DNA Molecules Used To Assemble Nanoparticles
University of Michigan researchers have developed a faster, more efficient way to produce a wide variety of nanoparticle drug delivery systems, using DNA molecules to bind the particles together. Nanometer-scaled dendrimers can be assembled in many configurations by using attached lengths of single-stranded DNA molecules, which naturally bind to other DNA strands in a highly specific fash...Inflammatory molecules released by pollen trigger allergies
How do pollen particles provoke allergic reactions? A new study in the February 21 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine puts some of the blame on bioactive molecules that are released from pollen. These molecules bind to immune cells and cause them to launch a typical allergy-promoting immune response. Pollen from plants exposed to air pollutants produce more of these allergy-provoking c...Duke Chemists Isolating Individual Molecules Of Toxic Protein In Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease
To understand the formation of the brain-clogging deposits that cause such disorders as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Duke University chemists have figured out how to capture and "micromanipulate" the single molecular building blocks of the deposits. Their aim is to understand the detailed assembly process for the toxic protein called amyloid plaque. Such basic understanding, they...Medical molecules designed to respond to visible light that can penetrate tissue
If you have ever covered a flashlight with your hand and seen the red light that still comes through, then you have seen light in the therapeutic window ?that magic wavelength that is not absorbed or reflected away by tissue. Scientists believe that they can use light at that wavelength to signal manmade molecules to release drugs at disease sites in the body. Such possibilities will be d...Touching Molecules With Your Bare Hands
For a virus to survive, it must elude the ever vigilant immune sentinels of its host. A latent virus can escape immune detection if it resides in nondividing cells and doesn’t produce any proteins. No viral proteins means no red flags for immune cells. If the virus targets one of the many cell types that rarely divide, it’s relatively safe while latent. But some viruses, like the gamma-herpesviru...Cell molecules behind neuro degenerative diseases
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the current issue of PLoS Computational Biology, had reported that there may be possible molecular origin of at least nine human diseases of nervous system degeneration. // These neuro degenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease, share an abnormal deposit of proteins inside nerve cells. This deposition of pr...Sensor Can Detect "Unhealthy" Molecules In Breath
Researchers at the University of Manchester have evolved a method to diagnose lung disease that is based on the techniques employed to detect chemical warfare agents. Dr Paul Thomas led a team of researchers in using a sensor employed to check out explosives at the airports. // The sensor, called a microDMxTM sensor was developed by Sionex Corporation, is now being used by researchers...Protein Molecules in blood predict preeclampsia development
According to a team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, high levels of two proteins in the blood// of pregnant women seem to point out the subsequent development of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a near-fatal complication of pregnancy. These proteins not only obstruct the growth and functioning of blood vessels, but also indicat...Pair of MicroRNA Molecules Controls Major Oncogene in Most Common Leukemia
Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that two microRNA (miRNA) molecules help control the oncogene responsible for a dangerous form of B-cell chronic// lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), the most common human leukemia in the world. Their findings, published in the December 15 issue of Cancer Research, demonstrate that miRNAs are emerging as powerful regulators of gene exp...Leukemia Drug Turns Mini-Molecules Up, Cancer Genes Down
New research shows that a form of vitamin A used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia induces changes in an unusual class of small molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs) in the// leukemic cells. The study also shows that three of these miRNAs inhibit the action of two genes important for cancer development, helping to explain how the drug works. The drug is called all-tran...Rigel Ubiquitin Ligase Program Identifies Molecules With Anti-HIV Activity
Rigel Program to be Presented at Keystone Scientific Meeting SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 27, 2007/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rigel today announced that YonchuJenkins, Ph.D., Associate Director of Virology, will be presentingon the company's efforts to develop a small molecule therapeutic totreat patients with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)infection at the Keystone Symposium i...