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A team of German researchers has developed a high throughput assay to identify compounds that block lymphangiogenesis, a process that promotes the progression and metastasis of solid tumors. Some of the top hits were …
Published on 9/20/2012
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North American researchers have chemically synthesized a D-protein ligand that blocked the binding of VEGF to its receptor in vitro. Reflexion has licensed the compound and will optimize it further before doing head-to-…
Published on 9/13/2012
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Researchers at Dana-Farber and the Baylor College of Medicine have shown that Tensha's bromodomain inhibitors could prevent sperm production and be developed as a male contraceptive. The biotech, which is focused on …
Published on 9/6/2012
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Researchers in Germany have dissociated the anti-inflammatory effects of adenosine A2A receptor agonists from their hemodynamic effects and are determining a specific inflammation-related indication to pursue with their…
Published on 8/30/2012
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Cover Story: Dissociating the effects of A2A agonism Figure 1. Effects of adenosine A2A receptor agonism. Activation of the adenosine A2A receptor (ADORA2A) is known to both inhibit inflammatory processes and promote…
Published on 8/30/2012
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A Northwestern-Broad team has shown that inhibiting Aurora-A induces cancer cell differentiation in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, thus providing a therapeutic benefit in a mouse model of the disease. The researchers …
Published on 8/23/2012
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Three academic teams have independently developed techniques for in vivo detection of cancer stem cells in mice with solid tumors. The methods could be useful as next-generation target discovery platforms and screens …
Published on 8/16/2012
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A GSK-Structural Genomics Consortium team has identified the first potent and selective histone demethylase inhibitor and shown that the molecule dampens the macrophage inflammatory response. The pharma now is focusing …
Published on 8/9/2012
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Australian and U.S. researchers have shown that a small molecule inhibitor of RNA polymerase I blocked tumor growth in mouse models of lymphoma. Cylene Pharmaceuticals and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre plan to start…
Published on 8/2/2012
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Cover Story: Cylene takes pol position in cancer Figure 1. Pol I inhibition in cancer. Researchers from the Peter MacCallum Research Centre and Cylene Pharmaceuticals Inc. have published data in Cancer Cell showing …
Published on 8/2/2012
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Separate teams at the University of California, San Francisco and Pfizer have evidence that blocking Il-7 signaling in mice can arrest the autoimmune activity behind type 1 diabetes. Whether the findings will translate …
Published on 7/26/2012
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Cover Story: Taming T cells in T1D Figure 1. Blocking IL-7 in type 1 diabetes. Lee et al. and Penaranda et al. have evidence that blocking IL-7 signaling can protect against type 1 diabetes. IL-7 [a] normally …
Published on 7/26/2012
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NIH researchers have linked phosphoinositide 3-kinase-delta to neuregulin signaling and shown that inhibiting the kinase improved behavior in rodent models of schizophrenia. The findings could offer a way to finally …
Published on 7/19/2012
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Wisconsin researchers have used cultured human stem cells to engineer an artificial blood brain barrier. The technology could help companies identify drug candidates that readily enter the brain or that decrease BBB …
Published on 7/12/2012
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Cover Story: Blood brain barrier in a dish Figure 1. Building a better blood brain barrier. Lippmann et al. have modeled the blood brain barrier (BBB) in vitro using human pluripotent stem cells. The technique …
Published on 7/12/2012
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A Cancer Research UK team has developed a platform that uses tumor-derived circulating DNA to noninvasively monitor treatment response in patients with cancer. The researchers are now moving the platform into a hospital…
Published on 6/28/2012
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Two groups have come to the conclusion that breakthroughs in translational medicine require collecting large-scale data on patients, including outcomes, and making those data available to translational researchers. Sage…
Published on 6/21/2012
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Cover Story: Bringing patient data into the open Figure 1. Open-access model for patient data sharing. Two groups are hoping to make patient health and outcome data-and associated genomic and molecular information-…
Published on 6/21/2012
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Two groups have developed platforms that could improve the identification of cancer drug combinations. A UNC team is using chemical proteomics to rationally design kinase inhibitor combinations that block resistance …
Published on 6/14/2012
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City of Hope researchers have reversed advanced type 1 diabetes in mice by combining a protocol that promotes immune tolerance with a growth factor cocktail that augments beta cell regeneration. The team plans to …
Published on 6/7/2012
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Channel-tuning neuropathy Figure 1. PDN: a sodium channel bound to excite. According to a study in Nature Medicine, methylglyoxal (MG) modifies sodium channel NaV1.8 (PN3; SCN10A) in nociceptive neurons to cause …
Published on 5/31/2012
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International researchers have shown that a methylglyoxal-scavenging peptide treated painful diabetic neuropathy in mice by preventing structural changes to a sodium channel in peripheral neurons. The team is seeking …
Published on 5/31/2012
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Genentech and Vanderbilt teams have independently used fragment-based drug discovery to identify a new small molecule binding site that blocks activation of Ras, a highly prevalent oncoprotein that has previously been …
Published on 5/24/2012
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Two academic teams have independently shown that targeting the inflammasome reduces retinal damage in mouse models of age-related macular degeneration. One study favors inhibiting inflammasome activation to treat dry …
Published on 5/17/2012
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Eyeing the inflammasome Figure 1. The inflammasome in age-related macular degeneration. Two groups have independently found that the inflammasome and IL-18 play a key role in the development and progression of age-…
Published on 5/17/2012