Antisense News and Research

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Antisense is the non-coding strand in double-stranded DNA. The antisense strand serves as the template for mRNA synthesis.

Overcoming gene silencing barriers to target neurological conditions: an interview with Dr Errol de Souza

Many gene mutations that cause neurological disorders have been identified. For example, in a rare neurological disorder such as Huntington’s disease, an autosomal dominant mutation through expansion of CAG (cytosine-adenine-guanine) triplet repeats in the gene coding for the Huntingtin protein results in abnormal protein production.

1 Aug 2016

Novel conjugate therapy shows promise in destroying ALL cells with few side effects

Researchers at UC Davis and Ionis Pharmaceuticals have developed a hybrid treatment that harnesses a monoclonal antibody to deliver antisense DNA to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells and that may lead to less toxic treatments for the disease.

29 Jul 2016

Promising new therapeutic target could lead to better prognosis of spinal muscular atrophy

According to studies, approximately one out of every 40 individuals in the United States is a carrier of the gene responsible for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurodegenerative disease that causes muscles to weaken over time.

25 Jul 2016

Innovative mouse model could provide new strategy to arrest growth of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common of pancreatic cancers, is extraordinarily lethal, with a 5-year survival rate of just 6 percent. Chemotherapy treatments are poorly effective, in part due to a high degree of drug-resistance to currently used regimens.

7 Jun 2016

Automated Liquid Handling in Pharmaceutical Research

In this interview, News Medical talks to Dr. Alfred Chappell of Ionis Pharmaceuticals about automated liquid handling in pharmaceutical research.

From Beckman Coulter Life Sciences - Automation and Genomics 26 May 2016

Researchers develop novel ss-siRNAs to turn off disease-related genes

Combining the therapeutic potential and advantages of existing oligonucleotide-based approaches to turn off disease-related genes, a type of single-stranded silencing RNAs (ss-siRNAs) has shown significantly improved potency and activity.

13 May 2016

Study describes precise mechanisms that enable TB bacteria to persist in the body

Bacteria that cause tuberculosis trick immune cells meant to destroy them into hiding and feeding them instead. This is the result of a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published online April 18 in Nature Immunology.

19 Apr 2016

Researchers elucidate mechanisms underlying impaired ciliogenesis in PKD

In an article published online ahead of print on Feb. 19, 2015 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center report findings from in vitro and in vivo studies that elucidate the mechanisms underlying the impaired ciliogenesis and abnormal kidney development characteristic of polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

21 Mar 2016

Delivering microRNAs in cancer treatment: an interview with Dr Conde and Prof Artzi

microRNAs (miRs) are small endogenous noncoding RNA molecules (20–23 nucleotides) derived from imperfectly paired hairpin RNA structures naturally encoded in the genome that act specifically as triggering molecules to control translational repression or mRNA degradation.

11 Mar 2016

New drug shows promise against Huntington's disease

A drug that would be the first to target the cause of Huntington's disease (HD) is effective and safe when tested in mice and monkeys, according to data released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.

27 Feb 2016

Matched ChIP-validated Antibodies & Primer Sets

Chromatrap announces that its high quality ChIP-validated antibodies can now be supplied with optimised matching primer sets.

From Chromatrap® - Porvair Sciences Ltd 26 Feb 2016

Scientists discover role of nucleocytoplasmic transport in specific forms of ALS and FTD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders.

15 Feb 2016

Novel drug shows promise against metastatic breast cancer in mouse models

12 Jan 2016

U-M research could lead to new ways of fighting X-linked diseases in girls and women

Nearly every girl and woman on Earth carries two X chromosomes in nearly every one of her cells -- but one of them does (mostly) nothing. That's because it's been silenced, keeping most of its DNA locked up and unread like a book in a cage.

11 Jan 2016

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Ionis Pharmaceuticals' IONIS-HTT Rx for treatment of HD patients

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to IONIS-HTTRx for the treatment of patients with Huntington's disease (HD).

5 Jan 2016

Novel drug shows promise in mouse models of human metastatic breast cancer

A doctor treating a patient with a potentially fatal metastatic breast tumor would be very pleased to find, after administering a round of treatment, that the primary tumor had undergone a change in character - from aggressive to static, and no longer shedding cells that can colonize distant organs of the body. Indeed, most patients with breast and other forms of cancer who succumb to the illness do so because of the cancer's unstoppable spread.

23 Dec 2015

Researchers find new way to prevent or reduce pathologies caused by malformed proteins

Improperly formed proteins can cause a host of serious illnesses, from muscular dystrophy to cystic fibrosis. A question of enormous import in research, beyond the challenge of determining how malformed proteins contribute to specific disease processes, is figuring out ways to prevent or reduce the pathologies they cause.

16 Dec 2015

Study paves way for development of novel cancer therapeutics

A team of scientists, comprising researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, and the VIB Laboratory of Molecular Cancer Biology, has revealed the mechanism by which tumor cells elevate levels of MDM4, a protein that is highly expressed in cancer cells but not in normal adult tissues.

16 Dec 2015

Biogen begins ISIS-SOD1 Rx Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its partner, Biogen, has initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical study of ISIS-SOD1 Rx (BIIB067) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

11 Dec 2015

Research reveals MECP2 Duplication Syndrome can be reversed

The methyl CpG binding protein 2 gene (MECP2) produces a protein of the same name, the level of which is critical for normal brain function. Mutations leading to protein under-expression cause Rett Syndrome while gene duplication causing over-expression lead to MECP2 Duplication Syndrome. Both disorders are severely debilitating childhood neurological diseases.

26 Nov 2015