Small Molecules News and Research

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Small molecules in saliva show potential for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Your spit may hold a clue to future brain health. Investigators at the Beaumont Research Institute, part of Beaumont Health in Michigan, are hopeful that their study involving small molecules in saliva will help identify those at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease - a neurologic condition predicted to reach epidemic proportions worldwide by 2050.

17 May 2017

EPFL scientists develop new antibody-linked biosensor to track drug concentration in the blood

Being able to monitor drug concentration in the blood of a patient is an important aspect of any pharmaceutical treatment. However, this requires equipment and facilities that are often missing from field healthcare in developing countries, but also inhibits the quality of life for patients elsewhere.

16 May 2017

Scientists uncover potential strategy to shock and kill HIV virus

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes discovered that an enzyme called SMYD2 could be a new therapeutic target for flushing out the HIV that hides in infected individuals. Overcoming this latent virus remains the most significant obstacle to a cure.

15 May 2017

New 3D printing technology may offer quicker implantation of better medical devices for millions

For the millions of people every year who have or need medical devices implanted, a new advancement in 3D printing technology developed at the University of Florida promises significantly quicker implantation of devices that are stronger, less expensive, more flexible and more comfortable than anything currently available.

11 May 2017

Research illuminates how primary colorectal tumors contribute to premetastatic 'niche' formation

Primary colorectal tumors secrete VEGF-A, inducing CXCL1 and CXCR2-positive myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) recruitment at distant sites and establishing niches for future metastases, report Medical University of South Carolina investigators in an article published online ahead of print on April 28, 2017 by Cancer Research.

10 May 2017

Scientists map genetic changes that help drive aggressive brain tumor

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers and collaborators have mapped genetic changes that help drive an aggressive tumor as it develops in the brain – helping to lay the foundation for targeted treatment of the disease.

3 May 2017

TACC's supercomputers assist in discovery of new, better chemotherapy drugs

Surgery and radiation remove, kill, or damage cancer cells in a certain area. But chemotherapy -- which uses medicines or drugs to treat cancer -- can work throughout the whole body, killing cancer cells that have spread far from the original tumor.

2 May 2017

Powerful pain medicine may help reduce vision damage of glaucoma

The tip of our optic nerve is typically the first place injured by glaucoma. Now researchers want to know if the powerful pain medicine (+)-pentazocine can help avoid the damage.

2 May 2017

Cancer Research UK, CRT Pioneer Fund, and NCI join forces to tackle ‘undruggable’ RAS mutations

Cancer Research UK and the Cancer Research Technology Pioneer Fund have committed £2.5 million in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute in the US to tackle one of the toughest challenges in cancer that has thwarted researchers for more than 30 years.

21 Apr 2017

Vanderbilt geneticists find new way to tap plant pharmacopeia to produce improved therapeutics

Cocaine, nicotine, capsaicin. These are just three familiar examples of the hundreds of thousands of small molecules (also called specialized or secondary metabolites) that plants use as chemical ammunition to protect themselves from predation.

17 Apr 2017

Researchers use genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice

In an apparent first, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have used genetic manipulation to regenerate auditory hair cells in adult mice. The research marks a possible advance in treatment of hearing loss in humans. The study appears today in the journal Cell Reports.

11 Apr 2017

Scientists discover novel therapeutic target for retinal neovascularization

A team led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers has identified a novel therapeutic target for retinal neovascularization, or abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, a hallmark of advanced diabetic eye disease (proliferative diabetic retinopathy).

11 Apr 2017

Scientists use time-lapse video to identify cells that trigger blood stem cell development

Like private investigators on a stake out, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists used patience and video surveillance-like tools to identify cells that trigger blood cell development.

10 Apr 2017

Using nanodiamonds to see smaller

Many of the most fundamental, life governing biological processes take place at size and time scales that remain invisible with current imaging technologies. Understanding how the molecules that underlie these processes move, interact and change could pave the way for new treatments, cures and the development of novel drug therapies.

7 Apr 2017

Bielefeld University launches five new medical research projects

Bielefeld University is strengthening its cooperations in medical research. In five new projects, scientists at the university are cooperating with the University hospitals of the Ruhr University of Bochum in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region.

7 Apr 2017

New finding on key protein opens door to potential therapies for chronic illnesses

Scientists have determined unexpected characteristics of a key protein linked to blood pressure control and to nerve growth, pain control and heart tissue regeneration. The findings, published April 5 online in the journal Nature, opens doors to potential new therapies to control cardiovascular disease and pain.

6 Apr 2017

MSU and Venn Therapeutics develop promising therapy to delay B16 melanoma tumor growth

Michigan State University researchers presented promising cancer therapy results at the American Association for Cancer Research International Meeting in Washington, DC.

5 Apr 2017

X-ray study sheds new light on promising drug target

Researchers hope to design a new generation of drugs against an array of deadly diseases. The task, however, is costly, arduous and often ineffective. One of the key challenges is understanding a particular class of proteins adorning cell surfaces, which are the targets of the majority of pharmaceutical drugs.