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Gene variant linked to liver cirrhosis in Caucasians

A new study by German researchers found that a variation in the PNPLA3 (adiponutrin) gene was associated with cirrhosis of the liver and elevated transaminase (liver enzyme) levels in alcoholic Caucasians. The risk of cirrhosis in alcoholics in the genetic high risk group might be as high as 25 to 50%. Full findings are published in the January 2011 issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

16 Dec 2010

Gene variation linked to liver cirrhosis in alcoholic caucasians

16 Dec 2010

MDA supports Repligen with $1.4M grant for RG3039 Spinal Muscular Atrophy development program

Repligen Corporation today announced that the Company has received $1,400,000 in research funding from the Muscular Dystrophy Association ("MDA") to support the ongoing development of RG3039 for Spinal Muscular Atrophy ("SMA"). RG3039, our lead compound, is an inhibitor of an RNA processing enzyme which targets increased production of SMN, a protein of deficient levels in patients with SMA.

15 Dec 2010

CTT, Bayer sign Research and License Option Agreement

Cancer Targeted Technology (CTT), a Seattle-based biotechnology firm focusing on small molecule cancer enzyme inhibitors for the generation of novel diagnostics and therapeutics, today announced that it has signed a Research and License Option Agreement with Bayer Pharma AG, Germany. Under the agreement, CTT will work with Bayer to optimize a novel PET imaging agent based on its unique inhibitor scaffold that recognizes a validated cancer enzyme biomarker.

15 Dec 2010

DSM licenses c-LEcta's alcohol dehydrogenases for enzyme screening programs

DSM Pharmaceutical Products, the custom manufacturing organization of Royal DSM NV, today announces a license agreement with c-LEcta GmbH for proprietary screening technology.

15 Dec 2010

Study broadens understanding of role of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, today announced the publication of a paper in Cancer Cell that illuminates the mechanism by which 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), and the mutations in the metabolic genes IDH1 and IDH2 that produce it, may be driving the growth of tumors in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

15 Dec 2010

Study links large waistline to increased risk of heart problems and type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Strelitz Diabetes Center and the school’s department of physiological sciences have published research showing a strong link between a large waistline and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

14 Dec 2010

Lexicon reports top-line results from LX2931 Phase 2a study in rheumatoid arthritis

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering breakthrough treatments for human disease, announced top-line results from a recently completed Phase 2a study of LX2931 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). LX2931 is an orally-delivered, small molecule drug candidate that inhibits sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) lyase, an enzyme important for modulating the immune system by controlling S1P levels in lymphoid tissues.

14 Dec 2010

Novel labeling technique helps researchers to explore DNA chemical modification

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago have developed a method for labeling and mapping a "sixth nucleotide," whose biological role scientists are only beginning to explore.

14 Dec 2010

Alzheimer’s research update

Alzheimer’s disease researchers have been working for a while with a small, sticky protein fragment, beta amyloid, that clumps into balls in the brains of patients with this degenerative neurological disease. It is a normal protein that is present in every normal brain but in Alzheimer’s it starts to accumulate into these balls or plaques. On buildup of amyloid symptoms of the disease appear.

13 Dec 2010

Exemestane may provide post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer

Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor that blocks production of estrogen, may provide another post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive, early-stage breast cancer.

13 Dec 2010

Scientists demonstrate triple-drug cocktail for triple negative breast cancer at AACR symposium

A gene target for drug resistance, a triple-drug cocktail for triple negative breast cancer, and patients' risk for carpal tunnel syndrome are among study highlights scheduled to be presented by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists during the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

13 Dec 2010

Genetic changes in HDAC9 gene may modulate onset of ER positive breast cancer and its recurrence

Investigators at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey have presented new research at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Their work highlights how a variation in a person's DNA sequence is associated with an earlier age of onset for breast cancer that is stimulated by the hormone estrogen (estrogen receptor positive).

13 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet.

9 Dec 2010

Firefly enzyme offers new medical imaging agent for blood clot detection

The enzyme that makes fireflies glow is lighting up the scientific path toward a long-sought new medical imaging agent to better monitor treatment with heparin, the blood thinner that millions of people take to prevent or treat blood clots, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the ACS' monthly journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

9 Dec 2010

European researchers develop new form of therapy for Alpha-mannosidosis

Alpha-mannosidosis is a rare childhood disease which causes symptoms such as mental retardation or hearing loss and is linked to a lower life expectancy. A European research team headed by Professor Paul Saftig from Christian-Albrechts-Universit-t zu Kiel has developed a form of therapy as part of the Alpha-Man project, which will receive around six million euros from the European Union for its next stage of trials.

9 Dec 2010

Estrogen receptor beta inactivates critical genes, arrests cancer cell growth

Bionovo, today announced the publication of a study demonstrating that ERb causes cancer cell growth arrest by inactivating critical genes and enzymes responsible for cell growth. These results provide evidence that drugs that stimulate the production of or activate ERb are potential new therapies to prevent breast cancer.

9 Dec 2010

Low-dose diazepam with NS-398 combination has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone

Status epilepticus, prolonged seizures, can lead to significant neurological deficits and, rarely, even death. The anticonvulsant diazepam, a first line therapy for the condition, is neuroprotective when administered in high doses within two hours from seizure onset. Researchers at the 64th AES Annual Meeting now report that the combination of low-dose diazepam and NS-398, a COX-2 inhibitor, has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone.

8 Dec 2010

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego developed an explanation for why some types of neurons die sooner than others in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. These insights, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on November 21, come from detailed models of brain energy metabolism developed in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

8 Dec 2010

Ultraviolet light activates enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive, proliferate: Researchers

The sun's ultraviolet light activates an enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive and proliferate, researchers report.

8 Dec 2010

Enzyme News and Research

Gene variant linked to liver cirrhosis in Caucasians

Gene variation linked to liver cirrhosis in alcoholic caucasians

MDA supports Repligen with $1.4M grant for RG3039 Spinal Muscular Atrophy development program

CTT, Bayer sign Research and License Option Agreement

DSM licenses c-LEcta's alcohol dehydrogenases for enzyme screening programs

Study broadens understanding of role of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML

Study links large waistline to increased risk of heart problems and type 2 diabetes

Lexicon reports top-line results from LX2931 Phase 2a study in rheumatoid arthritis

Novel labeling technique helps researchers to explore DNA chemical modification

Alzheimer’s research update

Exemestane may provide post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer

Scientists demonstrate triple-drug cocktail for triple negative breast cancer at AACR symposium

Genetic changes in HDAC9 gene may modulate onset of ER positive breast cancer and its recurrence

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

Firefly enzyme offers new medical imaging agent for blood clot detection

European researchers develop new form of therapy for Alpha-mannosidosis

Estrogen receptor beta inactivates critical genes, arrests cancer cell growth

Low-dose diazepam with NS-398 combination has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

Ultraviolet light activates enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive, proliferate: Researchers

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