drugs

Bacteria communicate with chemical languages that allow them to synchronize their behavior and thereby act as multi-cellular organisms. This process, called quorum sensing, enables bacteria to do things they can’t do as a single cell, like successfully infect and cause disease in humans. Bonnie Bassler, Ph.D., the Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University and President-elect for the American Society for Microbiology, has been researching strategies that can interfere...

With the emergence of genomic-scale datasets representing all of the genes in the genome, all of the proteins in a cell or tissue, and all of the interactions and signals in an organism, biologists are increasingly faced with the challenge of how to store, integrate, and interrogate this information. How can we effectively mine large-scale datasets to expedite biological discovery, for example in the identification of new targets for anti-parasitic drug and vaccine design? Computational...

With the emergence of genomic-scale datasets representing all of the genes in the genome, all of the proteins in a cell or tissue, and all of the interactions and signals in an organism, biologists are increasingly faced with the challenge of how to store, integrate, and interrogate this information. How can we effectively mine large-scale datasets to expedite biological discovery, for example in the identification of new targets for anti-parasitic drug and vaccine design? Computational...

With the emergence of genomic-scale datasets representing all of the genes in the genome, all of the proteins in a cell or tissue, and all of the interactions and signals in an organism, biologists are increasingly faced with the challenge of how to store, integrate, and interrogate this information. How can we effectively mine large-scale datasets to expedite biological discovery, for example in the identification of new targets for anti-parasitic drug and vaccine design? Computational...

Diana Woodruff-Pak (Temple University, Philadelphia, PA) used cholesterol-fed rabbits as a model of AD for evaluation of currently available and potential anti-Alzheimer drugs. These animals developed typical Alzheimer pathology, including behavioral changes and deposition of ß-amyloid and even tau. Galantamine and donepezil partially protected animals from Alzheimer symptomatology.

S. Waxman, MD, PhD. - Medical need for new analgesics is discussed by S. Waxman (Yale University) who evaluated the role of selective subtypes of sodium channels, particularly 1.7 and 1.8 subtypes, in the perception of pain. There is an unmet medical need for drugs to treat chronic pain and inhibitors of selective sodium channels are in development as novel analgesics.

Michael Spedding (Institute Internatinales Servier, Paris, France) described how neuroprotection can be achieved by either by blockade or by stimulation of AMPA (a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptors. Low threshold AMPA receptor stimulation leads to the release of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which is neuroprotective. Blockade of AMPA receptors reduces excitotoxicity leading to neuroprotection. BDNF is a major activity-dependent neurotrophic factor...

R.A. Flavell (Yale University, New Haven, CT) discusses the role of Transforming Growth Factor ß (TGFß) in disease. In the central nervous system of a murine model of AD this cytokine appears to prevent macrophages from attacking ß-amyloid. Flavell visualizes that selective blockade of this TGFß activity could lead to the destruction of plaques in patients with AD.