Water-shy proteins weaken protection against cancer

Special mutations in important protective proteins lead to the proteins being broken down longer and therefore faster

31-Oct-2024 - Cancer researchers at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg have discovered that certain "non-stop mutations" make important protective proteins against cancer in the body longer, making them "water-shy". The proteins then become more unstable in the aqueous environment of the ...

It all adds up: Study finds forever chemicals are more toxic as mixtures

Research also finds that PFOA and PFOS are major contributors to toxicity

08-Oct-2024 - A first-of-its-kind study has measured the toxicity of several types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as “forever chemicals,” when mixed together in the environment and in the human body. The good news: Most of the tested chemicals’ individual cytotoxicity and ...

Antibiotics highjack bacterial immunity

Molecular defense system protects bacteria from viruses and at the same time makes them susceptible to antibiotics

23-Jan-2024 - Bacteria have an immune system that protects them against viruses known as bacteriophages. A research team from the Universities of Tübingen and Würzburg has now shown how this immune system enhances the effect of specific antibiotics against the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae. The immune ...

Neuromuscular 2D model for drug research

21-Dec-2023 - In neuromuscular diseases, the interaction between neurons and muscle cells is disrupted. Researchers led by Mina Gouti are now able to simulate this in 2D in a culture dish. The approach is well suited for high-throughput screening in drug research, they write in Nature Communications. Around ...

How can we fight blood cancer more effectively?

Several hundred different treatment combinations to be tested simultaneously outside the body

02-May-2023 - Despite approved treatments being available, multiple myeloma remains incurable. But researchers at ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich set out to improve treatment outcomes by testing hundreds of existing therapeutics outside the body to predict their effectiveness. Multiple myeloma is a ...

DESY X-ray lightsource identifies promising candidates for COVID drugs

Existing active substances bind to key virus protein

07-Apr-2021 - A team of researchers has identified several candidates for drugs against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at DESY´s high-brilliance X-ray lightsource PETRA III. They bind to an important protein of the virus and could thus be the basis for a drug against Covid-19. In a so-called X-ray screening, the ...

Looking for a needle in a haystack

TU Dresden's BIOTEC and its PharmAI spin-off analyse millions of active substances that could cure Covid-19

20-Jul-2020 - The goal: Identify new drugs for Covid-19 therapy in the fastest possible way, conduct clinical tests and win the battle against the virus. The method: A large-scale research competition that screens billions of molecules in order to find those blocking interactions on SARS-CoV-2, identifying ...

Scientists come up with faster way to discover antibiotics

02-Oct-2019 - Russian biochemists have identified a promising new class of antibiotics. Having studied over 125,000 molecules, they found that 2-pyrazol-1-yl-thiazole derivatives exhibit antibacterial properties. One of the discovered compounds has demonstrated a good activity and low cytotoxicity, and thus ...

Small-volume, high-throughput organic synthesis

New method synthesizes and evaluates large number of drug leads

11-Jul-2019 - University of Groningen Professor of Drug Design, Alexander Dömling, has devised a method to rapidly synthesize thousands of new molecules and evaluate their properties as potential drugs. In a paper published by Science Advances on 5 July, he shows that this method works well when applied to ...

Fleming’s method in miniature

02-May-2019 - Scientists in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel have developed a method with which they can quickly test a very large number of molecules for antibiotic effect. With it, they have already successfully discovered new antibiotic candidates produced by ...