New research findings have positive implications for anti-smoking medication
If you have ever tried to give up smoking, suffered from a sleeping disorder or been struck down with a muscular disease, then new findings from a team of EU-funded researchers could be music to your ears. The findings, presented in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology, show a number of new perspectives for the development of treatments for a variety of common conditions, in light of discoveries of the effects of the mysterious poison curare on the membrane proteins ion channels.
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VTT is searching for new drug targets for prostate cancer in the new IMI PREDECT project
Launched in 2007, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) aims to support more efficient, earlier diagnostics and the development of better medicines for patients by removing research bottlenecks in the drug development pipeline. PREDECT, one of IMI's new projects, is developing novel models for breast, prostate and lung cancers. The Work Package 2 - coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland - focuses on target validation and improved model systems for prostate cancer.
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Safer stem cell applications and uses in the pipeline
Finnish, German and Canadian scientists have identified genetic abnormalities associated with reprogramming adult cells to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Presented in the journal Nature, the findings will help researchers better understand the reprogramming process and make future applications of stem cell creation and use safer. The study was funded in part by the ESTOOLS (Platforms for biomedical discovery with human ES [embryonic stem] cells) project, which was backed with EUR 12 million under the 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for heath') Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
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Rheumatoid arthritis one of many focuses of new drug innovation projects
New patient treatments for rheumatoid arthritis as well as cancer and infectious diseases, will be developed through eight new projects funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership between the European Union and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). These eight new projects are the second wave of major investments made by the IMI in a Joint Technology Initiative funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This brings the number of up-and-running projects to 23.
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Researchers call for routine testing of blood glucose in elderly
Researchers have discovered a strong link between high, undiagnosed blood glucose in non-diabetic patients and increased hospital death rates in a study of patients in Spain and Italy. Presented in the International Journal of Clinical Practice (IJCP), the findings suggest that blood glucose levels in hospitalised elderly patients should be tested routinely. Routine testing would allow high-risk patients to be identified and given intensive therapy to reduce their risk of death.
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New potential drug targets discovered for preventing prostate cancer cell growth
Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku have discovered four metabolic enzymes regulating prostate cancer cell growth. Inhibition of these enzymes prevents prostate cancer cell growth in cultured cells. This knowledge can be used to identify different subtypes of prostate cancer and for designing targeted therapies for prostate cancer.
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