Macromolecules News and Research

RSS

New NMR spectrometer to benefit researchers from across Texas A&M

Top-notch molecular research swung into gear at Texas A&M University this week - literally. A crane lowered a high-field 800 megahertz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer through an opening in the roof of a biochemistry and biophysics building Wednesday, putting the university on par with leading U.S. research institutions, according to Dr. Gregory Reinhart, department head.

16 Jul 2012

Five recent Science and Nature papers shed light on elusive 'GPCRs'

Readers of the top-ranked scientific journals Science and Nature might have noticed a recent wave of articles, most recently in the July 13, 2012 issue of Science, with deep importance for biology and medicine.

14 Jul 2012

Researchers use metal complexes to modify peptide hormones

Researchers at the RUB and from Berkeley have used metal complexes to modify peptide hormones. In the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they report for the first time on the three-dimensional structure of the resulting metal-peptide compounds.

9 Jul 2012

First patient included in the phase II study of Amphinex® in head and neck cancer patients

PCI Biotech (PCIB) the Norwegian biopharmaceutical company, reported today that the first patient has been included in the phase II study of Amphinex in combination with the cytotoxic agent bleomycin in head and neck cancer patients, called the ENHANCE study. The first patient was included at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany. NCT is a joint project of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital, Thoraxklinik Heidelberg and Deutsche Krebshilfe (German Cancer Aid).

16 May 2012

Researchers extract structural information from triple helix DNA in gas phase

A team of researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) have managed for the first time to extract trustworthy structural information from a triple helix DNA in gas phase, that is to say in conditions in which DNA is practically in a vacuum.

19 Apr 2012

Ensysce announces latest data on delivery platform for therapeutic siRNA

Ensysce Biosciences Inc. announced today the publication of their latest data on their delivery platform for short interfering RNA (siRNA) for therapeutic purposes in the journal Materials.

14 Feb 2012

Wyatt Technology Instruments employed to develop alternative materials to silicone breast implants

Wyatt Technology Corporation today announced that Professor Judit E. Puskas at the University of Akron has developed a system using its instrumentation that will also help to solve a prevalent and particularly controversial material science challenge. The researchers are employing the multi detector system to develop alternative materials to silicone breast implants. This development will be welcomed by many as faulty Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) implants are causing global concern about implant safety, and as a result, alternative materials are sought.

1 Feb 2012

Prion protein uptake associated with development of Scrapie disease

Scrapie is a neurodegenerative disease which can function as a model for other diseases caused by an accumulation of proteins resulting in tissue malformations (proteinpathies), such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

30 Dec 2011

New substance can replace nucleoside thymidine in DNA biosynthesis

Interactions of biological macromolecules are the central bases of living systems. Biological macromolecules are synthesized in living cells by linking many small molecules together. Naturally occurring macromolecules include genetic materials (DNA) and proteins. A detailed understanding of the synthesis of these macromolecules in whole animals is a basic requirement for understanding biological systems, and for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

14 Dec 2011

World's fastest program to examine interactions between molecules

Creating new, improved pharmaceuticals is sometimes very similar to cracking the code of a combination lock. If you have the wrong numbers, the lock won't open. Even worse, you don't know if your numbers are close to the actual code or way off the mark. The only solution is to simply guess a new combination and try again.

18 Nov 2011

New smart polymer that responds to low-power NIR light could treat cancers

...

17 Nov 2011

Berkeley Lab, Bruker partner to develop and distribute new structural biology methods

Bruker Corporation and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) today announced a collaboration to develop and distribute new structural biology methods and tools to integrate Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

11 Nov 2011

Polystyrene surface triples number of human ES and iPS cells in culture

By irradiating typical polystyrene lab plates with ultraviolet (UV) waves, Whitehead Institute and MIT scientists have created a surface capable of tripling the number of human embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that can be grown in culture by current methods. Use of this novel surface also eliminates the need for layers of mouse "feeder cells" to support ES- and iPS-cell growth.

8 Nov 2011

Scientists develop first polymeric material that is sensitive to very low levels of NIR irradiation

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed what they believe to be the first polymeric material that is sensitive to biologically benign levels of near infrared (NIR) irradiation, enabling the material to disassemble in a highly controlled fashion.

4 Oct 2011

X-chromosome related microRNA may impact immunity and cancer

As anyone familiar with the phrase 'man-flu' will know women consider themselves to be the more robust side of the species when it comes to health and illness. Now new research, published in BioEssays, seems to support the idea. The research focuses on the role of MicroRNAs encoded on the X chromosome to explain why women have stronger immune systems to men and are less likely to develop cancer.

28 Sep 2011

Researchers may have solved 100-year-old puzzle to safely open and close the blood-brain barrier

Cornell University researchers may have solved a 100-year puzzle: How to safely open and close the blood-brain barrier so that therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and cancers of the central nervous system might effectively be delivered.

14 Sep 2011

Scientists discover nanoparticles can disrupt intracellular transport pathways

Scientists at the Centre of Cancer Biomedicine at the Norwegian Radium Hospital are the first to show that uptake and accumulation of nanoparticles in cells can disrupt important intracellular transport pathways.

24 Aug 2011

Pittsburgh researchers combine Viscotek GPC and Zetasizer Nano in work on novel polymers for drug delivery

Molecular weight and molecular weight distribution measurements are a basic necessity in studying the synthesis of the novel polymers being carried out by researchers at the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. For the Pittsburgh team, the applications and technical expertise provided by Malvern Panalytical is a significant factor in their use of the company’s Viscotek gel permeation chromatography (GPC) system to characterize polymer molecular weight, prior to applying the Zetasizer Nano for zeta potential measurements to study inter-molecular interactions.

From Malvern Panalytical 18 Aug 2011

New protein discovery could help develop intracellular biologic drugs

Permeon Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of intracellular protein biologics, today announced the discovery of an entirely new class of naturally occurring human supercharged proteins called Intraphilins-.

29 Jul 2011

Grapes help protect skin cells from sun's UV radiation

Some compounds found in grapes help to protect skin cells from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, according to a study by researchers from the University of Barcelona and the CSIC.

29 Jul 2011