http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists investigating the interaction of a group of proteins in the brain responsible for protecting nerve cells from damage have identified a new target that could increase cell survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sumo-cells-reveal-mechanism.html Medical research Fri, 17 May 2013 11:30:01 EST news288008223 A new class of drugs for the treatment of severe diseases such as cancer and autoimmune diseases is developed by the start-up Bicycle Therapeutics. The company is generating bicyclic peptides that can selectively bind disease-related proteins and to modulate their function without affecting other proteins in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-peptides-treatment-severe-diseases.html Medical research Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:30:01 EST news285229035 Pemphigus vulgaris is a life-threatening autoimmune skin disease that is occurs when the body's immune system generates antibodies that target proteins in the skin known as desomogleins. Desmogleins help to form the adhesive bonds that hold skin cells together and keep the skin intact. Currently, pemphigus vulgaris is treated by long-term immune suppression; however, this can leave the patient susceptible to infection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-small-peptide-ameliorates-autoimmune-skin.html Immunology Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:00:06 EST news276953717 Antibodies developed by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are unusually effective at preventing the formation of toxic protein particles linked to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-antibodies-combating-alzheimer-parkinson-disease.html Neuroscience Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:51:26 EST news273761473 Scientists from VIB and KU Leuven have discovered a new target molecule for the development of a treatment against Alzheimer's disease. There is currently no cure for this disease. Many candidate drugs fail because they also target proteins essential to life. This discovery from Leuven could form a target for a treatment against Alzheimer's disease with fewer side effects and that suppresses the very first symptoms of the disease. This research will be published in the leading journal Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pathway-treatment-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:15:45 EST news273759332 Two proteins are in a tug of war that determines how much the body makes of superoxide, a highly reactive and potentially destructive product of oxygen that's dramatically elevated in cardiovascular disease, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-protein-war-therapies-cardiovascular-disease.html Cardiology Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:26:09 EST news272204746 The Huntington Study Group (HSG), under the leadership of Ray Dorsey, M.D. with Johns Hopkins Medical and Diana Rosas, M.D. with Massachusetts General Hospital, is conducting a clinical trial in Huntington's disease (HD) throughout the United States and Australia, "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, study to assess the safety and tolerability, and efficacy of PBT2 in patients with early to mid-stage Huntington's disease" comparing a 100 mg dose or 250 mg dose versus placebo. The HSG is a not-for-profit group of physicians and other clinical researchers who are experienced in the care of HD patients and dedicated to clinical research of the disease. This trial is sponsored by Prana Biotechnology Limited (Melbourne, Australia) and is being managed by the University of Rochester Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-reach2hd-phase-ii-huntington-disease.html Neuroscience Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:51:36 EST news258303082 (Medical Xpress) -- Later-stage cancers thrive by finding detours around roadblocks that cancer drugs put in their path, but a Purdue University biochemist is creating maps that will help drugmakers close more routes and develop better drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-substrate-kinase-interactions-effective-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:28:21 EST news252087997