Recent Drug Discovery and Biomarker Research Highlights

Drug discovery
1. Brain arachidonic acid cascade enzymes as therapeutic drug target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
2. A real-time thallium flux HTS assay of human potassium channel opener
3. A simple assay for screening of protein kinase inhibitors in cell lysates
4. A label-free high-throughput mass spectrometry assay for rapidly screening epigenetic targets
5. A mutation in the human proteasome is associated with Nakajo-Nishimura syndrome
6. A spectrophotometric assay for conjugation of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins
Details: http://www.sciclips.com/sciclips/drug-discovery-news.do


Biomarkers
1. Protein chip for diagnosis of sepsis
2. c-myb alternative splicing variants as potential biomarkers of leukemia
3. Biomarkers for the diagnosis of anorchia
4. Biomarkers for assessing therapeutic efficacy in patients with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome
5. IGF-1 as a biomarker of abdominal aortic aneurysms
6. Serum N-glycans as colorectal cancer biomarkers
7. Gene markers associated with NEO personality traits
8. Human intelligence is highly heritable and polygenic
9. Mannose 6-phosphate as a biomarker for the diagnosis of mucolipidosis Type II
10. ME-2 antigen as a biomarker for the diagnosis of endometriosis
11. Uromodulin and Kinins as biomarkers for the diagnosis of chronic allograft dysfunction
12. Micronucleus as a biomarker to screen women who are at risk of developing cervical cancer
13. Biomarkers of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis
14. Biomarkers to identify CKD patients in whom sodium targeting can improve blood pressure and proteinuria
15. Mitochondrial DNA copy number as a possible biomarker of pancreatic cancer
16. Biomarkers associated with higher risk of progression in lacunar strokes
17. XRCC1 SNP biomarker to predict genetic susceptibility for papillary thyroid carcinoma
18. HESRG as a specific biomarker for intracranial germinoma and embryonal carcinoma
19. Predictive biomarkers of efavirenz-based HAART-induced liver injury in HIV patients
20. Biomarker for predicting the development of cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage
Details: http://www.sciclips.com/sciclips/drug-discovery-news.do

At last, malaria-free mosquitoes

In a study published on July 15 in PLoS Pathogens, researchers demonstrate how to genetically alter mosquitoes so they no longer transmit the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes malaria in humans.
Dr. Michael Riehle and colleagues at the University of Arizona, along with partners at UC Davis, have managed to alter the mosquitoes’ genome in such a way that the Plasmodium parasite is no longer able to cause infection when ingested in malaria-infected blood. The authors explain that their genetic modification “acts like a switch that is always set to ‘on,’ leading to the permanent activity of a signaling enzyme called Akt. Akt functions as a messenger molecule in several metabolic functions, including larval development, immune response and lifespan.”
Their original intent was to alter the lifespan or growth rate of mosquitoes (Anopheles stephensi, in this case), and this genetic construct has also been shown to reduce an insect’s lifespan by up to 20%. Most importantly, this altered genetic information is passed on to later generations – if the malaria-resistant mosquitoes can be provided with additional evolutionary advantages and released into the wild (a controversial topic), they could potentially out-perform and eventually replace the malaria-infected wild mosquitoes.
The study has received a wide range of media coverage, including:

• BBC
• Globe & Mail
• The Independent
• Daily Mail
• Business Week
• Scientific American
• Discovery News
• Pop Sci
• i09
• CTV

Microbe" redirects here. For other uses, see Microbe (disambiguation).
"Single-celled" redirects here. For prison cell assignment, see Single-celling.
A microorganism "organism"; also spelled micro organism or micro-organism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (usually too small to be seen by the naked human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design. Microorganisms are very diverse; they include bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists; microscopic plants (called green algae); and animals such as plankton and the planarian. Some microbiologists also include viruses, but others consider these as non-living. Most microorganisms are unicellular (single-celled), but this is not universal, since some multicellular organisms are microscopic, while some unicellular protists and bacteria, like Thiomargarita namibiensis, are macroscopic and visible to the naked eye.
Microorganisms live in all parts of the biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earth's crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. As some microorganisms can fix nitrogen, they are a vital part of the nitrogen cycle, and recent studies indicate that airborne microbes may play a role in precipitation and weather.
Microbes are also exploited by people in biotechnology, both in traditional food and beverage preparation, and in modern technologies based on genetic engineering. However, pathogenic microbes are harmful, since they invade and grow within other organisms, causing diseases that kill millions of people, other animals, and plants.