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Phase II clinical trial of Avastin and Tarceva in patients with glioblastoma multiforme

Patients suffering from recently diagnosed malignant brain tumors called glioblastoma multiforme or a rare variant called gliosarcoma may be eligible to participate in a Phase II clinical trial at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center that combines two innovative drugs.

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

Some therapies being investigated for Alzheimer's disease may cause cell death: UCSD

Some current therapies being investigated for Alzheimer's disease may cause further neural degeneration and cell death, according to a breakthrough discovery by UC San Diego researchers. By combining three dimensional computer simulations with high resolution atomic force microscopy membrane protein and cell imaging, electrical recording and various cellular assays, UCSD nano-biophysicist Ratnesh Lal and his colleagues investigated the structure and function of truncated peptides, known as nonamyloidgenic peptides, formed by some Alzheimer's drug candidates.

5 Apr 2010

Nanotechnology for eavesdropping on inner electrical activity of individual cells

A nanometer-scale probe designed to slip into a cell wall and fuse with it could offer researchers a portal for extended eavesdropping on the inner electrical activity of individual cells.

2 Apr 2010

Protein vaccines for needle-free immunization through the skin

Most immunizations currently involve an injection in the arm. In the future, vaccination may be accomplished without the unpleasant jab of a needle: a team led by Victor C. Yang at the University of Michigan (USA) has developed a method by which vaccines can pass directly through the skin without a needle. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, merely linking a special short peptide molecule to the vaccine, which can then be administered in the form of a patch, will do the job.

1 Apr 2010

Role of membrane cholesterol in late keratinocyte differentiation analyzed

In a recent study initiated by Beiersdorf AG, Florian Spörl and colleagues evaluated the use of Roche Applied Science's xCELLigence System as a viable system to monitor not only cholesterol extraction and repletion but also cholesterol reorganization in human keratinocytes in real time. The xCELLigence System offers a novel approach to non-invasive long-term observation of membrane cholesterol dynamics in primary human keratinocytes.

1 Apr 2010

Ascent Therapeutics is now Anchor Therapeutics

Ascent Therapeutics announced today that it has adopted a new name — Anchor Therapeutics. Anchor Therapeutics reflects the Company's core technology and its commitment to building solid, dependable value for patients, partners and investors via its proprietary platform technology.

30 Mar 2010

Insight into scorpion venom may help understand diseases like pancreatitis

A Brazilian scorpion has provided researchers at North Carolina State University and East Carolina University insight into venom's effects on the ability of certain cells to release critical components. The findings may prove useful in understanding diseases like pancreatitis or in targeted drug delivery.

30 Mar 2010

Researcher extracts natural scaffold for tissue growth

It frequently happens in science that what you throw away turns out to be most valuable. It happened to Deepak Nagrath, but not for long.

26 Mar 2010

Gene implicated in JSRDs: UCD research team publishes new information

Researchers in University College Dublin (UCD) led by Conway Fellow, Dr Oliver Blacque have revealed new information about a gene implicated in Joubert syndrome and related cerebellar disorders (JSRDs) that are characterised by blindness, bone abnormalities, cystic kidneys, developmental delay and loss of muscle tone and control. The findings from this research, which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland, have been published today in a leading science journal, Journal of Cell Biology.

22 Mar 2010

Pressure BioSciences announces presentations on advantages of PCT

Pressure BioSciences, Inc. today announced that five presentations on the advantages of pressure cycling technology (PCT) in the preparation, processing, identification, and quantification of proteins were made at last week's annual meeting of US HUPO (Human Proteomics Organization) in Denver, Colorado.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 19 Mar 2010

LSUHSC: Differences in drug metabolism can lead to differences in the effectiveness of candidate drug

Research led by Wayne L. Backes, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Associate Dean for Research at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has found that drug metabolism depends not only upon which enzymes are present in an individual, but also how they interact, and that can be the difference in whether a drug is safely eliminated from the body or is converted into a toxic or carcinogenic byproduct.

18 Mar 2010

Toxins released by certain microalgae can contaminate seafood and become toxic to humans

Toxins released by certain microalgae can contaminate fish and shellfish which then become toxic to humans. Researchers from CNRS and CEA have, for the first time, identified the mechanisms of action of two of these toxins.

18 Mar 2010

Scientists discover switch mechanism that controls cells' trafficking system

Scientists have identified a mechanism that switches on an extremely important process for the proper functioning and survival of our body's cells. Specifically, the fast-track transportation pathway of 'cargo' to and from the surface of the cell.

18 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

Study offers new possibilities for breast and other cancer therapies

Conventional biological wisdom holds that living cells interact with their environment through an elaborate network of chemical signals. As a result many therapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases in which cell behavior goes awry focus on drugs that block or disrupt harmful chemical signals.

16 Mar 2010

Researchers discover microtentacles that play key role in spreading cancer to distant locations in body

Researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center have discovered that "microtentacles," or extensions of the plasma membrane of breast cancer cells, appear to play a key role in how cancers spread to distant locations in the body. Targeting these microtentacles might prove to be a new way to prevent or slow the growth of these secondary cancers, the scientists say.

15 Mar 2010

Discovery may yield new strategies for blocking malaria transmission

Scientists studying the Anopheles gambiae mosquito - the main vector of malaria - have found that when the mosquito takes a blood meal, that act triggers two enzymes to form a network of crisscrossing proteins around the ingested blood.

15 Mar 2010

PolyMedix presents data from PMX-30063 defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound Phase 1B study at 8th TSIS

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat acute cardiovascular disorders and infectious diseases, has presented for the first time to the medical community data from its Phase 1B clinical study with its defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound, PMX-30063.

12 Mar 2010

Membrane News and Research

Phase II clinical trial of Avastin and Tarceva in patients with glioblastoma multiforme

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

Some therapies being investigated for Alzheimer's disease may cause cell death: UCSD

Nanotechnology for eavesdropping on inner electrical activity of individual cells

Protein vaccines for needle-free immunization through the skin

Role of membrane cholesterol in late keratinocyte differentiation analyzed

Ascent Therapeutics is now Anchor Therapeutics

Insight into scorpion venom may help understand diseases like pancreatitis

Researcher extracts natural scaffold for tissue growth

Gene implicated in JSRDs: UCD research team publishes new information

Pressure BioSciences announces presentations on advantages of PCT

LSUHSC: Differences in drug metabolism can lead to differences in the effectiveness of candidate drug

Toxins released by certain microalgae can contaminate seafood and become toxic to humans

Scientists discover switch mechanism that controls cells' trafficking system

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

Dual role of Notch signalling pathway

Study offers new possibilities for breast and other cancer therapies

Researchers discover microtentacles that play key role in spreading cancer to distant locations in body

Discovery may yield new strategies for blocking malaria transmission

PolyMedix presents data from PMX-30063 defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound Phase 1B study at 8th TSIS

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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