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Scientists discover how mechanical stress promotes new bone growth

For osteoporosis patients unable to exercise, help may be on the way. That's because scientists have discovered precisely how mechanical stress, such as exercise, promotes new bone growth. This opens the door to entirely new therapies that can trick bones into thinking they are getting a workout. The research report describing this advance is published online in The FASEB Journal.

8 Apr 2010

Defective protein responsible for SCA5 disease cuts synaptic terminals and snarls traffic inside neurons

The neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5) damages nerve cells in two ways. University of Minnesota researchers now report that the defective protein responsible for the disease cuts the number of synaptic terminals and snarls traffic inside neurons.

7 Apr 2010

Molecular mechanism behind mutation in calcium channel protein linked with night blindness

Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one's ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels.

2 Apr 2010

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Ipsen announce collaboration in DsiRNA research and peptide engineering

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Dicerna) a second generation RNA interference (RNAi) company, and Ipsen, a global biotechnology specialty care group, announced today that the two companies have entered into an exclusive research collaboration agreement to leverage their expertise in Dicer Substrate siRNA (DsiRNA) research and peptide engineering. The companies will develop novel conjugates of Dicerna's DsiRNA molecules and Ipsen's peptide targeting vectors in the therapeutic areas of oncology and endocrinology.

30 Mar 2010

New research may help advance treatment strategies for common liver disease

A research article published in the journal PloS Pathogens could lead to improvements in the production of vaccines for hepatitis A, the most widespread viral disease in the world.

26 Mar 2010

Researchers use optogenetics technology to troubleshoot neural circuits

Recently, brain researchers have gained a powerful new way to troubleshoot neural circuits associated with depression, Parkinson's disease and other conditions in small animals such as rats. They use an optogenetics technology, invented at Stanford University, that precisely turns select brain cells on or off with flashes of light. Although useful, the optogenetics tool set has been limited.

19 Mar 2010

Compugen announces validation of IDD discovery platform for identification of cell penetrating peptides

Compugen Ltd. announced today the development and validation of its Intracellular Drug Delivery (IDD) discovery platform for identification of cell penetrating peptides. Compugen also announced that as part of the validation process for the new platform, more than twenty novel peptides, predicted and selected in silico, demonstrated the predicted cell penetrating properties in initial experimental validation studies.

17 Mar 2010

Dual role of Notch signalling pathway

Scientists headed by ICREA researcher Marco Mil-n, at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), reveal a surprising new function of Notch protein that contrasts with the one known to date. Found in the cell membrane, this protein activates a signalling pathway that regulates the expression of genes that make the cell divide, grow, migrate, specialise or die.

16 Mar 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals presents data on RNAi therapeutic targeting PCSK9 for hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the presentation of new pre-clinical data from its hypercholesterolemia program, performed in collaboration with scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The data were presented at the PCSK9 Conference: From Gene to Therapeutics held in Nantes, France from March 11-13, 2010.

15 Mar 2010

New findings may help develop potential therapies for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer

Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists at the University of Leicester have made a new advance in understanding how the body fights certain types of cancer and other disease such as Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

15 Mar 2010

Kyto Biopharma signs licensing agreement with RFSUNY, gains patent rights to Transcobalamin Receptor

Kyto Biopharma Inc., is pleased to announce that it has signed a licensing agreement with the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. The licensing agreement grants Kyto patent rights to the Transcobalamin (Vitamin B12) Receptor and to an additional broad group of other patents which are critical to Kyto’s research and development strategy for the treatment of cancer.

5 Mar 2010

Researchers reveal new details of the mechanisms of ion channel inactivation

Two studies by researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reveal new details of the mechanisms of ion channel inactivation. The papers appear in the March issue of The Journal of General Physiology (www.jgp.org).

4 Mar 2010

CalciMedica granted U.S. composition patent concerning key component of CRAC channel

CalciMedica today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued to CalciMedica US Patent No. 7,645,588, a composition patent involving STIM1, a key component of the calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel. The patent, entitled "Composition comprising a cell comprising a STIM1 protein and an agent that modulates intracellular calcium and methods of use," has a priority date of March 4, 2003 and was issued on January 12, 2010.

17 Feb 2010

AstraZeneca, Rigel Pharmaceuticals announce exclusive worldwide license agreement for R788

AstraZeneca and Rigel Pharmaceuticals today announced an exclusive worldwide license agreement for the global development and commercialization of fostamatinib disodium (R788), Rigel's late-stage investigational product for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and additional indications.

16 Feb 2010

Romark Laboratories commences enrollment in Alinia clinical trial for acute uncomplicated influenza

Romark Laboratories announced that it has initiated enrollment of patients in a clinical trial of Alinia® (nitazoxanide) for treating acute uncomplicated influenza including illness caused by the currently circulating H1N1 strain.

1 Feb 2010

New study identifies that SynDIG1 plays critical role in creating and sustaining synapses

A new study from UC Davis Health System identifies for the first time a brain protein called SynDIG1 that plays a critical role in creating and sustaining synapses, the complex chemical signaling system responsible for communication between neurons.

30 Jan 2010

Researchers challenge prevailing belief about role of protein in abnormal cell proliferation

In a study to be published this week, a research team is challenging a prevailing belief about the behavior of a human protein linked to the formation of cancer, possibly breathing new life into the search for therapies that will inhibit that protein from "turning on" genes involved in abnormal cell proliferation.

27 Jan 2010

Researchers identify new therapeutic approach for stroke treatment

For the first time, research led by Youming Lu, PhD, MD, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has identified a novel mechanism that may trigger brain damage during stroke and identified a therapeutic approach to block it.

22 Jan 2010

CMO to manufacture Gaia BioPharma's GAI-122 Mitochondria-targeted neuroprotective agent

AlphaRx Inc. announced today that its licensee, Gaia BioPharma Limited, has signed an agreement with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), to manufacture GAI-122 for use in the planned Phase I and II clinical trials of that product candidate. GAI-122 is being developed as I.V. administered formulation of an intracellular neuroprotectant that employs AlphaRx's proprietary nano-emulsion formulation technology.