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Omega-3 fatty acids have antidepressant properties: Study

A new analysis of the effects of omega-3 essential fatty acids offers the hope of enhanced treatment options for tens of millions of people with depression. Two critical omega-3 essential fatty acids available from certain food or nutritional supplements but not manufactured by the body—Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) — play a role in optimal brain functioning and have antidepressant benefits that have not been fully recognized.

8 Dec 2010

Ultraviolet light activates enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive, proliferate: Researchers

The sun's ultraviolet light activates an enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive and proliferate, researchers report.

8 Dec 2010

Nanoparticles could combat Listeria

A Purdue University research team developed a nanoparticle that can hold and release an antimicrobial agent as needed for extending the shelf life of foods susceptible to Listeria monocytogenes.

8 Dec 2010

Beike exits stem cell joint venture with SiriCell

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd. ("Beike") and SiriCell Technologies, Inc. announced that they are ending their partnership in "Beike Holdings Limited", a joint venture formed by the two companies in 2008. Going forward, Beike will exit the joint venture, and all current and future Beike Holdings-initiated business activities will operate exclusively under the SiriCell brand. Beike Holdings was established to expand the availability of Beike's stem cell products outside of China through collaborative hospital partnerships and new international subsidiaries.

8 Dec 2010

Scientists work together to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet. As leaders of two large structural genomics centers, they've experimentally determined 500 three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases.

8 Dec 2010

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells - cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain - from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

Researchers synthesize wound-healing peptides

Newly-created bioactive peptides promote wound healing through the growth of new blood vessels and epithelial tissue, such as skin. These wound-healing peptides, synthesized by researchers at the Tufts Center for Innovations in Wound Healing Research, increased angiogenesis in vitro by 200 percent.

8 Dec 2010

Swissmedic authorizes Phase I/II clinical trial of human neural stem cells for chronic spinal cord injury

A therapy developed by Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings of UC Irvine's Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center in collaboration with researchers at StemCells Inc. will be the basis of the world's first clinical trial using human neural stem cells to treat spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

Fluxion Biosciences announces launch of new BioFlux 1000Z system for live cell imaging

Fluxion Biosciences, Inc. announced that the new BioFlux 1000Z system for live cell imaging will be launched at the 50th American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting to be held December 11-15, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA. The BioFlux 1000Z is the latest addition to the BioFlux product family of instruments for cellular analysis under controlled shear flow.

From Fluxion Biosciences 7 Dec 2010

StemCells receives Swissmedic authorization to initiate HuCNS-SC Phase I/II clinical trial in spinal cord injury

StemCells, Inc. announced today that is has received authorization from Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency for therapeutic products, to initiate a Phase I/II clinical trial in Switzerland of the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC® product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) in chronic spinal cord injury. The trial is designed to assess both safety and preliminary efficacy in patients with varying degrees of paralysis who are three to 12 months post-injury, and will progressively enroll patients based upon the severity of injury.

7 Dec 2010

Scientists identify protein that disseminates biofilm-associated infection

What:Scientists from the National Institutes of Health have discovered how catheter-related bacterial infection develops and disseminates to become a potentially life-threatening condition. The study, which included research on Staphylococcus epidermidis in mice implanted with catheters, could have important implications for understanding many types of bacterial biofilm infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA).

7 Dec 2010

Protein alpha-2-beta-1 integrin suppresses metastasis

Mary Zutter and colleagues, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, have generated data that lead them to suggest that decreased expression of the protein alpha-2 integrin is predictive of tumor dissemination to distant sites and decreased survival in individuals with either breast or prostate cancer.

7 Dec 2010

Apexigen enters collaboration with Centocor R&D for antibody discovery

Apexigen, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and worldwide license agreement with Centocor Research & Development, Inc. and its affiliates to utilize Apexigen's proprietary therapeutic antibody technologies to discover and develop monoclonal antibody drugs. Apexigen will generate and screen antibodies to several targets specified by Centocor R&D, which will be responsible for development and commercialization of all products resulting from the collaboration.

7 Dec 2010

Protein DEDD required for uterine decidualization during early pregnancy: Study

The mammalian embryo relies on physical connections to its mother to survive. After implantation into the wall of the uterus and before the placenta is established, a structure known as the decidua forms and is key to supporting embryonic development.

7 Dec 2010

Expansion of newborn screening throws some families on a journey of great uncertainty

Mandatory genetic screening of newborns for rare diseases is creating unexpected upheaval for families whose infants test positive for risk factors but show no immediate signs of the diseases, a new UCLA study warns.

7 Dec 2010

Interleukin-1 plays major role in wound healing

Anesthesiologists are playing a leading role in research into the molecular factors affecting inflammation, pain, and healing of surgical incisions, as illustrated by papers published in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

7 Dec 2010

Virally structured nano-electrodes boost energy capacity ten-fold

Viruses have a bad rep—and rightly so. The ability of a virus to quickly and precisely replicate itself makes it a destructive scourge to animals and plants alike. Now an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, brought together by Professor Reza Ghodssi, is turning the tables, harnessing and exploiting the "self-renewing" and "self-assembling" properties of viruses for a higher purpose: to build a new generation of small, powerful and highly efficient batteries and fuel cells.

7 Dec 2010

IMO-4200 dual agonist increases antitumor activity in lymphoma models: Study

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today presented data showing that IMO-4200, a dual agonist of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and TLR8, in combination with approved cancer treatments, rituximab or bortezomib, significantly increased antitumor activity in several preclinical lymphoma models. The presentation, entitled "Antitumor Activity of an RNA-Based Agonist of TLR7 and 8 in Preclinical Models of Hematological Malignancies," was made at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Hematology in Orlando, Florida by Idera scientists.

7 Dec 2010

Cellectis bioresearch licenses fluorescent proteins from Evrogen

Cellectis bioresearch, the specialist in genome customization and subsidiary of Cellectis, today announced that it has signed a non-exclusive agreement with Evrogen (Moscow, Russia) for access to its fluorescent proteins. This license allows Cellectis bioresearch to incorporate these proteins into its own products and will expand the company's offering of genome engineering tools.

7 Dec 2010

New analysis shows that common diseases are not lined to genetic factors

The case for a substantial role of genes in susceptibility to the major human diseases is now scientifically refuted argues a groundbreaking new analysis published by the public interest science organization, The Bioscience Resource Project.

7 Dec 2010