Scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have discovered a key mechanism used by cells to efficiently distribute chromosomes to new cells during cell multiplication. Published in the journal Molecular Cell, the study is the first to demonstrate that this mechanism relies on the polo kinase, an enzyme implicated in several cancers. Inhibiting this mechanism could be key to developing effective therapies to treat cancer.
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A new study has identified a specific class of pharmaceutical drugs that could be effective in treating babies vulnerable to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), because their mothers smoked during pregnancy. According to researchers at McMaster University, exposure of the fetus to nicotine results in the inability to respond to decreases in oxygen - known as hypoxia - which may result in a higher incidence of SIDS.
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Pandinus imperator, the emperor scorpion, is not only popular as a pet, but is also of interest for research purposes. The reason for this is its blue blood, which transports oxygen and distributes it throughout the body.
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Whether and how medical personnel and their digital systems can talk to one another in a meaningful way is a subject pertinent to the health of patients about whom they “converse.” Internationally recognized ontologist Barry Smith, Ph.D.
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The cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most frequent neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease, is unknown, but in most cases it is believed to involve a combination of environmental risk factors and genetic susceptibility.
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ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (OTC Bulletin Board: ACCP), announced that new Thiarabine preclinical efficacy data will shortly be published demonstrating that thiarabine combined with clofarabine provides much greater antitumor activity than achieved by either agent alone. In one colorectal cancer model, 66% of mice were cured of their tumors.
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Santaris Pharma announced that the cancer drug EZN-2968 - an inhibitor of HIF-1alpha, jointly developed by Enzon Pharmaceuticals and Santaris Pharma A/S - was well tolerated and showed early signs of clinical benefit in previously treated cancer patients with advanced malignancies. EZN-2968 is being evaluated in patients with solid tumors and lymphoma.
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Abbott (NYSE: ABT) and AstraZeneca announced that the companies have submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an investigational compound for the treatment of mixed dyslipidemia, a combination of two or more lipid abnormalities including high LDL- cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol), high triglycerides and low HDL-cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol).
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Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) and the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH) have signed an agreement to cooperate in the evaluation of a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate against the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. Novavax has produced influenza A (H1N1) VLP vaccine against the strain recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Roche announced that oral and poster presentations highlighting results from the extensive multi-national ACTEMRA(R) (tocilizumab) clinical development program will be presented at the 10th Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), which will take place June 10-13, 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The studies evaluate ACTEMRA, a novel treatment targeting interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptors, in patients with moderately to severely active RA.
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