Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) News and Research

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Researchers identify biological pathway that explains why current asthma therapies fail in many cases

Asthma is an enormous public health problem that continues to grow larger, in part because scientists don't fully understand how it is caused. Existing therapies don't cure the disease and often don't even significantly alleviate the symptoms. Now, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University have identified a biological pathway that potentially explains why current asthma therapies don't work well in many cases—and might be targeted to help those patients.

19 Apr 2016

Study shows overall drop in ER visits among patients served by prescription assistance program

A graduate student at Washington State University Spokane is the lead author on a research paper that shows an overall drop in emergency room visits and hospitalizations by patients who are served by the Spokane Prescription Assistance Network, which helps low income people get free and reduced-price medications.

7 Apr 2016

Researchers explore four potential treatments for Lyme disease

The ticks that transmit Lyme disease have multiplied aggressively over the past 20 years, and now thrive in half of all counties in the U.S., according to a recent study in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

30 Mar 2016

FDA announces required class-wide safety labeling changes for IR opioid pain medications

In a continuing effort to educate prescribers and patients about the potential risks related to opioid use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced required class-wide safety labeling changes for immediate-release (IR) opioid pain medications. Among the changes, the FDA is requiring a new boxed warning about the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death.

23 Mar 2016

Researchers explore new pathways to treat Alzheimer’s

Unless new treatments are found, it is predicted that more than 100 million people worldwide will be affected by Alzheimer's disease by 2050. With very few new drugs in the pipeline, researchers are exploring every possible avenue to treat the disease.

23 Mar 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

PERK inhibition can be a promising therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases

A major challenge in the field of neurodegeneration is the unclear understanding of neuronal dysfunction. Elucidation of these patho-mechanisms could result in the identification of novel therapeutic targets. In this article, Bell et al. present an exhaustive literature review highlighting the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) kinase PERK as a crucial contributor to systemic and neurodegenerative disorders.

20 Mar 2016

STING agonists developed to induce cellular death in B cell malignancies

In almost every mammalian cell, you will find the endoplasmic reticulum, a network of continuous membranes responsible for controlling metabolism as well as the folding, assembly and secretion of proteins.

11 Mar 2016

Understanding role of ethnicity, age in breast cancer prognosis

Although breast cancer is somewhat more aggressive in South Asian and Black women than in White women, this is largely due to age differences between ethnic groups in the UK, according to new research.

10 Mar 2016

TSRI researchers uncover new molecular mechanism underlying neurodegenerative diseases

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute suggests that cells construct protein "clumps" to protect against neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a.k.a. ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

10 Mar 2016

Absence of PEMT enzyme leads to development of fatty liver disease and tumours in thin patients

Researchers observe protection against obesity and insulin resistance but at the cost of prominent fatty liver disease in mice lacking the PEMT enzyme and patients with low levels of PEMT.

7 Mar 2016

New FDA approval expands use of AstraZeneca's Faslodex for women with HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer

AstraZeneca today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication in the US, expanding the use of Faslodex (fulvestrant) to include use in combination with Ibrance (palbociclib).

7 Mar 2016

Inhibition of mitochondrial calcium uptake specifically toxic to cancer cells

Inhibiting the transfer of calcium ions into the cell's powerhouse is specifically toxic to cancer cells, according to an article published this week in Cell Reports by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

4 Mar 2016

Researchers uncover new pathway for mitochondrial cell death

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered a new pathway for mitochondrial cell death that involves the protein BCL-2 ovarian killer, otherwise known as BOK. The discovery, which is described online in the journal Cell, may lead to new ways to trigger cell death in some types of cancer cells.

4 Mar 2016

Out-of-towners using marijuana in Colorado end up in emergency room

Out-of-towners using marijuana in Colorado -- which has legally allowed sales of the drug in retail dispensaries since 2014 -- are ending up in the emergency room at an increasing rate, reports a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

26 Feb 2016

Ketamine appears to be safe, effective for difficult-to-sedate ER patients

For the small segment of the emergency population whose acute behavioral disturbance does not respond to traditional sedation, ketamine appears to be effective and safe, according to an Australian study published online last Thursday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Ketamine for Difficult to Sedate Severe Acute Behavioral Disturbance in the Emergency Department").

25 Feb 2016

New way to analyze MRI data may offer treatment guidance for breast cancer patients

For women with the most common type of breast cancer, a new way to analyze magnetic resonance images (MRI) data appears to reliably distinguish between patients who would need only hormonal treatment and those who also need chemotherapy, researchers from Case Western Reserve University report.

19 Feb 2016

Rockefeller University study shows how herpes virus causes traffic jam in immune system pathway

With over half the U.S. population infected, most people are familiar with the pesky cold sore outbreaks caused by the herpes virus. The virus outsmarts the immune system by interfering with the process that normally allows immune cells to recognize and destroy foreign invaders. How exactly the herpes simplex 1 virus pulls off its nifty scheme has long been elusive to scientists.

4 Feb 2016

Lupin Pharmaceuticals releases Metformin HCl ER Tablets

Pharma Major Lupin Limited announced today that its US subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc., has launched its Metformin HCl ER Tablets, 500 mg and 1000 mg to market a generic equivalent of Santarus Inc.'s Glumetza HCl ER Tablets, 500 mg and 1000 mg.

2 Feb 2016

Bile acid enables foetus to produce blood stem cells

A research group at Lund University in Sweden has been able to show that bile acid is transferred from the mother to the foetus via the placenta to enable the foetus to produce blood stem cells.

31 Jan 2016