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Antibody might help starve cancerous tumors

An antibody might offer a safe and effective complement to anti-cancer therapies designed to starve malignant tumors by pruning the blood vessels that feed them, researchers report in the November 2 issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

2 Nov 2007

New designer toxins kill Bt-resistant insect pests

A new way to combat resistant pests stems from discovering how the widely used natural insecticide Bt kills insects.

2 Nov 2007

The role of growth factor in vertebrae formation

The Stowers Institute's Pourquié Lab has demonstrated the role of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in the embryonic process of somitogenesis, an event required for vertebrae formation, in a paper posted to the Web site of the journal Development.

31 Oct 2007

How tumors respond to EGFR inhibitors

Three papers published this month in the open access general medical journal PLoS Medicine investigate how tumors respond to a an important class of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy, known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors.

31 Oct 2007

Sensitivity to smells explained

Some people are oblivious to the odor in the locker room after a game, while others wrinkle their noses at the slightest whiff of sweat.

31 Oct 2007

Scientists unveil structure of molecular target of many drugs

More than 40 years after beta blockers were first used clinically, scientists can finally get a detailed, three-dimensional look at the drugs' molecular target - the beta2-adrenergic receptor.

29 Oct 2007

Researchers show evidence of 'memory' in cells and molecules

Research to be reported October 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides evidence that some molecular interactions on cell surfaces may have a "memory" that affects their future interactions.

29 Oct 2007

Odd protein interaction guides development of olfactory system

Scientists have discovered a strange mechanism for the development of the fruit fly antennal lobe, an intricate structure that converts the chaotic stew of odors in the environment into discrete signals in the brain.

29 Oct 2007

Attenuation of NASH by stimulation of free fatty acid metabolism

Medically-complicated obesity is a societal problem that needs to be solved. Liver disease, specifically non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH, is just one of the many complications of increased body weight.

28 Oct 2007

Emerging cancer therapies and novel targets

What are the cancer drugs of tomorrow and how will they be developed? At the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, researchers will present some answers to these and other pressing questions regarding emerging cancer therapeutics.

25 Oct 2007

Blood markers can help choose best dose for antiangiogenic drugs

Scientists at Sunnybrook have new information that may help to improve the use of anti-cancer drugs designed to block the growth of new blood vessels in tumors, a process called angiogenesis that is critical to tumor growth.

25 Oct 2007

Stanford researchers get precise picture of cell target for drugs

More than half of all drugs given to patients work by targeting a particular type of "docking station," or receptor, found on body cells, to steer the cell's machinery toward healing an illness.

25 Oct 2007

Research sheds new light on how diseases jump across species

Researchers at the University of Leeds have made a breakthrough in understanding a virus which poses one of the greatest global disease threats to wild carnivores including lions, African wild dogs and several types of seal.

25 Oct 2007

Not just humans benefit from animal biotechnology

Laboratory animals are the source of major discoveries and breakthroughs in biology, not just in tackling disease but also unravelling fundamental molecular processes.

25 Oct 2007

More evidence dopamine plays a role in obesity

A brain-imaging study of genetically obese rats conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provides more evidence that dopamine - a brain chemical associated with reward, pleasure, movement, and motivation - plays a role in obesity.

25 Oct 2007

Low-density lipoprotein may contribute to vascular diseases

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a transporter of cholesterol, may also contribute to vascular diseases by a previously unidentified mechanism, according to a report published online this week in EMBO reports.

25 Oct 2007

Positive results for novel anti-cancer drug ECO-4601

Researchers report positive results from a Phase I/II clinical trial of a novel anti-cancer drug which offers two modes of action.

24 Oct 2007

Combination targets offer new hope in fight against cancer

While some targeted therapies - drugs developed to attack specific molecules in the critical chemical pathways occurring within cancer cells - work well by themselves, increasingly researchers are finding that they work better when teamed with other targeted and conventional therapies.

24 Oct 2007

Children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza

New findings, reported in in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza.

24 Oct 2007

Transparent zebrafish help the study inflammatory breast cancer

What if doctors could peer through a patient's skin and see a cancer tumor growing? They'd be able to study how tumor cells migrate: how they look, how they interact with the blood system to find nourishment to grow and spread through the body.

22 Oct 2007