialize h224G11, a pre-clinical monoclonal antibody identified at the Centre d'Immunologie Pierre Fabre (CIPF) in France and targeting the cMet receptor for the treatment of cancer.

1 Feb 2010

Blood flowing with force protects against dangerous clogs in blood vessels

It is second nature for most of us that exercise protects against heart attack and stroke, but researchers have spent 30 years unraveling the biochemistry behind the idea. One answer first offered by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center is that athletic hearts push blood through arteries with greater force, which alone triggers reactions that protect against dangerous clogs in blood vessels.

29 Jan 2010

UT-Battelle exclusively licenses patents on inventions based on Nell-1 gene

In a major step toward commercialization of a promising therapeutic treatment, Oak Ridge National Laboratory contractor UT-Battelle announced at a signing ceremony here today that it has exclusively licensed patents on inventions based on the Nell-1 gene to NellOne Therapeutics, Inc. (NellOne), a company spun out of research performed at the Department of Energy laboratory.

29 Jan 2010

Patients with epilepsy who take Ginkgo herbal medicines face increased risk of seizures

Restrictions should be placed on the use of Ginkgo biloba (G. biloba) - a top-selling herbal remedy - because of growing scientific evidence that Ginkgo may increase the risk of seizures in people with epilepsy and could reduce the effectiveness of anti-seizure drugs, a new report concludes.

28 Jan 2010

Researchers challenge prevailing belief about role of protein in abnormal cell proliferation

In a study to be published this week, a research team is challenging a prevailing belief about the behavior of a human protein linked to the formation of cancer, possibly breathing new life into the search for therapies that will inhibit that protein from "turning on" genes involved in abnormal cell proliferation.

27 Jan 2010

Findings may yield novel therapeutic strategies for late-stage breast cancer

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have determined how the TGFβ-Smad signaling pathway, which is over activated in late-stage cancers, is responsible for the "epigenetic memory" that maintains unique patterns of regulatory DNA hypermethylation causing silencing of critical genes that facilitate breast cancer progression.

25 Jan 2010