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New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.

11 Jul 2005

Findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms that cause hypertension

An enzyme known to cause hypertension increases blood pressure by activating tiny pores, or channels, in kidney cells that allow increased levels of sodium to be reabsorbed into the blood, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

6 Jul 2005

Protein TRPA1 essential for hearing also vital for pain perception

The same protein that "translates" sound into nerve signals to the brain and enables individuals to hear is also required for pain perception, researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found.

25 May 2005

Researchers zero in on sleep gene

Zeroing in on the core cellular mechanisms of sleep, researchers at University of Wisconsin Medical School have identified for the first time a single gene mutation that has a powerful effect on the amount of time fruit flies sleep.

27 Apr 2005

New method for the study of ion channel gating kinetics

An ion channel is a protein pore that lets ions (charged atoms such as calcium) pass through a cell's membrane. The method fits data to a new class of models, called manifest interconductance rank (MIR) models, which will give researchers a better understanding of the mechanisms by which ion channels open and close.

19 Apr 2005

Process called sumoylation regulates key ion channel

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that a recently discovered biological process known as sumoylation -- until now thought to be active only in the nucleus -- also occurs near the cell's surface where it regulates at least one and possibly many kinds of proteins, providing a novel target for the development of new drugs.

7 Apr 2005

New ion channel drug targets to emerge in pharmaceutical discovery

The identification and structural determination of channel proteins, and their validation as therapeutic targets using high throughput cell based and multiplexed screening technologies, have furnished an increase role for ion channel targets in the drug discovery and development pipelines in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

4 Apr 2005

Study of Anoxia could yield better anesthetics, stroke/heart attack recovery

For a human, mere minutes without oxygen (called anoxia) resulting from cardiac arrest, cerebral stroke or being trapped under water can lead to profound tissue damage and even death. However a Western painted turtle can survive anoxia for months without apparent tissue damage. Why, and how?

3 Apr 2005

Statins, other cholesterol-depleting agents, may disrupt hypertension from developing

Cholesterol-lowering agents, such as the widely-prescribed statin drugs, and cholesterol-blocking agents may prove to be “novel therapeutic agents to modify cellular calcium that contributes to the development of pulmonary hypertension,” according Hemal H. Patel who lead a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

3 Apr 2005

Genetic defect leads to electrical instability and mechanical pump failure

In genetic mapping of a large family with several members affected by a type of heart failure called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), the Mayo Clinic team found a defect in a gene on chromosome 3 called SCN5A.

26 Jan 2005

FDA accepts Genmab's Investigational New Drug Application for active rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Genmab announced today the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to start a Phase I/II dose escalation trial for HuMax-CD20 to treat patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have failed one treatment with one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

13 Dec 2004

Temperature sensing protein implicated in mediating thermotaxis

The songwriter Noel Coward once declared that only mad dogs and Englishmen went out in the midday sun. MIT biologists Mark Rosenzweig, Paul Garrity and their colleagues now have a third candidate for the lyric—fruit flies with defects in a gene called dTrpA1.

4 Dec 2004

Scientists have given blind nerve cells the ability to detect light

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have given "blind" nerve cells the ability to detect light, paving the way for an innovative therapy that could restore sight to those who have lost it through disease.

24 Nov 2004

An errant enzyme linked to bipolar disorder impairs awareness, perception and reasoning

The disturbed thinking, impaired judgment, impulsivity, and distractibility seen in mania, a destructive phase of bipolar disorder, may be traceable to overactivity of protein kinase C (PKC), suggests the study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the Stanley Foundation.

1 Nov 2004

Researchers have identified a protein in the inner ear that translates sound into the nerve impulses used by the brain

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and their colleagues report in the October 13 Nature advanced on-line edition that they have identified a protein deep in the inner ear that they believe translates sound into the nerve impulses used by the brain.

13 Oct 2004

New culprit behind the brain injury suffered by stroke victims

Researchers have uncovered a new culprit behind the brain injury suffered by stroke victims. Their new study, published in the Sept. 17 issue of Cell, links brain cell damage to a rise in brain acidity following the oxygen depletion, or ischemia, characteristic of stroke.

18 Sep 2004

Epilepsy, new therapeutic possibilities

To date epilepsy research has mainly concentrated on the transmission of the nerve cell signals to what are known as the synapses.

23 Jul 2004

Bionomics and Nanogen reach milestone on the development of genetic tests for serious forms of childhood epilepsy

Bionomics Limited has announced that it had achieved a further milestone in its collaboration with Nanogen on the development of genetic tests for serious forms of childhood epilepsy

21 Jun 2004

New clues into the mystery of the brain’s ultra-complicated cells known as neurons

Researchers from USC and the Technion Medical School in Israel have uncovered new clues into the mystery of the brain’s ultra-complicated cells known as neurons.

16 Jun 2004

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics awards $21 million to Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has announced that it has expanded its drug discovery and development collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

24 May 2004