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TSRI scientists solve long-standing mystery about sense of touch

A study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has helped solve a long-standing mystery about the sense of touch.

7 Apr 2014

Crescendo raises additional £2M ($3.3M) in final close of Series A financing from EMBL Ventures

Crescendo Biologics Limited today announces it has raised a further £2m ($3.3m), from EMBL Ventures, in a final close of its Series A financing. Originally announced in December 2013, the Series A now totals £19.5m. It was led by Imperial Innovations and included new investor Astellas Venture Management. Founding seed investor Sofinnova Partners also contributed significantly to the round.

3 Apr 2014

Johns Hopkins neuroscientists identify cause of brain degeneration in Huntington's disease

Working with genetically engineered mice, Johns Hopkins neuroscientists report they have identified what they believe is the cause of the vast disintegration of a part of the brain called the corpus striatum in rodents and people with Huntington's disease: loss of the ability to make the amino acid cysteine.

29 Mar 2014

Study highlights benefits of using multiple injections to treat Sanfilippo syndrome type III B

New insight has been gained into treating an inherited disorder that creates serious neurological and behavioral disabilities in children and usually leads to death in the teen years.

28 Mar 2014

TG2 protein is a key mediator in Porphyromonas gingivalis infection, study finds

Scientists at Forsyth, along with a colleague from Northwestern University, have discovered that the protein, Transgultaminase 2 (TG2), is a key component in the process of gum disease. TG2 is widely distributed inside and outside of human cells. The scientists found that blocking some associations of TG2 prevents the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG) from adhering to cells. This insight may one day help lead to novel therapies to prevent gum disease caused by PG.

26 Mar 2014

Scientists discover cellular pathway that may prevent onset of Type 2 diabetes

Scientists at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute have discovered a cellular pathway that is responsible for keeping blood sugar levels low in obese or pre-diabetic people, and may prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

20 Mar 2014

Findings support development of cysteine protease inhibitors as new drug target for AD

A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Medical University of South Carolina and San Diego-based American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, Inc., report that cathepsin B gene knockout or its reduction by an enzyme inhibitor blocks creation of key neurotoxic pGlu-Aβ peptides linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, the candidate inhibitor drug has been shown to be safe in humans.

18 Mar 2014

Discovery could lead to improved early detection, prevention strategies for sudden cardiac death

UC Irvine researchers have found a specific genetic flaw that is connected to sudden death due to heart arrhythmia - a leading cause of mortality for adults around the world.

18 Feb 2014

Researchers identify histone proteins that may be key to generate induced totipotent stem cells

One major challenge in stem cell research has been to reprogram differentiated cells to a totipotent state. Researchers from RIKEN in Japan have identified a duo of histone proteins that dramatically enhance the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and may be the key to generating induced totipotent stem cells.

7 Feb 2014

CUMC researchers identify gene that appears to play major role in motor neuron degeneration in ALS

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified a gene, called matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), that appears to play a major role in motor neuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The findings, made in mice, explain why most but not all motor neurons are affected by the disease and identify a potential therapeutic target for this still-incurable neurodegenerative disease. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Neuron.

23 Jan 2014

Horizon, AstraZeneca partner to explore oncology-relevant genotypes to identify novel drug targets

Horizon Discovery and AstraZeneca have entered into a research, collaboration and license agreement to explore a range of oncology-relevant genotypes with the aim of identifying and validating a number of novel drug targets. This deal is the second collaboration between AstraZeneca and Horizon, and follows the announcement in April 2013 of an oncology discovery program to explore Horizon's first-in-class kinase target program, HD-001.

7 Jan 2014

Neuroscience researchers discover gene that controls response to cocaine

UT Southwestern neuroscience researchers have identified a gene that controls the response to cocaine by comparing closely related strains of mice often used to study addiction and behavior patterns.

22 Dec 2013

TGen, Nemucore, and Barrow collaboration aims for new drugs to treat glioblastoma

The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation today announced a $3 million grant to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Nemucore Medical Innovations Inc., and Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center to help fund significant brain tumor research in Arizona.

18 Dec 2013

New book provides cutting-edge methods for generating and characterizing mouse cancer models

The laboratory mouse is an important model for addressing questions in cancer biology. In recent years, the questions have become more refined, and mouse models are increasingly being used to develop and test cancer therapeutics.

12 Dec 2013

Alnylam presents new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3 for treatment of hemophilia and RBD

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has presented new pre-clinical data with ALN-AT3, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic targeting antithrombin (AT) for the treatment of hemophilia and rare bleeding disorders (RBD), at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) held December 7 - 10, 2013 in New Orleans.

10 Dec 2013

Skin is capable of communicating with liver, say researchers

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have discovered that the skin is capable of communicating with the liver. The discovery has surprised the scientists, and they say that it may help our understanding of how skin diseases can affect the rest of the body.

9 Dec 2013

Researchers discover how PC7 protein affects certain types of cognitive performance

A team of Montr-al researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, in collaboration with Dr. William C. Wetsel's team at Duke University in the United States, discovered that the protein PC7 plays a critical role in the brain by affecting certain types of cognitive performance such as anxiety, learning and emotional memory. Their results, recently published in the scientific journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and Nature, could have a significant impact on regulating behaviour related to anxiety disorders and trauma.

4 Dec 2013

Neuroscientists discover new role played by common but mysterious class of brain cells

Stanford University School of Medicine neuroscientists have discovered a new role played by a common but mysterious class of brain cells.

26 Nov 2013

Research findings call for a rethinking of cancer genetics

Johns Hopkins researchers report that the deletion of any single gene in yeast cells puts pressure on the organism’s genome to compensate, leading to a mutation in another gene. Their discovery, which is likely applicable to human genetics because of the way DNA is conserved across species, could have significant consequences for the way genetic analysis is done in cancer and other areas of research, they say.

14 Nov 2013

Researchers discovers key genetic culprit responsible for growth, metastasis of colon cancer

Chronic inflammation has long been known as a key risk factor for cancer---particularly colon cancer---but the exact mechanisms of how inflammation heightens the immune response, and ultimately influences the initiation and progression of cancer have remained elusive.

12 Nov 2013