Kinase News and Research

RSS

Controlling lupus - new drug targets found

Investigators at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified two new targets for drugs aimed at controlling lupus.

17 Dec 2007

Sunitinib may be associated with cardiac toxicity

Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib (SutentTM, Pfizer), may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia).

17 Dec 2007

Researchers report protein interactions of MAP kinase signaling pathway

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab, in collaboration with the Institute's Imaging Center, has achieved a quantitative in vivo measurement of the dynamic protein-protein interactions in the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade signaling pathway, which is critical to growth and differentiation decisions in all eukaryotic cells.

14 Dec 2007

Profound immune system discovery opens door to halting destruction of lupus

A researcher funded by the Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has discovered an entirely new and powerful molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response of the immune system.

14 Dec 2007

Molecular 'trip switch' shuts down inflammatory response

Like a circuit breaker that prevents electrical wiring from overheating and bringing down the house, a tiny family of three molecules stops the immune system from mounting an out-of-control, destructive inflammatory response against invading pathogens, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found.

14 Dec 2007

Secret lives of enzymes revealed

In a new study in Nature, Brandeis University Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Dr. Dorothee Kern and collaborators pull back the curtain on the secret lives of enzymes, the ubiquitous proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in the cell.

13 Dec 2007

Bosutinib safe, effective for chronic myelogenous leukemia

A new drug for chronic myelogenous leukemia works for patients who have developed resistance to frontline therapy and causes fewer side effects than other medications in its class, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports at the 49th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

12 Dec 2007

Data confirm Dasatinib's effectiveness in resistant chronic myelogenous leukemia

Updated clinical trial results show that the drug dasatinib (Sprycel) continues to be highly effective in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia who were unable to tolerate Gleevec or who developed resistance to it, reports a team led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

12 Dec 2007

SuperGen's CLIMB technology identifies lead Pim kinase inhibitors

SuperGen Inc. has announced the presentation of data that describe how its proprietary CLIMB technology was used in lead development and design of small molecule Pim kinase inhibitors (Poster 845, Abstract 2655).

10 Dec 2007

New test for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher Jeff Tyner, Ph.D., has created a way to identify proteins that are candidates for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia using an assay that yields results in just four days.

10 Dec 2007

Pathogens use previously undescribed mechanism to sabotage host immune system

New research identifies a previously unknown enzymatic mechanism that subverts the early host immune response and promotes pathogenicity by manipulating a common signaling pathway in host cells.

10 Dec 2007

Missing brain protein may be one of the culprits behind autism and other brain disorders

The protein helps synapses develop. Synapses--through which neurons communicate with one other-underlie our ability to learn and remember. Now Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, has uncovered an enzyme that is key to that protein's activity.

5 Dec 2007

Re-engineered Gleevec reduces heart risks

Using a new bottom-up approach for rational drug design, researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have reengineered the powerful anticancer drug imatinib - best known by its brand name Gleevec - to more specifically target one type of cancer while potentially curbing a rare life-threatening cardiotoxic side effect.

4 Dec 2007

Modified form of imatinib becomes more specific

Imatinib (marketed as Gleevec in the US and Glivec in Europe and Australia) is used to treat various cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs).

4 Dec 2007

Wyeth receives European approval for TORISEL

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, has announced that the European Commission has approved TORISEL (temsirolimus) for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have at least three of six prognostic risk factors. TORISEL is the only approved cancer therapy that specifically inhibits the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) kinase, an important regulator of cell proliferation, cell growth and cell survival.

27 Nov 2007

Protein in mice known as RGS13 suppresses allergic reactions

A protein in mice known as RGS13 suppresses allergic reactions, including the severe, life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis, according to scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

20 Nov 2007

U.S. approval of Nexavar (sorafenib) for inoperable liver cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Nexavar (sorafenib) for use in patients with a form of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma, when the cancer is inoperable.

19 Nov 2007

CD200 stifles anti-tumor immunity

The prognosis for individuals with metastatic melanoma (MM) is not good. Therapeutic strategies to enhance the immune response have some clinical benefit; however, most patients eventually succumb to progressive disease, in part because their immune cells known as dendritic cells (DCs) fail to sustain an effective antitumor T cell immune response.

16 Nov 2007

Enzyme sphingosine kinase 2 show to be potential new target to fight cancer

Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have identified the enzyme sphingosine kinase 2 as a possible new therapeutic target to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy for colon and breast cancer.

2 Nov 2007

Discovery of master switch that regulates blood pressure

A team of Oregon Health & Science University researchers studying a rare form of hypertension has identified the mechanism by which they believe a protein complex in the kidney operates as a master switch that regulates blood pressure, a finding that has broad implications for the treatment of more common forms of hypertension.

2 Nov 2007