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Study: Stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells, form electrical couplings

Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue.

3 May 2013

New hope for patients with chronic HBV infection

Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver Congress- 2013 include rults from early in vitro and in vivo studies targeting covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which may form the basis of a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

25 Apr 2013

Mechanism of tumor suppressor p53 inactivation described

Cancer cells are a problem for the body because they multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don’t belong. One protein that keeps healthy cells from behaving this way is a tumor suppressor named p53. This protein stops potentially precancerous cells from dividing and induces suicide in those that are damaged beyond repair. Not surprisingly, p53’s critical function is disrupted in most cancers.

25 Apr 2013

Examining function of all genes in zebrafish genome could benefit human health, researchers say

Equipped with the zebrafish genome, researchers have designed a method to assay the function of each and every gene and to explore the effects genetic variation has on zebrafish.

18 Apr 2013

Targeting pathway may lead to better hypertension treatments for at-risk patients

Obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure (hypertension) are all related, but understanding the molecular pathways that underlie cause and effect is complicated.

12 Apr 2013

Roche, Isis Pharmaceuticals to develop neurodegenerative therapeutics for Huntington's disease

Roche and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc today announced that they have formed an alliance to develop treatments for Huntington's disease based on Isis' antisense oligonucleotide technology.

9 Apr 2013

Johns Hopkins researchers find how gout-linked genetic mutation contributes to disease

Johns Hopkins scientists have found out how a gout-linked genetic mutation contributes to the disease: by causing a breakdown in a cellular pump that clears an acidic waste product from the bloodstream.

9 Apr 2013

Researchers discover new molecular mechanism to prevent edema formation

Researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine and the Leibniz Institute of Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now detected a substance that can prevent the accumulation of fluid in body tissue and thus edema formation.

8 Apr 2013

UC San Francisco researchers outline cell-based therapeutics as a "third pillar” of medicine

Treating patients with cells may one day become as common as it is now to treat the sick with drugs made from engineered proteins, antibodies or smaller chemicals, according to UC San Francisco researchers.

4 Apr 2013

BIND Therapeutics and Pfizer sign collaboration agreement to develop, commercialize Accurins

BIND Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of highly selective targeted and programmable therapeutics called Accurins, announced today that it has entered into a global collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc. to develop and commercialize Accurins utilizing select small molecule targeted therapies.

3 Apr 2013

CU Cancer Center researchers identify switch that regulates production of E-Cadherin

Prostate cancer doesn't kill in the prostate - it's only once the disease travels to bone, lung, liver, etc. that it turns fatal. Previous studies have shown that loss of the protein E-Cadherin is essential for this metastasis.

3 Apr 2013

Ensemble Therapeutics to highlight IL-17A inhibitor Ensemblin at 245th ACS National Meeting

Ensemble Therapeutics today announced that preclinical data showing the advantages of its Ensemblins, novel macrocyclic compounds against challenging drug targets, will be presented at the 245th American Chemical Society National Meeting being held April 7-11, 2013 in New Orleans, LA.

2 Apr 2013

Research findings could improve treatments for pneumonia, other inflammatory conditions

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival and improved lung function in animal models of pneumonia.

1 Apr 2013

New research shows how metabolism and physiology are connected to diet

Sometimes you just can't resist a tiny piece of chocolate cake. Even the most health-conscious eaters find themselves indulging in junk foods from time to time. New research by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School raises the striking possibility that even small amounts of these occasional indulgences may produce significant changes in gene expression that could negatively impact physiology and health.

30 Mar 2013

STAT3 protein's ability to cause malignancy is suppressed when neutralized by S31-1757

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida have developed a small molecule that inhibits STAT3, a protein that causes cancer.

26 Mar 2013

Study reveals role of SNX27 protein in brain function

What is it about the extra chromosome inherited in Down syndrome-chromosome 21-that alters brain and body development? Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have new evidence that points to a protein called sorting nexin 27, or SNX27.

25 Mar 2013

Disinfectant mouthwashes may be effective against cancers of the mouth and throat

Patients who suffer from gingivitis are often advised to use disinfectant mouthwashes. In the future, the active ingredients in these products could be used in a completely different area: As scientists have reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, Chlorhexidin and Alexidin increase programmed cell death and may be effective against cancers of the mouth and throat.

21 Mar 2013

Study provides new insights about polycystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance

A group of tiny RNA molecules with a big role in regulating gene expression also appear to have a role in causing insulin resistance in woman with polycystic ovary syndrome and, perhaps, in all women, researchers report.

20 Mar 2013

VCP gene mutations cause neurological conditions including IBMPFD and ALS

New research, published in Neuron, gives insight into how single mutations in the VCP gene cause a range of neurological conditions including a form of dementia called Inclusion Body Myopathy, Paget's Disease of the Bone and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD), and the motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

14 Mar 2013

UNM scientists identify chemical compound that appears to control cell metastases

It's the spread of the original cancer tumor that kills most people. That's why cancer researchers vigorously search for drugs that can prevent metastases, the spread of cancer. The research team co-led by Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, and Larry Sklar, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center has found a chemical compound that appears to control cell migration and adhesion, two important characteristics of metastatic cancer cells.