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Injectable nanogel can monitor blood-sugar levels, secrete insulin when needed

Injectable nanoparticles developed at MIT may someday eliminate the need for patients with Type 1 diabetes to constantly monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject themselves with insulin.

17 May 2013

Study finds novel delivery method that helps dissolve stroke-causing clots

A new study from the University of Cincinnati has found that, when delivered via ultrasound, the natural enzyme plasmin is more effective at dissolving stroke-causing clots than the standard of care, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA).

16 May 2013

Novel drug may increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy for brain cancer

A novel drug may help increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy for the most deadly form of brain cancer, report scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center. In mouse models of human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the new drug helped significantly extend survival when used in combination with radiation therapy.

15 May 2013

UIC's Center for Clinical and Translational Science selects six research projects for new pilot grants

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Clinical and Translational Science has selected six research projects to receive pilot grants in 2013.

15 May 2013

ALKBH7 protein plays key role in controlling programmed necrosis pathway

When cells suffer too much DNA damage, they are usually forced to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, cancer cells often ignore these signals, flourishing even after chemotherapy drugs have ravaged their DNA.

15 May 2013

Renaissance in drug development for rare diseases

Once famously described as "orphan diseases, too small to be noticed, too small to be funded" in the Hollywood drama Lorenzo's Oil, rare diseases are getting unprecedented attention today among drug manufacturers, who are ramping up research efforts and marketing new medicines that promise fuller lives for children and other patients with these heartbreaking conditions.

14 May 2013

Children born with CDG don't contain mutation in every cell type, say Sanford-Burnham researchers

Children born with rare, inherited conditions known as Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation, or CDG, have mutations in one of the many enzymes the body uses to decorate its proteins and cells with sugars.

10 May 2013

Research opens door to new drug therapies for Parkinson's disease

McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, and Dr. Kalle Gehring in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, have discovered the three-dimensional structure of the protein Parkin.

10 May 2013

Hidden HIV replication may be occurring within the body's tissue, researchers report

Scientists have long believed that measuring the amount of HIV in a person's blood is an indicator of whether the virus is actively reproducing.

9 May 2013

Researchers identify genetic mutations that appear to underlie rare syndrome

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Duke University have identified genetic mutations that appear to underlie a rare but devastating syndrome combining reproductive failure with cerebellar ataxia - a lack of muscle coordination - and dementia.

9 May 2013

Gene offers new insights into treatment strategies for deep-vein thrombosis

A gene associated with both protection against bacterial infection and excessive blood clotting could offer new insights into treatment strategies for deep-vein thrombosis -- the formation of a harmful clot in a deep vein.

9 May 2013

Seven-year quest to understand how breast cancer cells resist treatment

A seven-year quest to understand how breast cancer cells resist treatment with the targeted therapy lapatinib has revealed a previously unknown molecular network that regulates cell death.

8 May 2013

Kinase inhibitors: an interview with Jan Hoflack, CSO of Oncodesign

Kinase inhibitors are molecules that block the activity of kinases. Kinases are a specific class of enzymes. They are extremely important in signal transduction processes in the human body meaning that they actually regulate most of the physiological processes that take place in the body.

7 May 2013

Mutant protein contributes to Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome

A mutant protein responsible for Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome (HGPS) bars large proteins from entering the nucleus, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology.

7 May 2013

Pharmapendium adds new module to benefit researchers and toxicologists

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announces that PharmaPendium, the leading source of preclinical, clinical and post-market data, has added a new module to its content base, the Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters Module.

6 May 2013

Novel screening method for identifying inhibitors of EZH2 methyltransferase

Tumor repressor genes, which inhibit tumor formation, can be "turned off" due to undesirable molecular changes affecting the chromosomes on which the genes reside. Understanding and being able to control these alterations could lead to new approaches for activating or inactivating genes linked to cancer.

5 May 2013

Researchers develop injectable nano-network to control blood-sugar levels

In a promising development for diabetes treatment, researchers have developed a network of nanoscale particles that can be injected into the body and release insulin when blood-sugar levels rise, maintaining normal blood sugar levels for more than a week in animal-based laboratory tests.

4 May 2013

Gene mutation associated with rare sleep disorder also contributes to debilitating migraines

A gene mutation associated with a rare sleep disorder surprisingly also contributes to debilitating migraines, a new discovery that could change the treatment of migraines by allowing development of drugs specifically designed to treat the chronic headaches.

3 May 2013

New mechanism that plays important role in meiosis identified

The Research Group headed by molecular biologist Andrea Pichler from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg has made an important discovery in meiosis research.

3 May 2013

EPAC2 and diabetes: an interview with Dr. Hussain, Johns Hopkins University

EPAC stands for exchange protein activated by cyclic AMP (cAMP). cAMP is an (among many) intracellular messenger molecule. cAMP is generated when certain hormones stimulate a cell by binding to their receptor, which is at the outside surface of the cell.

3 May 2013