Latest Peripheral membrane proteins Stories

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has published new research with collaborators at Mayo Clinic in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. The new pre-clinical findings demonstrate durable therapeutic silencing of the alpha-synuclein gene when small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that mediate RNAi, are administered by direct delivery to the CNS in mice. Alpha-synuclein is believed to play a central role in the...

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Hemophilia A patients who use Helixate(R) FS, Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), and their treatment providers are now tracking treatment progress in real time, thanks to the HeliTraxSM System, a state-of-the-art wireless Internet-based data management system recently introduced by CSL Behring. The system allows for a comprehensive view of a patient's progress, with young patients relaying information about bleeding events and their use of...

PolyMedix, Inc. (OTC BB: PYMX, http://polymedix.com), an emerging biotechnology company developing new therapeutic drug products to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders based on biomimetics, has initiated dosing and commenced a Phase I clinical study in Canada for its defensin mimetic antibiotic compound, PMX-30063. PolyMedix received a notice of no objection from Health Canada for the Company's Clinical Trial Application ("CTA") for PMX-30063 in May 2008. PMX-30063 is...

Xylogalacturonan (XGA) is a class of pectic polysaccharide found in plant cell walls. The Arabidopsis thaliana locus At5g33290 encodes a predicted Type II membrane protein, and insertion mutants of the At5g33290 locus had decreased cell wall xylose. Immunological studies, enzymatic extraction of polysaccharides, monosaccharide linkage analysis, and oligosaccharide mass profiling were employed to identify the affected cell wall polymer. Pectic XGA was reduced to much lower levels in mutant...

SpectraCell Laboratories has introduced a new blood test called Lp-PLA2 for early detection of cardiovascular disease. SpectraCell's Lp-PLA2 test measures the amount of a specific enzyme in blood that occurs when there is an active atherosclerotic process that could lead to the rupture of plaque and cause a heart attack or stroke. According to the company, the Lp-PLA2 test helps physicians to identify patients who would benefit from more aggressive therapy and is especially recommended for...

Bayer HealthCare is expanding its commitment to hemophilia with the acquisition of Maxygen's (NASDAQ:MAXY) hemophilia program assets, including a next-generation recombinant Factor VIIa protein known as MAXY-VII. The lead therapeutic candidate is expected to enter Phase 1 clinical testing in the third quarter of 2008. The total transaction is valued at $90 million upfront with a final, potential milestone payment of $30 million. This agreement includes a license to use Maxygen's...

By Blankenberg, Francis G After several decades of debate, it is now widely acknowledged that apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, is central to homoeostasis and normal development and physiology in all multicellular organisms, including humans. The dysregulation of apoptosis can lead to the destruction of normal tissues in a variety of disorders, including autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases (too much apoptosis) or the growth of tumors (too little apoptosis). In addition,...

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) today announced that Barry Eisenstein M.D., Cubist's Senior Vice President, Scientific Affairs, testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Eisenstein called on Congress to implement comprehensive policies to address the serious consequences of antimicrobial resistance - including the need to address this growing public health crisis and incentives for...

By Mrak, Robert E Griffin, W Sue T Abstract Cortical Lewy body disease as a cause of dementia has been recognized for more than 40 years. Only in the past 15 to 20 years, however, has the true frequency of this entity come to be appreciated, primarily because of the advent of sensitive and specific immunohistochemical diagnostic techniques. We now know that there is frequent and extensive overlap, both clinically and pathologically, between Lewy body and Alzheimer diseases. Although some of...

By Will Boggs NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The absence of a gene called Pten in mice results in a condition that is similar to autism in humans, according to a report in the journal Neuron. The gene is part of a biochemical pathway that has been linked to cancer formation. Therefore, anticancer drugs that target this pathway may also have a role in treating autism. Dr. Luis F. Parada from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues used various lab...