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New method for tracing brain circuits

The brain has been mapped to the smallest fold for at least a century, but still no one knows how all the parts talk to each other.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists identify compound to inhibit wild-type HIV-1 protease

Drug resistance remains a major problem in combating HIV infection, but a different approach to drug development could be the answer.Current viral inhibitors target the HIV-1 protease function with a competitive mechanism. Writing in the BJ ChemBio Knowledge Environment of the Biochemical Journal, Max Chang and colleagues from the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, suggest that pharmaceutical companies look at compounds that use an allosteric non-competitive mechanism of inhibition.

10 Aug 2010

Study finds 'grid cells' that help brain map locations outside hippocampus

"Grid cells," which help the brain map locations, have been found for the first time outside of the hippocampus in the rat brain, according to new research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The finding should help further our understanding of how the brain generates the internal maps that help us remember where we have been and how to get to where we want to go.

10 Aug 2010

FDA approves human embryonic stem cells clinical trial for spinal cord injury treatment

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.: Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration gave their highly-anticipated approval for the first clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which are the type of cells that can develop into all tissues of the body. Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, received the green light from the US FDA to use cells derived from hESCs to treat people with acute spinal cord injuries. Ten people will receive injections into the injury site of hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which stimulate the growth of new and severed nerves and recoat damaged nerves with myelin. The hope is that the injections will help people recover function lost through injury, as seen in rodent studies in 2005.

10 Aug 2010

Epitherix identifies potent and selective multiple chemical scaffolds against colorectal carcinoma

Epitherix, LLC, a privately held company focused on the discovery and development of novel Wnt pathway small molecule inhibitors for epithelial and leukemic cancers, today announced that it has identified multiple chemical scaffolds that are potent and selective against colorectal carcinoma. "We're very encouraged by our in vitro and in vivo data, especially considering the difficulty in drugging this pathway to date," said Dr. Osman Kibar, CEO of Epitherix.

10 Aug 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals reports significant progress in discovery of novel technologies for systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and collaborators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The University of British Columbia (UBC), AlCana Technologies, Inc., and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, presented results from multiple ongoing research efforts regarding the discovery of novel technologies for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

10 Aug 2010

Cancer Research Technology grants Scancell licence to use 105AD7 human antibody

Scancell Holdings Plc,, the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, and Cancer Research Technology Ltd - Cancer Research UK's commercialisation and development arm - today announce that they have signed an agreement under which Scancell has been granted a licence to use a human antibody known as 105AD7.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists develop life long hip joint replacement device

Total knee and hip joint replacement devices that last a lifetime are closer to reality thanks to recent breakthroughs in Department of Physics laboratories at the University of Alabama at Birmingham involving specialized nanodiamonds a billionth of a meter in size.

10 Aug 2010

Loyola University forms new institute for molecular level disease research

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has formed a new research institute dedicated to understanding the molecular causes of cancer, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease and several other illnesses.

10 Aug 2010

Ratios between males and females affect human longevity: Study

"Love stinks!" the J. Geils band told the world in 1980, and while you can certainly argue whether or not this tender and ineffable spirit of affection has a downside, working hard to find it does. It may even shorten your life.

10 Aug 2010

New scaffold supports growth, integration of stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells

These days people usually don't die from a heart attack. But the damage to heart muscle is irreversible, and most patients eventually succumb to congestive heart failure, the most common cause of death in developed countries.Stem cells now offer hope for achieving what the body can't do: mending broken hearts. Engineers and physicians at the University of Washington have built a scaffold that supports the growth and integration of stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells. A description of the scaffold, which supports the growth of cardiac cells in the lab and encourages blood vessel growth in living animals, is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

10 Aug 2010

New insight into protein transport mechanism can improve chemotherapy treatments

A new study conducted in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tel Aviv University (TAU) elucidates the way in which toxic, yet essential, copper ions enter human cells. As a chemotherapy drug presumably enters the cells in a similar manner, the results of this study pave the way for the development of improved chemotherapeutic drugs. The groundbreaking work was published in the leading American scientific journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

10 Aug 2010

Research on role of ADAM12 gene in breast cancer

A microscopic gene may play a gigantic role when it comes to cancerous tissue in the human body, according to one Kansas State University research team.The team is investigating mutation within the ADAM12 gene of the A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease family, or ADAM family, and its role in breast cancer."We want to know whether ADAM12 is a good guy or a bad guy in breast cancer," said Anna Zolkiewska, associate professor of biochemistry and research team leader.

10 Aug 2010

Sound sleepers show distinct pattern of spontaneous brain rhythms: Research

Ever wonder why some people can sleep through just about anything, while others get startled awake at each and every bump in the night? A new report in the August 10th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, offers some insight: sound sleepers show a distinct pattern of spontaneous brain rhythms.We found that by measuring brain waves during sleep, we could learn a lot about how well a person's brain can block the negative effects of sounds; the more sleep spindles your brain produces, the more likely you'll stay asleep, even when confronted with noise, said Jeffrey Ellenbogen of Harvard Medical School.

10 Aug 2010

Scientist to research on molecular machinery of breast cancer

Someone in the world is diagnosed with breast cancer every 23 seconds. It is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide among women and approximately 456,000 die from the disease each year. At The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), a scientist is taking aim at the molecular machinery behind this disease.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists discover role of Mnk enzyme in prostate cancer development

A kinase is a type of enzyme the body uses to regulate the functions of the proteins required for cell growth and maintenance, and researchers have discovered that one in particular plays a key role in developing prostate cancer. "It's known as Mnk, and although it appears not to be essential for normal cell maintenance, it's important for cancer growth" said Dr. Luc Furic, a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. Nahum Sonenberg at McGill University's Goodman Cancer Research Centre and Department of Biochemistry.

10 Aug 2010

Pluristem's PLacental eXpanded cell therapy effective against neuropathic and inflammatory nerve pain

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. today announced the results of two separate pre-clinical studies in animal models which demonstrated that its PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cell therapy may be an effective treatment for both neuropathic and inflammatory nerve pain. These animal studies were conducted in collaboration with the Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT) and the Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine, both at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin of Berlin, Germany.

10 Aug 2010

Study suggests reimbursements can address inappropriate antibiotic usage

Antibiotic use appears to have increased among older adults whose prescription drug coverage improved as a result of enrolling in Medicare Part D, with the largest increases for broad-spectrum, newer and more expensive drugs, according to a report in the August 9/23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

10 Aug 2010

Duke University physicists develop technique to inject material into cells through sharp fluid jets

Duke University physicists have developed a way to produce sharp fluid jets with enough precision that they can inject material into a single, living cell. The technique promises a way to deliver drugs to cells one at a time, which is likely to be very valuable for research involving stem cells and other cellular-level studies. The research appears in the current issue of the APS journal Physical Review Letters.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists suggest daily intake of vitamin D helps to reduce disease frequency

Anthony Norman, a leading international expert in vitamin D, proposes worldwide policy changes regarding people's vitamin D daily intake amount in order to maximize the vitamin's contribution to reducing the frequency of many diseases, including childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness.

10 Aug 2010