Small Molecules News and Research

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Advances in RNA research could pave new way for development of anti-cancer drugs

An international research team led by the University of Leicester has made a breakthrough advance that could pave a new route for the development of anti-cancer drugs.

8 Nov 2016

Researchers shed light on how success of gut microbiome treatments may depend on genetics

Our gut microbiomes--the bacteria that live in our digestive tract--play major roles in our health. Scientists around the world are studying therapies that manipulate the microbiome, including probiotics (such as live bacterial cultures in yogurt), prebiotics (edible fibers meant to promote beneficial bacteria), antibiotics and transplants of microbes from healthy people.

7 Nov 2016

Researchers develop new blood test that can accurately diagnose concussions

Scientists from Children's Health Research Institute, a program of Lawson Health Research Institute, and Western University have developed a new blood test that identifies with greater than 90 per cent certainty whether or not an adolescent athlete has suffered a concussion.

7 Nov 2016

NUS researchers identify molecular switch that makes breast cancer cells more aggressive

A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has established novel insights into the relationship between breast cancer tumour intracellular redox environment and the cancer cells' ability to become invasive.

1 Nov 2016

German scientists identify new compounds with potential to kill gram-negative bacteria strains

Many microorganisms produce secondary natural products, the potential antibiotic effects of which are extensively investigated. German scientists have now examined a class of quinone-like substances containing an additional epoxide functional group for their antibiotic activities.

31 Oct 2016

Supercomputer simulations of p53 protein could boost future anti-cancer drug discovery

Even though it's almost impossible to see, computational biophysicist Rommie Amaro is using the Stampede supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at The University of Texas at Austin to model the largest atomic level system of the tumor suppression protein p53 to date -- over 1.5 million atoms.

27 Oct 2016

Scientists uncover new class of small molecules for fighting urinary tract infection

This spring, a Pennsylvania woman who developed a urinary tract infection (UTI) became the first patient in the U.S. reported to have a bacterial infection resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort.

26 Oct 2016

Researchers design small compounds with potential to correct mitochondrial dysfunction

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited disorder that leads to a gradual loss of motor neurons and, eventually, paralysis. The condition is caused by genetic mutations that disrupts cells' energy factories, called mitochondria.

25 Oct 2016

New disgnostic tool could help doctors make more informed prescriptions

Students from the University of Sheffield are building a device capable of quickly diagnosing bacterial infections, which could help doctors improve the way they prescribe treatment for patients.

24 Oct 2016

Researchers discover how toxic proteins linked to neurological diseases impair membrane-less organelles

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered the way toxic proteins linked to the most common forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) incapacitate membrane-less organelles inside cells.

21 Oct 2016

Targeting TASINs can be viable approach for preventing colon cancer, research reveals

A small molecule called TASIN-1 can selectively kill cells with a mutation that is considered to be a precursor to colon cancer, while sparing related normal cells, UT Southwestern Medical Center cancer biologists have demonstrated.

20 Oct 2016

Zika virus infections modify viral and human genetic material, research finds

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that Zika virus infection leads to modifications of both viral and human genetic material.

20 Oct 2016

New type of nanoparticles can deliver chemotherapy efficiently to cancer cells

Engineering researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new method that delivers chemotherapy directly and efficiently to individual cells.

4 Oct 2016

NIGHTSEA and EMS nominate Dr. Sarah Petersen for 2016 KEY Award

NIGHTSEA, creators and manufacturers of the innovative Stereo Microscope Fluorescence Adapter (SFA), and Electron Microscopy Sciences (EMS) are pleased to award the second annual KEY Award for New Faculty to Dr. Sarah Petersen of Kenyon College.

From NIGHTSEA 24 Sep 2016

Crick researchers find promising target for new tuberculosis drugs

Scientists led by Dr Luiz Pedro Carvalho at the Francis Crick Institute in London have found a promising new target in the search for new tuberculosis drugs. In the process, they say they've proven the strengths of a new research technique called metabolomics.

20 Sep 2016

Columbia researchers find way to reawaken potent cancer-fighting molecule in tumor cells

A potent cancer-fighting molecule in our cells can be reawakened by reducing levels of a protein - called SET - that's often found in excess in cancer cells, a new study from Columbia University's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

15 Sep 2016

Oral antidiabetic drug modulates the body's nitrogen and urea metabolism

The most frequently prescribed oral antidiabetic drug metformin significantly affects metabolic pathways.

14 Sep 2016

NUS study reveals RNA editing events play vital role in gastric cancer development

A team of researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore has found that changes in ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences play a major role in the development of gastric cancer.

13 Sep 2016

New four-stranded version of DNA may hold key to development of targeted cancer therapies

Scientists have identified where a four-stranded version of DNA exists within the genome of human cells, and suggest that it may hold a key to developing new, targeted therapies for cancer.