Raquel Villar Becares, in her PhD thesis at the Public University of Navarre, has developed new derivatives of benzo[b]tiophene 1,1-dioxide that enable their application in the pharmaceutical field. Moreover, the researcher tested for the antitumoural activity of these derivatives, concluding that 23 of the 24 compounds analysed proved to be active or very active against one or more of the tumoural cell lines tested.
Treatment of diabetes or high blood pressure
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West Nile virus (WNV) is a serious infection spreading across the world.
Spread by mosquitoes, it can cause high fever, encephalitis, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, loss of vision, numbness, paralysis and death. There is no vaccine and no cure.
Now, there is a chance that a team of researchers have identified a promising drug target.
In the latest issue of the Biochemical Journal, Alex Strongin of The Burnam Institute,
Implications for new therapeutic targets for B cell lymphomas and other EBV-associated illnesses
Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine identified a link between a critical cancer pathway and an Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) protein known to be expressed in a number of EBV-associated cancers. Their findings demonstrated a new mechanism by which EBV can transform human B cells from the immune system into cancerous cells, which can lead to B
The chemical engineers at Delft University of Technology are entering the new discipline of nanochemical technology. Building upon their solid background in chemical and process engineering, they want to build a bridge between the new fundamental concepts involved in nanotechnology and the process technology needed to turn them into practical applications. A recruitment campaign for three new academic chairs begins this week in Dutch and international journals.
Until now, Delft has conc
DNA links genetic lineage of western hemisphere insects to African desert locust
Somewhere between three and five million years ago, a massive swarm of locusts took off from the west coast of Africa and made an unlikely voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to colonize the New World, says an international team of researchers.
Using genetic evidence from more than 20 species of locusts, scientists from the Universities of Toronto, Arizona, Maryland, Cornell University and
A Johns Hopkins researcher, with colleagues in Sweden and at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, suggests that the traditional view of cancer as a group of diseases with markedly different biological properties arising from a series of alterations within a cell’s nuclear DNA may have to give way to a more complicated view. In the January issue of Nature Reviews Genetics, available online Dec. 21, he and his colleagues suggest that cancers instead begin with “epigenetic” alterations to
Science honors the top ten research advances of 2005
Evolution has been the foundation and guiding theory of biology since Darwin gave the theory its proper scientific debut in 1859. But Darwin probably never dreamed that researchers in 2005 would still be uncovering new details about the nuts and bolts of his theory — how does evolution actually work in the world of influenza genes and chimpanzee genes and stickleback fish armor? Studies that follow evolution in action claim top h
Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a protein from a disease-causing bacterium slips into plant cells and imitates a key host protein in order to cripple the plant’s defenses. This discovery, reported in this week’s Science Express by researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research, advances the understanding of a disease mechanism common to plants, animals, and people.
That mechanism, called programmed cell death (PCD), causes a cell to commit suicide. PCD
OHSU, New Zealand study says exact molecular mixture in male-emitted pheromone during musth period dictates other elephants’ interest
The exact chemical blend of a pheromone emitted by older male elephants in musth influences both a female elephant’s interest in mating and how other surrounding elephants behave, a new study has found.
The researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand say the release of a specific
Novel signaling system may eventually help make gene therapies more effective
A gene therapy research team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has developed a new method of signaling therapeutic genes to turn “off” or “on,” a mechanism that could enable scientists to fine-tune genetic- and stem cell-based therapies so that they are safer, more controllable and more effective.
Although other similar signaling systems have been developed, the Cedars-Sinai research is the fir
Researchers in the Department of Pathology at Yale University School of Medicine report that when using current pathology methods of biomarker detection, the concentration of antibodies used dramatically alters the apparent relationship of biomarker level to clinical outcome. The paper appears in the December issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study, led by David L. Rimm, M.D., associate professor of pathology and member of the Yale Cancer Center, was des
The European Commission today presents “100 Technology offers stemming from EU Biotechnology RTD results”, a catalogue of biotechnology developments arising from EU-funded research projects over the last 10 years. This guide will help to put researchers and companies in contact, hopefully leading to new and innovative products and processes based on this research. Examples featured in the catalogue include applications for food and plant biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals and biomedical technolo
Dr. Gema Frühbeck, director of the Metabolic Research Laboratory of the University Hospital of the University of Navarra, has published a commentary in the latest issue of Nature. The article presents aquaporin as a new modulator of the biology of the adipocyte. It is a new concept concerning how the permeability of glycerol in fat cells is able to modulate the size of the adipocyte and, as a result, can contribute to the development of obesity.
Aquaporins are related to the tra
Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch (Germany) and the Charité University Medicine Berlin (Campus Virchow and Campus Buch) have discovered a molecular mechanism which explains why the cells of Hodgkin lymphoma, a malignancy affecting the lymph nodes, can change their appearance and take on characteristics of other cell lineages. “This is a perfect example of the ability of the B cells, a specific type of human immune cells affected by Hodgkin lymphoma, t
Researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India and a unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in France have made a key discovery about a molecule that helps the malaria parasite infect human cells. India is one of the countries most affected by this disease, which has infected 300 million people across the world and leads to over one million fatalities per year. The breakthrough, which was achieved at the European Synchrotron Radi
Red-headed finches dominate their black-headed and yellow-headed peers by physical aggression and by the mere fact of being red-headed, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
University of New South Wales biologists made the discovery following experiments with stunningly colourful Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae). Among Australia’s most endangered native birds, Gouldian finches are now restricted to small isolated populations
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