Synopsis: Pharma: Drugs:

"We knew nano diamonds were of interest for delivering drugs during chemotherapy because they are largely nontoxic and non-reactive,

Iranian researchers from Materials and Energy Research center (MERC) succeeded in the production of a type of biocompatible nanocomposite with the ability to carry drugs,

The vast majority of drugs are considered small molecules, as are many important biological research tools.

Making those molecules is a major barrier to drug discovery, Burke says. oing real atomistic modifications to transform nature's starting points into actual medicines is really,

#Spherical nucleic acids set stage for new paradigm in nanomedicine drug development A research team led by Northwestern University nanomedicine expert Chad A. Mirkin

and Sergei Gryaznov of Aurasense Therapeutics is the first to show spherical nucleic acids (SNAS) can be used as potent drugs to effectively train the immune system to fight disease,

"The ability to selectively trigger the immune response with spherical nucleic acids presents a whole new way of thinking about drug development,

"Once developed fully, SNAS will lay the foundation for developing an entire new pipeline of drugs to treat a range of diseases, from psoriasis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to lymphoma, bladder cancer and prostate cancer."

"The beauty of the approach is that a very small amount of drug does a tremendous amount of work,

"The SNAS trigger the immune response and, without more drug, additional cells are trained to behave the same way as the initial cells.

while also creating new opportunities for graduate students to use the technique for research in materials science and drug delivery at UNC and NCSU.

and are working on novel applications in drug delivery and other areas.""In addition to using new materials,

Selective drug transport verified in human tissue for the first time The Munich scientists have developed nanocarriers that only release the carried drugs in lung tumour areas.

were able to show nanoparticles'selective drug release to human lung tumour tissue for the first time. Tumour specific proteins were used to release drugs from the nanocarriers Tumour tissue in the lung contains high concentrations of certain proteases,

which are enzymes that break down and cut specific proteins. The scientists took advantage of this by modifying the nanocarriers with a protective layer that only these proteases can break down,

a process that then releases the drug. Protease concentrations in the healthy lung tissue are too low to cleave this protective layer

"Using these nanocarriers we can very selectively release a drug such as a chemotherapeutic agent specifically at the lung tumour,"reports research group leader Meiners."

"We observed that the drug's effectiveness in the tumour tissue was 10 to 25 times greater compared to

when the drugs were used on their own. At the same time, this approach also makes it possible to decrease the total dose of medicines

So they developed a drug that inactivates the gene that makes FL2 and then put the drug in tiny gel capsules called nanoparticles

and applied the nanoparticles to wounds on mice. The treated wounds healed much faster than untreated wounds.

and many drugs have their origins in plants. Researchers at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering have taken it a step further:

#Nanoparticles provide novel way to apply drugs to dental plaque Therapeutic agents intended to reduce dental plaque

But a team of researchers has developed a way to keep the drugs from being washed away.

found a new way to deliver an antibacterial agent within the plaque, despite the presence of saliva.

We had to figure out how to deliver the antibacterial agent to the teeth and keep it there,

For inside the carrier, they secured the drug with hydrophobic and ph-responsive polymers. The positively charged outer layer of the carrier is able to stay in place at the surface of the teeth

Benoit and colleagues used them to carry an antibacterial agent to the targeted sites. The researchers then needed to figure out how to effectively release the agent into the plaque.

allowing the drug to escape more rapidly. And thats exactly what happens to the ph level in plaque

In other words, the nanoparticles release the drug when exposed to cavity-causing eating habitsprecisely when it is needed most to quickly stop acid-producing bacteria.

When the drug was administered without the nanoparticle carriers, there was no effect on the number of cavities and only a very small reduction in their severity.

leading to the rapid synthesis of drug derivatives for treating Parkinson's disease. Nagoya, Japan-Yutaro Saito, Yasutomo Segawa and Professor Kenichiro Itami at the Institute of Transformative Biomolecules (ITBM

which is an anticholinergic drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.''Parachuting'boron onto the para-position of a benzene ring by a bulky iridium catalyst.

These types of drug delivery systems could be paired with other drugs and used in other conditions, such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and corneal ulcers, among others.

The achievement was made possible by a new generation of drug-containing coating applied to the inner surface of the vessel.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry("Synthesis of Thrombolytic Solel Coatings:

Toward Drug-Entrapped Vascular Grafts"."Surgery, associated with cardiovascular diseases, such as ischemia, often require the implantation of vascular grafts-artificial blood vessels,

The team managed to synthesize a thin film made of densely packed aluminum oxide nanorods blended with molecules of a thrombolytic enzyme (urokinase-type plasminogen activator).

The lifetime of such grafts is determined often by the amount of drug stored within the graft,

The system, developed by the researchers, is based on the entrapment of the drug inside a porous protective shell,

You just need to take the right kind of drug. For example, after the implantation of an artificial ureter, urease crystals often start to grow inside

It is possible to apply a similar drug-containing coating that dissolves urease. The same approach may be used for kidney or liver surgery,

This life saving treatment could be administered by paramedics in emergency situations without the need for specialised equipment as is currently the case. ee created a nanocapsule that contains a clot-busting drug.

The drug-loaded nanocapsule is coated with an antibody that specifically targets activated platelets, the cells that form blood clots,

releasing the clot-busting drug. We are effectively hijacking the blood clotting system to initiate the removal of the blockage in the blood vessel,

Professor Frank Caruso from the Melbourne School of engineering said the targeted drug with its novel delivery method can potentially offer a safer alternative with fewer side effects for people suffering a heart attack

or suffer a stroke every year. bout half of the people who need a clot-busting drug can use the current treatments

#Molecular tinkering doubles cancer drug's efficacy The drug paclitaxel has been used for decades to fight breast, ovarian, lung and other cancers.

and insolubility in water--properties that allow the body to clear the drug too quickly,

Many molecular packaging systems have been developed to deliver the drug while counteracting these effects, with a protein-bound version of the drug called Abraxane currently the leading therapy.

But Ashutosh Chilkoti, professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical engineering at Duke university thought his team could do better.

the Duke team doubled tumor exposure to the drug compared to Abraxane while simultaneously reducing its effects on healthy tissue.

In the new packaging system, multiple copies of the drug are bonded chemically to an amino acid polypeptide,

forming a water-soluble nanoparticle with the drug hidden in its core. These nanoparticles are highly soluble in blood

"This delivers the drug directly to the tumor and helps prevent it from randomly absorbing into healthy tissue, reducing side effects."

And since this platform could potentially be used for such a broad array of drugs, it could be a game-changer for cancer therapy."

Beyond their importance to our understanding of basic cell biology, microtubules are a major target for anticancer drugs, such as Taxol,

"A better understanding of how microtubule dynamic instability is regulated could open new opportunities for improving the potency and selectivity of existing anticancer drugs,

#Super-small needle technology for the brain Microscale needle-electrode array technology has enhanced brain science and engineering applications, such as electrophysiological studies, drug and chemical delivery systems, and optogenetics.

and probe biological molecules to explore their potential use as new drugs. The device has the potential to replace gold nanodevices used in current analytical techniques,

The innovation is expected to expand the ability of researchers to investigate potential new drugs more rapidly and accurately,

and therefore their potential as new drugs.""However the characteristics of metals that make them good at conducting electricity also lead to the undesirable heating effect,

Whereas traditional pharmaceutical drugs have a transient effect, gene editing could possibly provide a permanent cure for a lot of different diseases,

#Elastic drug delivery technology releases drugs when stretched Researchers have developed a drug delivery technology that consists of an elastic patch that can be applied to the skin

and will release drugs whenever the patch is stretched. For example, if applied to the elbow, the patch would release a drug when the elbow bends and stretches the patch.

This could be used to release painkillers whenever a patient with arthritic knees goes for a walk,

NC State researchers create a stretchable drug delivery mechanism. The technology consists of an elastic film that is studded with biocompatible microcapsules.

These microcapsules, in turn, are packed with nanoparticles that can be filled with drugs. Heres how it works:

The drugs leak slowly out of the nanoparticles and are stored in the microcapsules. When the elastic film is stretched,

and effectively squeezing some of the stored drug out onto the patients skin, where it can be absorbed.

That compression helps push the drug out of the microcapsule. After being stretched the microcapsule is recharged by the drugs that continue to leak out of the nanoparticles.

This can be used to apply drugs directly to sites on the skin, such as applying anticancer medications to melanomas

or applying growth factors and antibiotics for wound healing, says Jin Di, co-lead author

and a Ph d student in Gus lab. The researchers also incorporated microneedles into the system, applying them on top of the microcapsules.

In this configuration, the drugs can be squeezed through the microneedles. The microneedles are small enough to be painless,

but large enough to allow drugs to diffuse into the bloodstream through tiny capillaries underneath the skin.

and a Ph d student in Zhus lab. Were now exploring how this tool can be used to apply drugs efficiently

It's a major step forward in creating a quantum computer to solve problems such as designing new drugs

The discovery provides a new platform for drug delivery systems and an entirely different view of cellular functions.

Chilkoti's lab has designed self-assembling proteins for drug delivery systems for several years. Simply by adding heat

and when drugs are released inside the body through non-temperature-related mechanisms such as changes in acidity levels.

however, drugs could be encapsulated in protein cages that accumulate inside of a tumor and dissolve once heated.

Not only would this provide a more accurate way of delivering drugs, but the cages themselves could be used therapeutically."

This would represent a quantum leap in antiviral therapy, says Fussenegger, who was involved not in the study.

This enzyme activates a harmless drug precursor called CB 1954 which the researchers added to the petri dish where the cells were growing.

researchers have tried already out hundreds of drugs, each requiring preclinical and clinical testing with live subjects.

One of the easiest ways to speed up the drug development process is to simply perform it outside of the living body (e g.,

This approach will eventually provide more effective preclinical selection of drug candidates for the subsequent long-term and expensive clinical trial.

Researchers from the Laboratory of Nanooptics and Plasmonics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology-MIPT (Russia) have devised a novel type of graphene oxide (GO) based biosensor that could potentially significantly speed up the process of drug development.

which in future may enable the development of new drugs and vaccines against many dangerous diseases including HIV,

All this can be used efficiently for new drug discovery and validation. Widespread introduction of this method into preclinical trials will completely change the pharmaceutical industry.

With SPR sensors we just need to estimate the interaction between the drug and targets on the sensing surface,

and can be used for analysis of chemical reactions with small drug molecules. An important advantage of the new GO based sensor chips is their simplicity

"Our invention will help in drug development against viral and cancer diseases. We are expecting that pharmaceutical industry will express a strong demand for our technology,

or water and therapeutic drug monitoring at home, a feature which could drastically improve the efficient of various class of drugs and treatments a

#Quantum dots light up under strain Semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots, are sized tiny, nanometer particles with the ability to absorb light

and help design new drug therapies against pathogens by targeting enzymes that interact with DNA"There are other single-molecule tools around,

and that has a ton of implications from understanding how life works to drug design,

or find protein properties that would be ideal targets for drug therapies.""For example, viral genes code for their own proteins that process their DNA,

#Experimental treatment regimen effective against HIV PROTEASE inhibitors are a class of antiviral drugs that are used commonly to treat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical center designed a new delivery system for these drugs that,

when coupled with a drug developed at the University of Rochester School of medicine and Dentistry, rid immune cells of HIV and kept the virus in check for long periods.

While current HIV treatments involve pills that are taken daily, the new regimenslong-lasting effects suggest that HIV treatment could be administered perhaps once or twice per year.

Nebraska researcher Howard E. Gendelman designed the investigational drug delivery system so-called anoformulatedprotease inhibitor. The nanoformulation process takes a drug

and makes it into a crystal, like an ice cube does to water. Next, the crystal drug is placed into a fat and protein coat, similar to

what is done in making a coated ice-cream bar. The coating protects the drug from being degraded by the liver and removed by the kidney.

When tested together with URMC-099 a new drug discovered in the laboratory of UR scientist Harris A. andy Gelbard M d.,Ph d,

. the nanoformulated protease inhibitor completely eliminated measurable quantities of HIV. URMC-099 boosted the concentration of the nanoformulated drug in immune cells

and slowed the rate at which it was eliminated, thereby prolonging its therapeutic effect.""The chemical marriage between URMC-099 and antiretroviral drug nanoformulations could increase drug longevity,

improve patient compliance, and reduce general toxicities, said Gendelman, lead study author and professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience at Nebraska,

whether the drugs could be administered safely together. Much to Gelbard and Gendelman surprise, URMC-099 increased the effectiveness of the nanoformulated drug. ur ultimate hope is that wee able to create a therapy that could be given much less frequently than the daily therapy that is required today,

said Gelbard. f a drug could be given once every six months or longer that would greatly increase compliance,

reduce side effects and help people manage the disease, because they won have to think about taking medication every day. a

or drug targeting. The study by researchers Cheulhee Jung, Peter B. Allen and Andrew Ellington, published this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology("A stochastic DNA walker that traverses a microparticle surface),

"SERS substrates are used to analyze the composition of a mixture at the nanoscale for environmental analysis, pharmaceuticals, material sciences, art and archeological research, forensic science, drug detection, food quality analysis,

Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars testing therapeutic drugs on animals only to discover in human trials that the drug has an altogether different level of effectiveness.

Wee not sure why, but the human brain differs distinctly from that of an animal. A bench-top brain that accurately reflects actual brain tissue would be significant for researching not only the effect of drugs,

but brain disorders like schizophrenia, and degenerative brain disease. ACES Director and research author Professor Gordon Wallace said that the breakthrough is significant progress in the quest to create a bench-top brain that will enable important insights into brain function,

in addition to providing an experimental test bed for new drugs and electroceuticals. e are still a long way from printing a brain

but also for more common problems involving maladaptive daily decisions about drug or alcohol use, gambling or credit card binges.

much like multi-drug therapy, may ultimately benefit patients with impaired mobility in a wide variety of rehabilitation settings.

#Key Morphine Regulator That May Reduce Risk of Pain killer Addiction Identified Once used in the 18th century as currency to reverse the trade imbalance between China and Britain,

morphine and its painkilling qualities have been misused misunderstood (and) almost continually ever since. The drug works its euphoric effect by acting on a specific protein that has been part of vertebrate anatomy for nearly a half-billion years.

Despite that lengthy pedigree, regulation of these receptor proteins has never been understood well. A new study led by Kirill Martemyanov, an associate professor on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI

has shown that a specific molecule controls morphine receptor signaling in a small group of brain cells.

The findings could lead to a new drug target for developing less-addictive pain medications and even offer a clue to the genetic predisposition of patients to addiction before treatment.

which controls the morphine receptor (mu opioid receptor). Using genetically modified animal models lacking a particular RGS PROTEIN called RGS7, a protein abundant in the brain,

delayed tolerance and heightened withdrawal in response to self-administered morphine doses. In other words, without the protein,

the animals were predisposed to morphine addiction. Martemyanov believes there is a strong diagnostic future for their discovery. f our findings hold true for human patients,

he said. utations could indicate a strong reaction to a drug such as morphineeople carrying a deficient copy of the RGS7 gene might need much lower doses of opioids

This might also shed light on why some people have such a difficult time with addiction to drugs such as morphine,

Surprisingly, in addition to drug craving, the animals lacking RGS7 also worked harder to obtain a food reward,

further suggesting that RGS7 may be a more general regulator of reward behavior extending beyond drug-induced euphoria. he mu opioid receptor acts as a conductor of the drug effects,

while RGS7 acts as a brake on the signal, Martemyanov said. he animals could press a lever to receive an infusion of morphine.

mice lacking RGS7 craved the drug much more than their normal siblings. RGS7 appears to exert its effects by regulating morphine-induced changes in excitability of neurons and plasticity of synapseshe ability of the synapse, the junction between two nerve cells,

to change its function. his study reveals a unique modulatory role of RGS7 in a brain region-specific action to morphine use

and indicates RGS7 as a potential drug target, said Research Associate Laurie P. Sutton, the first author of the study. harmacological intervention at the level of RGS7 may reduce some of the detrimental side-effects associated with opiates. t

#Possible Biomarker for Autism Discovered Study also points to potential new drug discovery advances. By identifying a key signaling defect within a specific membrane structure in all cells, University of California,

Irvine researchers believe, they have found both a possible reliable biomarker for diagnosing certain forms of autism and a potential therapeutic target.

it also presents a target of a molecular class already well-established to be useful for drug discovery.

Drug development has proven problematic due to the limited understanding of the underlying causes of ASD,

as demonstrated by the recent failure of several much anticipated drug trials. There are also no current, reliable diagnostic biomarkers for ASD.

which impedes diagnosis and, ultimately, drug development. There simply may be too many targets, each with too small an effect.

In the area of drug discovery, scientists at the Center for Autism Research & Translation continue to probe the IP3R channel,

and so that they can test the effect of new drugs on inhibiting their growth. But the fibrils that are believed to be most harmful are too tiny to be seen using an optical microscope.

or for drug researchers to put the amyloid proteins in water, inject their drug, and study how the drug influences the growth of the aggregates over time

. or research in TYPE II DIABETES or Alzheimer or Parkinson, having this simple platform to perform these tests at a fraction of the cost of

what required for fluorescence or neutron scattering would be very useful.?Carla Reiter a

#Artificial intelligence System Solves SAT Geometry As well as 11th Graders The Allen Institute for Artificial intelligence (AI2) and University of Washington researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can solve SAT geometry questions as well as the average American 11th-grade student, a breakthrough in AI research.

Researchers used a series of drugs to disrupt the cellsnormal bioelectrical and serotonergic signaling at a crucial stage of development.

as it can be used to screen new drugs. These mechanisms may occur not only in autoimmune disorders,

#New Drug Delivery Technique Bypasses Blood-brain barrier Breakthrough could help countless patients with neurological conditions that are currently hard to treat.

Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical school and Boston University have shown successfully neuroprotection in a Parkinson mouse model using new techniques to deliver drugs across the naturally impenetrable blood-brain barrier.

lend hope to patients around the world with neurological conditions that are difficult to treat due to a barrier mechanism that prevents approximately 98 percent of drugs from reaching the brain

and central nervous system. e are developing a platform that may eventually be used to deliver a variety of drugs to the brain,

and histological data capture that their delivery method was equivalent to direct injection of GDNF the current gold standard for delivering this drug in Parkinson disease despite its traumatic nature and high complication rates in diffusing drugs

Drugs used to treat a variety of central nervous system diseases may be administered through the nose and diffused through an implanted mucosal graft (A,

Consequently, these grafts may be used to deliver very large drugs, including proteins, which would otherwise be blocked by the blood-brain barrier.

Garyfallia Pagonis and Benjamin S. Bleier, M d. Dr. Bleier saw an opportunity to apply these techniques to the widespread clinical dilemma of delivering drugs across the barrier to the brain and central nervous system.

and Drug Administration has approved the first prescription drug made through 3d printing: a dissolvable tablet that treats seizures.

Aprecia Pharmaceuticals said Monday the FDA approved its drug Spritam for adults and children who suffer from certain types of seizures caused by epilepsy.

The Ohio-based company says its printing system can package potent drug doses of up to 1, 000 milligrams into individual tablets.

An agency spokeswoman confirmed the new drug is the first prescription tablet approved that uses the process.

including more neurological drugs. The company is owned privately. Doctors are increasingly turning to 3d printing to create customised implants for patients with rare conditions

In response, Rostami team administered a drug to boost her heart rate and send more blood to the brain.

In response, Rostami team administered a drug to boost her heart rate and send more blood to the brain.

In fact, the only drugs specifically developed for migraine that are in use today triptans were designed to shrink blood vessels in the brain.

The drugs made no difference when they were given to the rats intravenously, but when they were injected directly into the brain,

Although triptans are prescribed as vasoconstrictors drugs that shrink blood vessels other research suggests that they also block the release of peptides like PACAP from neurons.

Why this is only effective in half the people who take the drug is still a mystery.

An asthma drug has rejuvenated rat brains, making old rats perform as well as young ones in tests of memory and cognition.

A drug called montelukast (Singulair), regularly prescribed for asthma and allergic rhinitis, blocks these receptors, so Aigner and his colleagues tested it on young and old rats.

The animals were fed the drug daily for six weeks, while another set of young and old rats were left untreated.

By the end of their six-week drug regime, though, old animals performed as well as their younger companions. e restored learning and memory 100 per cent,

Old rats that had been given montelukast had 80 per cent less brain inflammation than old rats that hadn been given the drug.

The drug had no effect on young animals, probably because it targets inflammation associated with age,

he says. think the drug reverses the damage associated with ageing. Because montelukast is used widely

Aigner agrees he will start by testing the drug in people with Parkinson disease, he says p

you could ask hat the latest on these drug interactions? Or even a query in natural language like, hat are papers saying about middle-aged women with diabetes and this particular drug?'

'The system works by crawling the web for publicly available scientific papers, then scanning the text and images within them.

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