Small Molecules News and Research

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SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may induce analgesia

A recent study published in the journal Pain in October 2020 adds another piece to the puzzle, showing that the virus is capable of dulling pain pathways. This may contribute to its early and extensive spread.

7 Oct 2020

Thiopurines could help stop viral replication in human coronaviruses

Researchers from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, University of Calgary, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Canada, worked with human coronaviruses in cell cultures to look for drugs that might prevent accumulation and replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020

New deep learning-based technique could boost drug development

When you take a medication, you want to know precisely what it does. Pharmaceutical companies go through extensive testing to ensure that you do.

5 Oct 2020

Scientists discover small molecules that may reduce cellular stress

For many, getting older can unfortunately mean an increased risk of illness from cardiovascular disease to cancer.

5 Oct 2020

Discovery of specific kinase as a novel drug target against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses

By using a modern genome-wide knockout approach to single out coronavirus host factors in human cells, researchers from Rega Institute in Belgium discovered a potential new target that might be exploited for developing drugs against the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, but also future outbreaks of highly pathogenic coronaviruses

29 Sep 2020

Maternal gut microbiota can promote healthy fetal brain development

During pregnancy in mice, the billions of bacteria and other microbes that live in a mother's intestines regulate key metabolites, small molecules that are important for healthy fetal brain development, UCLA biologists report Sept. 23 in the journal Nature.

24 Sep 2020

Gruthan Bioscience to develop new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs

Gruthan Bioscience, LLC, a Medical University of South Carolina startup based in Charleston, South Carolina, received a Small Business technology Transfer (STTR) award from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute in August to take the next step in developing a novel class of cholesterol-lowering drugs to treat familial hypercholesterolemia.

24 Sep 2020

Intensive physical exercise session improves memory

If sport is good for the body, it also seems to be good for the brain. By evaluating memory performance following a sport session, neuroscientists from the University of Geneva demonstrate that an intensive physical exercise session as short as 15 minutes improves memory, including the acquisition of new motor skills.

23 Sep 2020

Molecular dynamic simulations reveal detailed spike-ACE2 interactions

The current COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world. Caused by a single-stranded RNA betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is closely related to but much more infectious than the earlier highly pathogenic betacoronaviruses SARS and MERS-CoV, has impacted social, economic, and physical health to an unimaginable extent.

23 Sep 2020

NAU researcher awarded $3.75 million NCI grant to build cancer research software

Greg Caporaso, director of the Center for Applied Microbiome Science, part of the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University, has been awarded a $3.75 million grant by the National Cancer Institute to build software capable of analyzing and archiving data focused on the interplay between the human microbiome (the trillions of microorganisms living in and on the human body) and diverse types of cancer.

22 Sep 2020

Researchers identify a potential drug candidate for hand, foot and mouth disease

A study appearing next week in the journal Nature Communications offers some good news in the search for antiviral drugs for hard-to-treat diseases. Researchers have identified a potential new drug candidate against enterovirus 71, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children

22 Sep 2020

Ceftazidime flagged as a potential inhibitor of the SARS-COV-2 virus

After screening more than 3,500 FDA-approved drugs and small molecules, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that ceftazidime, an antibiotic approved for use in treating pneumonia, binds to the receptors that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binds to in human cells.

17 Sep 2020

Antibiotic molecule helps the body's own immune system to kill HIV infected cells

Ever since the first cases of a mysterious disease in the early 1980s exploded into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, researchers have been searching for ways to outsmart the deadly virus.

11 Sep 2020

Two MDC scientists win ERC Starting Grants for pioneering research

Dr. Kathrin de la Rosa and Dr. Ilaria Piazza, who are both junior group leaders at the Max DelbruÌ-ck Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, have each won European Research Council Starting Grants.

3 Sep 2020

New technology predicts allosteric sites in proteins

A new technology that uses a protein's structure to predict the inner wiring that controls the protein's function and dynamics is now available for scientists to utilize. The tool, developed by researchers at Penn State, may be useful for protein engineering and drug design.

3 Sep 2020

Tattoo ink could be the key to improving cancer detection

The humble ink in a tattoo artist's needle could be the key to improving the detection of cancer, thanks to new research from the USC Viterbi Department of Biomedical Engineering.

2 Sep 2020

14 existing drugs identified as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports on the identification of 14 compounds that can inhibit the key viral enzyme called the Main Protease (MPro) at micromolar concentrations.

1 Sep 2020

RNA-targeting compound restarts a healing factor silenced by heart attack

A heart attack can leave parts of the heart permanently scarred and stiff, resulting in prolonged disability and potential progression toward heart failure. Scientists have studied various ways to repair or regenerate such damaged heart tissue, with limited success.

24 Aug 2020

Newly discovered molecule can suppress a wide range of cancers

Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered a molecule that can activate a natural immune-boosting protein called STING.

21 Aug 2020

Machine learning helps detect new potential drugs to treat COVID-19

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have used machine learning to identify hundreds of new potential drugs that could help treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2.

12 Aug 2020