Category Biology/Biotechnology

Micrograph showing emphysema (left – large empty spaces) and lung tissue with relative preservation of the alveoli (right). Credit: Wikipedia

New research suggests that FPS-ZM1, an antagonist chemical compound that fights RAGE (the receptor for advanced glycation end-products), may treat COPD. In mice it was found this compound reverses the inflammatory response and has a protective role in COPD. “RAGE disturbances in pulmonary disorders are precise and effective strategies with beneficial clinical effects,” said Se-Ran Yang, D.V.M., Ph.D. Kangwon National University, Korea.

In their study, Yang and colleagues investigated the efficacy of RAGE-specific antagonist FPS-ZM1 administration in both in vivo and in vitro COPD models to determine the molecular mechanism by which RAGE influences ...

Ovarian cancer cells under nano-focus (2 micron scale), showing FY26, zinc and calcium.
Credit: University of Warwick

Researchers have witnessed – for the first time – cancer cells being targeted and destroyed from the inside, by an organo-metal compound discovered by the University of Warwick. Professor Peter J. Sadler, and his group in the Department of Chemistry, have demonstrated that Organo-Osmium FY26 kills cancer cells by locating and attacking their weakest part. This is the first time that an Osmium-based compound – which is 50X more active than the current cancer drug cisplatin – has been seen to target the disease...

A zebrafish model of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of pediatric epilepsy, may help scientists quickly find drugs for the devastating disease. Credit: Image courtesy of Scott Baraban, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco

A study in the journal Brain describes what could be considered a direct “aquarium-to-bedside” approach, taking a drug discovered in a genetic zebrafish model of epilepsy and testing it, with promising results, in a small number of children with the disease. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. “This is the first time that scientists have taken a potential therapy discovered in a fish model directly into people in a clinical trial,” said Vicky Whittemore, Ph.D...