Pharmacology News and Research

RSS

Pharmacology is the study of how chemical substances interact with living systems. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals. The field encompasses drug composition and properties, interactions, toxicology, therapy, and medical applications and antipathogenic capabilities.

Boosting metabolic resources in the brain could be a way to slow neurodegeneration

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.

From Vanderbilt University 22 Jul 2020

Quality of lab procedures has a big impact on discovery of effective drugs

In their quest to find new drugs to treat deadly diseases, scientists study millions of molecules at high speed at the same time. Often it is enzymes that are investigated as targets in these 'high-throughput' screenings.

From University of Bath 22 Jul 2020

Newly discovered protein could be an important target to prevent prostate cancer metastases

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that the protein BRD4 could be an important new target to prevent castration-resistant prostate cancer metastases.

21 Jul 2020

UC Davis Health tests new antibody combination as potential treatment for COVID-19

Timothy Albertson, chair of internal medicine and specialist in pulmonary and critical care, is leading efforts at UC Davis Health to test a new antibody cocktail (REGN-COV2) as a prevention and treatment for COVID-19.

From The University of California, Davis 21 Jul 2020

New class of proteins can help treat neurological diseases

At the University of Texas Health Science Center, scientists have identified a new group of proteins that guard synapses against damage.

20 Jul 2020

Yale researchers uncover mechanism driving Wolfram Syndrome

Yale pharmacology professor Barbara Ehrlich and her team have uncovered a mechanism driving a rare, lethal disease called Wolfram Syndrome and also a potential treatment.

20 Jul 2020

Scientists develop new method to identify diseases by blood serum

Researchers of Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University in collaboration with colleagues from Tsinghua University (China) developed a new dynamic light scattering method to determine the sizes of circulating immune complexes in blood serum.

15 Jul 2020

Compound in pickled capers can activate proteins required for bodily processes

A compound commonly found in pickled capers has been shown to activate proteins required for normal human brain and heart activity, and may even lead to future therapies for the treatment of epilepsy and abnormal heart rhythms.

14 Jul 2020

Study identifies brain cells that control sugar intake and cravings

New research has identified the specific brain cells that control how much sugar you eat and how much you crave sweet tasting food.

13 Jul 2020

Newly synthesized peptides show promise for treating gastrointestinal disorders

Thanks to the interesting group of trefoil factor peptides, both industry and research could usher in better treatments for chronic disorders.

8 Jul 2020

Study shows promise for developing novel COVID-19 therapeutics

A protein known as polymerase is used by SARS-CoV-2—the coronavirus that is responsible for causing the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic—to replicate its genome within the infected human cells.

1 Jul 2020

COVID-19 virus can infect heart cells in a lab dish, study shows

A new study shows that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), can infect heart cells in a lab dish, indicating it may be possible for heart cells in COVID-19 patients to be directly infected by the virus.

1 Jul 2020

Existing drugs could disrupt SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells

An international team of researchers has analyzed how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, hijacks the proteins in its target cells.

30 Jun 2020

How upregulation of a single gene by SARs-CoV-2 can trigger cytokine storm

The SARS-CoV-19 virus initially has a limited capability to invade, attacking only one intracellular genetic target, the aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AhRs).

29 Jun 2020

Researchers discover receptor that regulates aging effects in mice

Increasing abdominal girth and shrinking muscles are two common side effects of aging. Researchers at the University of Bonn have discovered a receptor in mice that regulates both effects.

26 Jun 2020

Genetic dysfunction of brain astrocytes promotes head pain in familial migraine

Neuroscientists of the University of Zurich shed a new light on the mechanisms responsible for familial migraine: They show that a genetic dysfunction in specific brain cells of the cingulate cortex area strongly influences head pain occurrence.

25 Jun 2020

Blocking A 'Jamming Signal' Can Unleash Immune System To Fight Tumors

Yale researchers have discovered a "jamming signal" that blocks a powerful immune system stimulant called interleukin-18 (IL-18) from reaching tumors.

25 Jun 2020

Study uncovers new genetic variants linked to type-2 diabetes

After examining the genes of more than 200,000 people all over the world who have type-2 diabetes, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Veterans Health Administration's Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center found hundreds of genetic variants never before linked to the disease.

24 Jun 2020

New LI383 molecule can help treat opioid-related disorders

A novel molecule LIH383 developed by scientists at the Luxembourg Institute of Health binds to and inhibits a formerly unknown opioid receptor in the brain.

22 Jun 2020

Inhibitory interneurons excite the developing brain, study finds

Brain function depends on inhibitory cells that balance or 'brake' excitation. These neurons allow the brain to process information and also prevent runaway seizures.

15 Jun 2020