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Researchers find novel use for old compound in cancer treatment

The compound, alpha-difluoromethylornithine or DFMO, targets the activity of a specific enzyme and, even in very limited doses, is effective in protecting against the malignancy in animal models.

19 Jan 2009

New understanding on how aging causes broken bones to heal slowly

Researchers have unraveled crucial details of how aging causes broken bones to heal slowly, or not at all, according to study results published today in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

19 Jan 2009

How the sensory organs of bacteria function

Bacteria can occur almost anywhere on earth and exist under the most varying conditions. If these tiny, microscopic organisms are to survive in these environments, they need to be able to rapidly detect changes in their surroundings and react to them.

19 Jan 2009

E. coli persists against antibiotics through HipA-induced dormancy

Bacteria hunker down and survive antibiotic attack when a protein flips a chemical switch that throws them into a dormant state until treatment abates, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Jan.16 edition of Science.

19 Jan 2009

Study shows how defective DNA repair triggers 2 neurological diseases

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have teased apart the biological details distinguishing two related neurological diseases-ataxia telangiectasia-like disease (ATLD) and Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS).

15 Jan 2009

New drug shows promise for phenylketonuria

PKU is described by scientists as an autosomal recessive genetic disease that is characterized by a deficiency in an enzyme called phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH).

15 Jan 2009

Theraputic target for prostate cancer

The report, entitled Cytosolic Phospholipase A2-: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Prostate Cancer, describes the possible role of an enzyme called cPLA2- in prostate cancer and its potential to be a treatment target for prostate cancers that no longer respond to hormone-related therapy.

14 Jan 2009

Time of day influences response to chemotherapy

For years, research has hinted that the time of day that cancer patients receive chemotherapy can impact their chances of survival.

14 Jan 2009

Smoking during pregnancy impacts thyroid function of mother and fetus

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with potentially harmful changes in both maternal and fetal thyroid function, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ( JCEM ).

14 Jan 2009

Fatty liver disease medication may have no effect

A new randomized, prospective trial has shown that orlistat, a commonly prescribed inhibitor of fat absorption, does not help patients with fatty liver disease (FLD) lose weight, nor does it improve their liver enzymes or insulin resistance.

13 Jan 2009

Proteins called ankyrins required to prevent muscular dystrophy

A protein that was first identified for playing a key role in regulating normal heart rhythms also appears to be significant in helping muscle cells survive the forces of muscle contraction.

13 Jan 2009

Scientists visualize the mechanism of synthesizing estrogen

The molecular details of Aromatase, the key enzyme required for the body to make estrogen, are no longer a mystery thanks to the structural biology work done by the Ghosh lab at the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) in Buffalo, New York.

7 Jan 2009

Genomics in China

Ten years ago, the Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai (South Center, hereafter) was established in the Zhangjiang HiTech Park of Pudong District in Shanghai.

7 Jan 2009

Lilly receives complete response letter for Olanzapine LAI for treatment of schizophrenia

Eli Lilly and Company has announced that it received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for olanzapine long-acting injection (LAI) for acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

7 Jan 2009

Virtuoso cell engineering

University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a key protein in cells plays a critical role in not one, but two processes affecting the development of cancer.

6 Jan 2009

Onyx Pharmaceuticals acquires license option on novel JAK2 inhibitors from S*BIO

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has acquired an option to license rights to SB1518, an orally available, potent, and selective inhibitor of Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2), and SB1578, also a JAK2 inhibitor, from S*BIO Pte Ltd based in Singapore.

6 Jan 2009

Biologist finds plant polymerases IV and V are really variants of polymerase II

It's a little like finding out that Superman is actually Clark Kent. A team of biologists at Washington University in St. Louis has discovered that two vital cellular components, nuclear RNA Polymerases IV and V (Pol IV and V), found only in plants, are actually specialized forms of RNA Polymerase II, an essential enzyme of all eukaryotic organisms, including humans.

6 Jan 2009

Sildenafil may help protect heart from high blood pressure damage

Johns Hopkins and other researchers report what is believed to be the first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein.

5 Jan 2009

Stem cells from human testes can change into other body tissues

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes.

5 Jan 2009

Phase 3 trial begins for Gammagard liquid plus rHuPH20 in primary immunodeficiency patients

Baxter International Inc. and Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. gas announced the start of a Phase 3 clinical trial of Baxter's Gammagard Liquid [Immune Globulin Intravenous] 10% (IGIV), marketed as KIOVIG in the European Union, with Halozyme's recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20, Enhanze Technology) for the treatment of primary immunodeficiency (PID).

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Jan 2009