Friday, January 27, 2012

Site Search

Archive for December, 2010

Iona Chemistry Professor Researches Cure For ALZ

Last Updated on Monday, 20 December 2010 03:17 Written by Editor Monday, 20 December 2010 03:17

New Rochelle, NY – Do curry spice, wine and apple skins hold the answer for finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders?

The results of a laboratory research project, recently published in the Journal of Neurochemistry, show that a chemical compound derived from these natural products may be used in neutralizing the toxic effects of chemicals associated with some debilitating and life-threatening neurological diseases.

The findings are the result of a four-year study undertaken by Terrence Gavin, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at Iona College and Richard M. LoPachin, Ph.D, a neurochemist and director of research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In lab experiments it was found that the compound, called 2-ACP, completely protects nerve cells from the harmful effects of type-2 alkenes. There is growing evidence that exposure to type 2-alkenes, which are found in the smoke inhaled from cigarettes, the exhaust of automobiles and even in French fried potatoes, can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s and otherneurological conditions. In addition, studies
have shown type-2 alkenes are being produced within the nerve endings during the disease process that presumably initiates Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Gavin said: “The research Dr. LoPachin and I undertook is promising because chemical compounds extracted from curry spice, red wine and apple skins, which are widely used natural products, have already been clinically demonstrated to have neuroprotective properties. This suggests it would be safe and effective to treat humans with the 2-ACP compound.”

He added: “But, these molecular findings worked in laboratory cultures. We now need to confirm the effects of 2-ACP in animal studies. That will be the focus of our efforts in the coming months.”

In addition, Dr. Gavin and some of his students
at Iona will be looking for new compounds that will be as good or better than 2-ACP in combating the effects of type 2-alkenes. “Our goal is to have new compounds ready for testing in six months. This is a very exciting scientific exploration,” Dr. Gavin stated.

Dr. Gavin has been a chemistry professor at Iona since 1982. He holds a doctoral degree in chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and attended the State University of New York at New Paltz where he earned a B.A. degree. He and his family live in New Paltz.

Source: westchester.com

Posted under Alzheimer's disease, Clinical Trials, Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Drug Development, Medicinal Chemistry, Natural Products, North America, Reports, Research Projects, USA and Canada  |  Comments Off

Fragment Library

Last Updated on Monday, 20 December 2010 02:59 Written by Editor Monday, 20 December 2010 02:59

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced that its Maybridge Ro3 Diversity Fragment Library has helped researchers validate an emerging technique for drug discovery that targets key protein receptors involved in a wide range of biological functions.

David Myszka, founder of Biosensor Tools LLC and director of the Center for Biomolecular Interaction Analysis at the University of Utah, used surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to screen small molecules (fragments) in the Maybridge Ro3 collection against stabilised G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) provided by Heptares Therapeutics1. Several new classes of compounds were identified from the Ro3 library, which is accelerating drug discovery efforts around these receptors

Dr. Myszka’s study demonstrated for the first time that fragment screening by SPR is an effective approach. It utilises the sensor surface to purify and concentrate solubilised tagged GPCRs and then characterise their binding activities with the fragments. Dr. Myszka and Rebecca Rich, a research scientist in Dr. Myszka’s group, recently presented their work, “Fragment Screening against Membrane Receptors using SPR,” at the Fragment-Based Lead Discovery Conference in Philadelphia and at the Developments in Protein Interaction Analysis symposium in Barcelona, Spain.

“While fragment screening by SPR has become standard practice, this is the first example of a successful SPR-based fragment screen against GPCRs,” said Dr. Myszka. “One major factor contributing to our success was the integrity of the Maybridge Ro3 Fragments. The library was well-behaved in terms of high solubility and displayed minimal nonspecific binding or so-called promiscuous binders. In addition, the structural diversity within this library allowed us to span a lot of chemical space, helping us to identify subsets of novel compounds that targeted two GPCRs. From the primary screen we identified thematic structural elements in the hits and then selected analogs from within the full Maybridge collection to investigate as confirmatory hits. With these follow-up studies in hand, we are now poised to pursue the next stage in elaborating compounds for drug development.”

“The guaranteed aqueous solubility of Maybridge Ro3 Fragments is not only key from a practical perspective, but it also provides an insight into likely ADME problems as the hits are evolved into drug-like molecules,” said Simon Pearce, product manager for Maybridge products at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Furthermore, pharmacophoric enrichment and quality assurance of at least 95 percent, with full Rule of Three (Ro3) compliance, meant that all fragments used for the study possessed physicochemical properties that also increased the probability of successful hits.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Dr. Myszka are continuing their collaboration as the study now expands to drug development using additional Maybridge Ro3 Fragments.

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc and DDDMag.com

Posted under Compound Libraries, Compound Screening, Diversity Libraries, Drug Development, Europe, Europe, North America, Press Releases, USA and Canada  |  Comments Off

Study: Gene markers may aid prostate cancer test

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 December 2010 11:24 Written by Editor Thursday, 16 December 2010 11:22

The widely used blood tests measure a protein named PSA that only sometimes signals prostate cancer is brewing. It can be high for other reasons, but doctors order a biopsy to check for a tumor whenever PSA reaches a certain level.

Now scientists have discovered a set of genetic variants that show those cutoffs may be skewed for some men because their normal PSA level is naturally much higher than the average that PSA testing was based on.

That means “you end up biopsying a lot of prostates that did not need any biopsy,” said Dr. Kari Stefansson, chief executive officer of deCODE Genetics in Iceland.

His team reported the findings Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Stefansson said he plans to develop a test for those genetic markers, perhaps later next year, in hopes that doctors could use the information to customize how they read and react to their patient’s PSA test results.

This genetic approach makes sense but “I don’t think that this test is ready for prime time” without more research to confirm the findings, cautioned Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who wasn’t part of the study.

“It’s important, but it’s a small step in the long road ahead” for better prostate cancer detection, he said.

Making a PSA test more accurate solves only part of the problem, Brawley stressed. Screening often detects small prostate tumors that will prove too slow-growing to be deadly, but there’s no sure way to tell in advance who needs aggressive therapy.

“What we desperately need is some type of test … that tells us, ‘This is the kind of prostate cancer that kills’ versus the kind of cancer that doesn’t kill,” he said.

More than 190,000 cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year in American men, and it will kill about 27,000. But routine screening is highly controversial: While most men over 50 have had at least one PSA test, many major medical groups don’t recommend them, worried they may do more harm than good. The cancer society, for instance, advises that men be told of the pros and cons and decide for themselves.

Among the problems: More than a third of men with PSA levels of 10 or more have no evidence of prostate cancer at biopsy, and many doctors order a tumor check at levels lower than that, around 4. Conversely, some men with very low PSA levels wind up with cancer.

Stefansson’s team discovered a set of genetic variants that alters how much PSA, or prostate specific antigen, men naturally produce.

The team reported that men who bear any of three of those variants had PSA levels about 40 percent higher than average men. When they examined the records of nearly 4,000 men in Iceland and Britain who underwent prostate biopsies, those high-PSA producers were more likely to have had an unnecessary biopsy.

Conversely, men with a fourth variant had PSA levels about 40 percent lower than average. Roughly 5 percent of men fall into each category, Stefansson said.

What does that mean? If a doctor usually orders a biopsy for a PSA of 4, a high-PSA producer might not need one until reaching almost 6, Stefansson said. But a low-PSA producer might need one sooner.

Source: physorg.com

Posted under Cancer Research, Oncology Research, Reports, Research Projects  |  Comments Off

Jet Lag Pill to Slow Down Body Clock

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 December 2010 10:57 Written by Editor Thursday, 16 December 2010 10:57

Scientists are one step closer to developing a jet lag pill that could relieve millions of long-haul passengers from sleepless nights and mid-afternoon drowsiness.

Using automated screening techniques developed by pharmaceutical companies to find new drugs, researchers from UC San Diego and three other research institutions have discovered a molecule with the most potent effects ever seen on the biological clock.

Dubbed “longdaysin,” for its ability to dramatically slow down the biological clock, the new compound could pave the way for a host of new drugs to treat severe sleep disorders or quickly reset the biological clocks of jet-lagged travellers who regularly travel across multiple time zones.

The researchers demonstrated the dramatic effects of longdaysin by lengthening the biological clocks of larval zebra fish by more than 10 hours.

“Theoretically, longdaysin or a compound like it could be used to correct sleep disorders such as the genetic disorder Familial Advanced Sleep syndrome, which is characterized by a clock that’s running too fast,” said Steve Kay, dean of UCSD’s Division of Biological Sciences, who headed the research team.

“A compound that makes the clock slow down or speed up can also be used to phase-shift the clock—in other words, to bump or reset the hands of the clock. This would help your body catch up when it is jet lagged or reset it to a normal day-night cycle when it has been thrown out of phase by shift work.”

Biologists in Kay’s laboratory and the nearby Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, led by Tsuyoshi Hirota, the first author of the paper, discovered longdaysin by screening thousands of compounds with a robot that tested the reaction of each compound with a line of human bone cancer cells that the researchers genetically modified so they could see visually the changes in the cells” circadian rhythms.

This was done in the cells by attaching a clock gene to a luciferase gene used by fireflies to glow at night, so that the cells glowed when the biological clock was activated.

The robot screened more than 120,000 potential compounds from a chemical library into individual micro-titer wells—a system used by drug companies called high-throughput screening—and automatically singled out those molecules found to have the biggest effects on the biological clock.

Once Kay’s group had isolated longdaysin, they turned to biological chemists in Peter Schultz’s laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute to characterize the molecule and figure out how it lengthened the biological clock.

That analysis showed that three separate protein kinases were responsible for the dramatic effect of longdaysin, one of which, CK1alpha, had previously been ignored by chronobiology researchers.

The researchers then showed that longdaysin had the same effect of lengthening the biological clock in mouse tissue samples and in zebrafish larvae that carried luciferase genes attached to their clock genes.

Kay’s research team plans to test longdaysin on mice in the near future, but their goal isn’t to develop longdaysin into a drug. “Longdaysin is not as potent as we would like,” he adds. “This will be a tool for research.”

Source: The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Jet-lag-pill-to-slow-down-body-clock/articleshow/7104145.cms#ixzz18HqNJo62

Posted under Cell Analysis, Compound Libraries, Compound Screening, Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Drug Development, Research Projects  |  Comments Off

Panel calls for new safety review of mercury dental fillings

Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 December 2010 05:33 Written by Editor Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:21

Updated data on mercury amalgam dental fillings may indicate possible medical problems for patients, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee said Wednesday.

The panel — after hearing two days of testimony from experts, members of the public and dental professionals — recommended the FDA look at information updated since the agency ruled in 2009 that the mercury in dental fillings is not harmful.

Committee members noted, however, that the FDA’s decision was solid, based on information available at the time. The committee also stressed that more studies need to be done on amalgam fillings, especially in children.

Public pressure prompted the panel’s review, initiated less than 18 months after the agency’s decision.

Committee members listened to testimony by consumer and dental groups claiming the FDA used flawed science when it set the current guidelines for mercury safety levels.

“We need to see where the science is and if there are gaps.” said the panel’s chairwoman, Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat, a dentist and researcher with the University of Pennsylvania.

In its final rule, the FDA concluded clinical studies did not establish a causal link between dental amalgam and health problems in people age 6 and older. But it did add that developing fetuses and young children may be more sensitive to the neurotoxin.

Amalgam tooth fillings are an alloy made up of various metals and 50 percent mercury,

Mercury toxicity has been well documented, but when it comes to amalgam fillings there isn’t a lot of data. Many dentists favor these fillings because they are cheap, easy to put in place and durable.

Dental professionals also argue that mercury fillings last longer than resin composites, and are easier on the tooth. The American Dental Association agrees with the FDA that amalgam fillings are safe.

Yet, some experts say mercury from these fillings penetrates into the body and damages human cells, especially in the brain, bones and kidneys. How much damage it is unknown, which is why the advisory committee is revisiting the issue.

In Wednesday’s public hearing, 30 people testified for and against the use of amalgam fillings.

Jessica Kerger, an attorney from Toledo, Ohio, said she was a healthy child until she started getting amalgam fillings. As she got older, she faced numerous health problems and a variety of diagnoses. She even had her amalgam fillings removed. It wasn’t until a doctor tested her for mercury poisoning that she realized her problem, she said.

Now, after being treated for excess mercury in her body, Kerger said, “I’m an active mother, attorney and I have a black belt in karate. I blame my fillings and I am begging the FDA to get rid of them.”

While others testified that mercury in their fillings caused such health problems as loss of memory, impaired vision, miscarriages and paralysis, many dental professionals asked that amalgam fillings remain.

Addressing the board, Dr. Vincent Mayher, a former president of the Academy of General Dentistry, said public accusations that dentists force patients to receive amalgam fillings is exaggerated.

“It’s Inflammatory. No dentist I know of forces a patient at any time to get amalgam fillings these days, especially pregnant women and little children.” Mayher testified

Andrew Read Fuller, a dental student at UCLA and member of the American Student Dental Association, noted there is no scientific data that amalgam fillings cause the problems some attribute to them, and said that, as a future dentist, he would use amalgam fillings on any of his patients as well as himself.

“In the absence of new evidence there is no reason to question the FDA’s decision.” Fuller said.

Yet some dentists did say they would avoid using amalgam fillings because of numerous public reports of mercury poisoning.

“I always wondered why we were told by the (American Dental Association) to be careful when disposing of mercury. If it’s so dangerous to the environment, why not my patients?” asked Dr. Stephen Markus, a dentist in the Philadelphia area.

The committee also recommended that the FDA come up with models that could be used to look at the effects of mercury vapor exposure from dental fillings. And when designing these models, it said, the agency should take into consideration age, health history and physical makeup of individuals.

There was also discussion that more data needs to be looked at to come up with stronger models, especially those based on younger children and unborn fetuses.

More information on amalgam fillings should be posted for both for patients and dentists, the committee said.

It also noted the FDA’s biomarker using urine to detect mercury exposure is not perfect but is the best available for adults. Members also noted that more updated data is needed before the agency can make stronger guidelines on amalgam fillings.

Although the committee’s recommendations will go to the FDA board for consideration, the board does not have to follow them. Traditionally, however, it does.

Source: CNN.com

Posted under FDA News, Press Releases  |  Comments Off

Trana Discovery’s HIV Assay Finds Compounds that Inhibit NNRTI and Multi-Drug Resistant HIV Viruses

Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:20 Written by Editor Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:20

Trana Discovery, Inc., an infectious disease drug discovery technology company, today announced that a recent study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the National Institutes of Health, affirms that bioactive compounds selected using the Trana HIV 201 High-Throughput (HTS) Assay inhibit viral strains demonstrating resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). The results of the in vitro testing indicate that the selected compounds do not appear to act as NNRTIs, but rather by a different mechanism of action. In addition, these compounds were found to modestly inhibit a multi-drug resistant virus that has demonstrated resistance to commonly prescribed HIV treatments such as nevirapine, saquinavir, 3TC and AZT.

The Trana HIV assay is based on the premise that HIV has evolved to use tRNALys3 as a primer for initiation of reverse transcription. The tRNALys3 primer is required to copy its genetic material and generate new viruses. Therefore, the interaction between tRNALys3 and viral genomic RNA represents a potential novel target for HIV drug development. The Trana HIV assay is designed to select compounds that inhibit the use of tRNALys3 by HIV and that in turn can be developed as new anti-HIV drug therapies.

Through a collaboration with Southern Research Institute, the HIV assay was deployed in three separate screening campaigns against more than 120,000 diverse compounds. Seven bioactive compounds were selected for additional follow-up testing and characterization in dose-response against NNRTI-resistant HIV isolates in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) assays. These seven compounds were previously found to have modest antiviral activity against HIV in a cell-based assay.

Testing against NNRTI-resistant viruses was conducted to study whether or not the compounds were acting as NNRTIs. The results from this testing indicated there was no apparent difference in antiviral activity based on the presence of NNRTI-resistance mutations in the viruses, which indicates the compounds don’t appear to act as NNRTIs.

“These results help to demonstrate that the Trana HIV assay identifies compounds that act through a different mechanism of action,” said Steve Peterson, CEO of Trana Discovery. “Trana has filed for patent protection on these compounds as well as their ability to inhibit HIV-resistant isolates. We are now in a position to license the HIV assay, drug class and bioactive compounds to qualified pharmaceutical companies for further development.”

High-throughput screening of an additional 200,000 compounds using the Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay has recently been completed. Compounds found to be active as a result of this additional screening are currently being identified for similar follow-up testing against HIV replication in cell-based assays. Based on prior experience, similar results are anticipated.

High-throughput screening using the Trana HIV 201 HTS Assay and follow-up testing of compounds for bioactivity against HIV in cell-based assays was performed under the NIAID, DAIDS contract N01-AI-70042; Roger Miller, Project Officer. In addition, testing of the compounds against NNRTI and multi-drug resistant HIV in PBMCs was supported by the NIAID, DAIDS contract N01-AI-70041; Steven Turk, Project Officer.

Source: prlog.org ; TRANA Discovery

Posted under Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Drug Development, HIV Research, New Drugs  |  Comments Off

Could Starfish Inspire New Cure for Inflammation?

Last Updated on Monday, 13 December 2010 05:25 Written by Editor Monday, 13 December 2010 05:25

Lurking in the seas of Scotland is an unlikely candidate for a medical breakthrough.

But scientists believe the starfish could hold the key to finding a new treatment for inflammatory conditions such as asthma, hay fever and arthritis.

The species they are interested in is the spiny starfish (Marthasterias glacialis), and in particular the slimy goo that covers its body.

The team says that chemicals in this coating could inspire new medicines.
Diver with starfish The spiny starfish can be found on the west coast of Scotland

While most man-made structures that are placed in the water rapidly get caked with a mixture of marine life, starfish manage to keep their surface clear.

Dr Charlie Bavington, from GlycoMar, a marine biotechnology company based at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, explained: “Starfish live in the sea, and are bathed in a solution of bacteria, larvae, viruses and all sorts of things that are looking for somewhere to live.

“But starfish are better than Teflon: they have a very efficient anti-fouling surface that prevents things from sticking.”

And it is this non-stick property that has grabbed medical scientists’ attention, particularly in the field of inflammation.

Inflammation is the body’s natural response to an injury or infection, but inflammatory conditions are caused when the immune system begins to rage out of control.

White blood cells, which normally flow easily through our blood vessels, begin to build up and stick to the blood vessel wall, and this can cause tissue damage.

The idea is that a treatment based on starfish slime could effectively coat our blood vessels in the same way the goo covers the marine creature, and prevent this problem.

Dr Bavington said: “It is a very similar situation to something sticking to a starfish in the sea.

“These cells have to stick from a flowing medium to a blood vessel wall, so we thought we could learn something from how starfish prevent this so we could find a way to prevent this in humans.”

While many inflammatory conditions can be effectively treated, for example with steroids, these drugs can often cause unwanted side effects.
Continue reading the main story

But scientists at King’s College London (KCL) think starfish could offer a better solution, and they have been analysing the chemicals in the creature’s non-stick slime.

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at KCL, said: “The starfish have effectively done a lot of the hard work for us.

“Normally when you are trying to find a new drug to go after a particular target in human beings, you have to screen hundreds of molecules to find something that will give you a lead.

“The starfish is effectively providing us with something that is giving is different leads: it has had billions of years in evolution to come up with molecules that do specific things.”

Having identified promising compounds, the team is now working on creating their own versions of them in the laboratory. They want to create a treatment that is inspired by starfish goo rather than one that is made from it.

Professor Page said: “Conceptually we know this is the right approach.

“It’s not going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but we are learning all the time from nature about how to find new medicines.”

While the starfish-based cure might be some years off, the race to explore the oceans for its medical potential is only just beginning.
Spiny starfish Starfish could be one of many marine creatures to inspire new medicines

A sea snail has already formed the basis of a new painkiller, and scientists are starting to look at a whole range of marine life, from sea cucumbers to seaweed.

Dr David Hughes, an ecologist from the Scottish Association for Marine Science, explained: “Some of the most widespread, widely used medicines come from nature.

“Penicillin is a mould that grows on bread, aspirin comes from willow trees, so it’s not too surprising turning to nature to find useful drugs. But we’ve only very recently begun to look to the sea for a useful source of medicines.”

And with the oceans covering nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface, scientists have likened the deep to an untapped underwater pharmacy.

Dr Hughes told the BBC: “There is such a huge diversity of animals and plants living in the oceans and very few of them have been tested and investigated in any way.

“We know marine animals and plants produce a huge range of compounds, sometimes very different compounds from those produced by animals and plants on land.

“So many might have useful properties that could be brought into medicine and other medicinal applications.”

Source: BBC.com

Posted under Antibiotics, Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, Drug Development, Europe, Europe, New Drugs  |  Comments Off

Consumers Union Raises Concerns About Mercury in Tuna

Last Updated on Monday, 13 December 2010 05:15 Written by Editor Monday, 13 December 2010 05:15

Younger women and children should limit the amount of tuna they eat and pregnant women should not eat tuna at all, because of mercury levels found in the canned and packaged fish, says new report in the January 2011 issue of Consumer Reports.

Albacore or white tuna usually contains far more mercury than light tuna, according to Consumer Reports , and canned tuna is the most common source of mercury in our diet.

In order to test current levels, investigators for the periodical tested 42 samples from cans and pouches of tuna bought mostly in the New York City area. They found all the samples contained measurable levels of mercury, ranging from 0.018 to 0.774 parts per million. Samples of white tuna had 0.217 to 0.774 ppm of mercury and averaged 0.427 ppm. According to Consumer Reports, if a woman of childbearing age ate about half a can of any of the tested samples, she would exceed the daily mercury intake the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

The Food and Drug Administration and the EPA guidelines indicate women of childbearing age and young children may eat up to 12 ounces a week of light tuna or other “low in mercury” seafood, including, within that limit, up to 6 ounces per week of white tuna. But Consumer Reports believes that may be too much. Because mercury can cause defects to the nervous system during fetal development, Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, advises pregnant women, as a precaution, to avoid eating tuna. It also advises that children who weigh more than 45 pounds limit their intake to 12.5 ounces of light tuna or 4 ounces of white tuna per week, and children who weigh less than 45 pounds consume no more than 4 ounces of light tuna or 1.5 ounces of white tuna.

Some critics, including fish producers, say Consumer Reports is overblowing the research.

“Consumer Reports’ suggestion that pregnant women limit the amount of fish they eat, outside of the FDA’s four fish to avoid, is reckless and has the potential to harm public health,” says the National Fisheries Institute in a statement “Peer-reviewed science shows that pregnant women who limit or avoid seafood may actually be introducing risks from omega-3 deficiency. Advising pregnant women to cut canned tuna out of their diet and for others to limit their consumption based merely on a magazine’s editorial opinion is irresponsible.”

But Consumer Reports is asking for change. Due to the results of the investigation, the publication’s editors are asking the FDA strengthen its current guidance and advise pregnant women to avoid tuna altogether. The group also believes the FDA should continue to test for mercury in seafood across the country, and provide U.S. consumers updated information on mercury levels in fish, as well as diet alternatives

“Fortunately, it’s easy to choose lower-mercury fish that are also rich in healthful omega-3 fatty acids,” says Dr. Urvashi Rangan, director of Technical Policy, at Consumers Union. “That’s especially important for women who are pregnant or might become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children, because fetuses and youngsters are still developing their nervous systems and are therefore at particular risk from methylmercury’s neurotoxic effects.”

Lower mercury seafood includes shrimp, crab and cod.

Source: CNN.com

Posted under FDA News, Medicinal Chemistry  |  Comments Off

New Metal-Eating Bacteria Found on Titanic

Last Updated on Monday, 13 December 2010 05:12 Written by Editor Monday, 13 December 2010 05:12

Bacteria scooped from the wreckage of the Titanic almost 20 years ago have been confirmed as a new species in the December issue of a microbiology journal.

While new scientific discoveries are usually heralded as joyous news, this discovery is bittersweet.

The bacteria, found on the ship’s “rusticles” (rust formations that look like icicles), are eating the Titanic.

The strain, dubbed Halomonas titanicae, was initially designated BH1T in honor of the researchers who discovered it, then-graduate student Bhavleen Kaur and Dr. Henrietta Mann at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

The researchers tested the bacteria to see whether it was “good bacteria” or “bad bacteria,” according to the school’s website.

Let’s just say the bug has an appetite for destruction.

“The BH1 cells stuck to the surface of these [small metal tags] and eventually destroyed the metal. So we knew we had a bad bacteria,” Mann is quoted as saying on the Dalhousie University website.

“In 1995, I was predicting that Titanic had another 30 years,” said Mann, who still works at the university, according to CBS News. “But I think it’s deteriorating much faster than that now … Eventually there will be nothing left but a rust stain,” she is quoted as saying.

The metal-eating bug presents a dilemma for scientists.

“Letting it proceed with its deterioration is also a learning process,” said Kaur, who now works with the Ontario Science Centre, according to National Geographic. “If we stop and preserve it, then we stop the process of degradation,” Kaur is quoted as saying.

The findings were published in the December 8 issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

The Titanic, heralded in its day as the largest passenger ship in the world, sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people. The wreckage was found in 1985 by an expedition team more than 2 miles deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: CNN.com

Posted under Discoveries, Innovations and Patents, North America, USA and Canada  |  Comments Off

Caliper Continues Participation in EPA’s Expanded ToxCast Program; Receives Remaining Phase II Compounds for Screening in Fourth Quarter

Last Updated on Friday, 10 December 2010 01:39 Written by Editor Friday, 10 December 2010 01:39

HOPKINTON, Mass., Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALP), a leading provider of tools and services for drug discovery and life sciences research, today announced that the company has received the remaining balance of the compound library for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Phase II ToxCast? screening program.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the next phase of toxicity screening, in which a total of 1,000 chemicals (300 compounds in Phase 1 and 700 additional compounds in Phase II) will be screened as part of EPA’s ToxCast initiative. Caliper’s participation in this program, first announced in 2007, involves the application of extensive and diverse proprietary assay and screening technologies.

“The Caliper team is very pleased with our contributions to ToxCast to date, and we’re excited to receive the remaining compounds (350 Phase IIb compounds) for the EPA’s Phase II ToxCast screening program,” said Kevin Hrusovsky, President and CEO of Caliper Life Sciences. “Receiving this most recent compound set will allow our scientists to complete Phase IIb compound screening over the next several months, and will likely push Caliper’s revenue to the top end of our corporate revenue guidance range for the fourth quarter and full year.”

The ToxCast program was initiated to speed up the identification of potentially toxic compounds and the impact of chemical exposure on the human body. The program relies on innovative research approaches that predict toxicity while minimizing reliance on animal models. Caliper Discovery Alliances and Services’ (CDAS) predictive toxicity panel has been used in the EPA ToxCast screening program, and increasingly by pharmaceutical, agricultural and cosmetic companies, to assess potential chemical toxicity of their compounds in commercial development. The EPA recently announced the screening of 1,000 chemicals under the ToxCast program.

The CDAS assays use human and animal proteins which mediate key biological functions in the body to screen for possible adverse or toxic effects of chemicals. Caliper recently initiated testing of the second half of the 700 chemicals that comprise Phase II of the ToxCast screening program through the CDAS in vitro panel, which includes over 230 such assays.

Many of the chemicals being tested in the ToxCast program are components of industrial and consumer products, as well as agrichemicals and pharmaceuticals, which were previously tested for in vivo toxicity using live animals. By comparing the in vitro data being generated by CDAS under the ToxCast program with the known in vivo effects of these ToxCast library compounds, the predictive potential of the in vitro assays can be determined. The EPA is tasked with testing thousands of compounds and chemicals each year, which has led to a significant backlog in the regulatory approval process. The goal of the ToxCast program is to reduce the EPA’s dependence on expensive and lengthy animal testing and implement solutions that enable faster identification of harmful chemicals at a lower cost and with higher accuracy.

For additional details about the current status of EPA ToxCast program, please visit the EPA news announcement “EPA Screens 1,000 Chemicals Using ToxCast” at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/73ec2518e34bc93d852577eb0060dd7c!OpenDocument.

About Caliper Life Sciences

Caliper Life Sciences is a premier provider of cutting-edge technologies enabling researchers in the life sciences industry to create life-saving and enhancing medicines and diagnostic tests more quickly and efficiently. Caliper is aggressively innovating new technology to bridge the gap between in vitro assays and in vivo results, enabling the translation of those results into cures for human disease. Caliper’s portfolio of offerings includes state-of-the-art microfluidics, lab automation and liquid handling, optical imaging technologies, and discovery and development outsourcing solutions. For more information please visit www.caliperLS.com.

The statements in this press release regarding future events, including statements regarding Caliper’s expectation that its revenue for the fourth quarter and full year 2010 will be at the top end of its previously announced guidance, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including that unanticipated difficulties may be encountered in Caliper’s fulfillment of its obligations under the EPA ToxCast program. Further information on risks faced by Caliper are detailed under the caption “Risks Related To Our Business” in Caliper’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Our filings are available on a web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. Caliper does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking or other statements in this release or the conference call.

Caliper is a trademark of Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. ToxCast is a trademark of the Environmental Protection Agency.

SOURCE Caliper Life Sciences, Inc.

Posted under North America, Press Releases, USA and Canada  |  Comments Off