Biochemistry News and Research

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Promising research on cryptosporidiosis could lead to effective treatment: Brandeis University biochemist

Discovered in 1976, cryptosporidium lurks worldwide in water, contaminating swimming pools, water parks, and drinking water supplies. Although it has even been featured on the comedy show The Colbert Report, it is no laughing matter-this microscopic pathogen is a leading cause of diarrhea and malnutrition and the most common source of infection in immune-weakened people such as AIDS patients.

26 Apr 2010

New method helps study interactions needed for formation of lipopolysaccharides

Scientists have combined chemistry and biology research techniques to explain how certain bacteria grow structures on their surfaces that allow them to simultaneously cause illness and protect themselves from the body's defenses.

26 Apr 2010

Researchers discover and characterize general mechanism controlling transcription elongation in bacteria

Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered and characterized a general mechanism that controls transcription elongation in bacteria. The mechanism, described in the April 23 issue of Science, relies on physical cooperation between a moving ribosome and RNA polymerase (RNAP) that allows for a precise adjustment of the transcriptional yield in response to translational needs. The study could lead to the development of new ways to interfere with bacterial gene expression and serve as a new target for antimicrobial therapy.

23 Apr 2010

Team liberates cellular hostages by silencing Toxoplasma gondii's back-seat driving

Scientists studying a cunning parasite that has commandeered the cells of almost half the world's human population have begun to zero in on the molecular signals that must be severed to free the organism's cellular hostages.

23 Apr 2010

Crystal structures of key fluorescent proteins to "light up" molecules in cells

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined the crystal structures of two key fluorescent proteins - one blue, one red - used to "light up" molecules in cells.

23 Apr 2010

Plant-based vaccine factory to produce vaccines and therapeutics within weeks of outbreaks

The Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology in Newark, Delaware, the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston University College of Engineering, and the biopharmaceutical company iBio, Inc. in Newark, Delaware, announced today that they have developed a fully automated, scalable "factory" that uses natural (non-genetically-modified) green plants to efficiently produce large quantities of vaccines and therapeutics within weeks.

23 Apr 2010

European Patent Office intends to grant patent for Intezyne's IVECT Method

Intezyne today announced it has received notification the European Patent Office intends to grant a patent covering a key element of Intezyne's breakthrough drug delivery technology, the IVECT Method. At the core of this technology is the IVECT micelle, a proprietary, polymeric nanoparticle designed to encapsulate and deliver best-in-class therapeutics, while limiting exposure to healthy tissues.

23 Apr 2010

World's smallest and lightest microscope for telemedicine applications

Aydogan Ozcan, whose invention of a novel lensless imaging technology for use in telemedicine could radically transform global health care, has now taken his work a step further ― or tinier: The UCLA engineer has created a miniature microscope, the world's smallest and lightest for telemedicine applications.

23 Apr 2010

Interdisciplinary research leads to first known use of smart nanofilm on living tissue

Louisiana Tech students Mridhula Thangaraj and Chris Monceaux will participate in a symposium on 'Regenerative Medicine - Wound Healing' at the 2010 Experimental Biology meeting, April 24-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

23 Apr 2010

BUSM professor receives Individual Biomedical Research Award

Richard Goldstein, PhD, a professor of pediatrics, division of pediatric infectious diseases, at Boston University School of Medicine, has been awarded an Individual Biomedical Research Award by The Hartwell Foundation and will receive $300,000 over three years as a Hartwell Investigator for his project titled, "A Vaccine Against Streptococcus Pneumoniae Based on Bacterial Surface Proteins Phylogenically Certified as Highly Conserved."

23 Apr 2010

Aragon Pharmaceuticals raises $22M through Series B financing

Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that it has secured $22 million in Series B financing.

23 Apr 2010

Molecular mechanisms of hypertension, its diagnosis and treatment to be focused at ASBMB's symposium

About 1 billion people around the world suffer from hypertension. The molecular mechanisms of this disease, its diagnosis and treatment will be the focus of a lecture series at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. The talks will take place from Monday, May 26 through Wednesday, April 28 in room 304C of the Anaheim Convention Center.

23 Apr 2010

Removable methyl groups on specific genes of autistic individuals that led to gene silencing identified

A new study by researchers at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences' Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology raises hope that autism may be more easily diagnosed and that its effects may be more reversible than previously thought.

22 Apr 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents new data on ALN-TTR01 RNAi therapeutic at amyloidosis symposium

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, presented new pre-clinical data from its ALN-TTR program at the XII International Symposium on Amyloidosis in Rome on April 18 - 21, 2010. ALN-TTR01 is a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic being developed for the treatment of transthyretin (TTR)-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), including familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) and familial amyloidotic cardiomyopathy (FAC).

22 Apr 2010

Agios Pharmaceuticals presents data on cancer-associated IDH1 mutations at 101st AACR meeting

Agios Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the field of cancer metabolism, today announced multiple presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 101st Annual Meeting that highlight cancer metabolism as an approach to identify new ways to treat cancer, opening the potential for a new class of cancer drugs targeting metabolic enzymes.

22 Apr 2010

Study identifies the source of inherent noise in HIV gene expression

New research identifies a molecular mechanism that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) appears to utilize for generating random fluctuations called "noise" in its gene expression.

21 Apr 2010

Interim results from QLT's Phase 1b study of QLT091001 for Leber congenital amaurosis

QLT Inc. today announced interim results from the first 3 subjects enrolled in a Phase 1b clinical proof-of-concept study of QLT091001 in the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited progressive retinal degenerative disease that leads to retinal dysfunction and significant visual impairment beginning at birth. QLT091001 is an orally administered synthetic retinoid replacement for 11-cis-retinal, which is a key biochemical component of visual function.

20 Apr 2010

Potential mate's signal activates molecular switch

A mystery about the mechanism behind sexual mate selection has been resolved. According to a new study published in the journal Nature, Universit- de Montr-al researchers have discovered a molecular switch that becomes activated in response to a potential mate's signal. Simply put, an organism knows that a potential mate is close-by and healthy enough to mate.

19 Apr 2010

New insights into yeast cells may help identify cancer cells and stem cells development: Study

Yeast cells decide whether to have sex with each other within two minutes of meeting, according to new research published today in Nature. One of the authors of the study, from Imperial College London, says the new insights into how yeast cells decide to mate could be helpful for researchers looking at how cancer cells and stem cells develop.

19 Apr 2010

Enhancing drug residence time may help develop better diagnostic, therapeutic agents

Research conducted at the Stony Brook University Institute for Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery that enhances the time a drug remains bound to its target, or residence time, may prove to be an important step in developing better diagnostic and therapeutic agents based partly on longer drug residence time.

17 Apr 2010

Biochemistry News and Research

Promising research on cryptosporidiosis could lead to effective treatment: Brandeis University biochemist

New method helps study interactions needed for formation of lipopolysaccharides

Researchers discover and characterize general mechanism controlling transcription elongation in bacteria

Team liberates cellular hostages by silencing Toxoplasma gondii's back-seat driving

Crystal structures of key fluorescent proteins to "light up" molecules in cells

Plant-based vaccine factory to produce vaccines and therapeutics within weeks of outbreaks

European Patent Office intends to grant patent for Intezyne's IVECT Method

World's smallest and lightest microscope for telemedicine applications

Interdisciplinary research leads to first known use of smart nanofilm on living tissue

BUSM professor receives Individual Biomedical Research Award

Aragon Pharmaceuticals raises $22M through Series B financing

Molecular mechanisms of hypertension, its diagnosis and treatment to be focused at ASBMB's symposium

Removable methyl groups on specific genes of autistic individuals that led to gene silencing identified

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents new data on ALN-TTR01 RNAi therapeutic at amyloidosis symposium

Agios Pharmaceuticals presents data on cancer-associated IDH1 mutations at 101st AACR meeting

Study identifies the source of inherent noise in HIV gene expression

Interim results from QLT's Phase 1b study of QLT091001 for Leber congenital amaurosis

Potential mate's signal activates molecular switch

New insights into yeast cells may help identify cancer cells and stem cells development: Study

Enhancing drug residence time may help develop better diagnostic, therapeutic agents

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