Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp. has divulged glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists potentially useful for the treatment of cardiovascular, endocrine, immunological, psychiatric, renal, inflammatory disorders, metabolic diseases and neurodegeneration.
Zincure Corp. has discovered matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9, gelatinase B) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypoglycemic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury.
The compound, which showed oral bioavailability of 42.7%, performed similarly well as the licensed drug loratidine in a mouse model of the inflammatory disease allergic rhinitis.
Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine (Japan) and collaborating institutions aimed to characterize the heterogeneity of myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using the KPC mouse model.
In earlier work, researchers from the Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology (Beijing, China) and collaborators identified a small-molecule inhibitor (IMB-H4) of the BamA-BamD interaction. By binding to the intracellular domain of unfolded BamA, IMB-H4 disrupts the BamA-BamD assembly, leading to outer membrane damage and filamentation in gram-negative bacteria.
Using machine learning as an innovative tool for analyzing complex biological systems, researchers integrated bioinformatics with adaptive algorithms and identified dynein light chain LC8-type 2 (DYNLL2) as a key modulator of sepsis progression. Mechanistically speaking, DYNLL2 interacts with p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1) to regulate bacterial outer membrane vesicle (OMV) internalization and caspase-11 activation.
Researchers from Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health and Guangming Advanced Research Institute (China) proposed a new strategy based on a circular RNA (circRNA) encoding human relaxin-2 (cRLN2). circRNAs, thanks to their high stability and low immunogenicity, have been proposed as promising new drugs for several applications.
D3 Bio Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for D3S‑003, enabling initiation of a first‑in‑human phase I trial in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring KRAS G12D mutations.
Mainly expressed in the liver, microRNA‑122‑5p (miR‑122) exhibits increased circulating levels in the context of obesity. When elevated in the bloodstream, miR-122 can act on extrahepatic tissues, including vascular endothelial cells, where it contributes to endothelial dysfunction and may promote the development of diabetic vascular complications.
Brain-derived tau, a protein that is exclusive to the brain and detectable in the blood, could serve as an indicator of brain damage after an ischemic stroke. The analysis of this special form of tau has revealed a relationship between high levels of the protein and extensive brain injury, a higher risk of complications, and poorer outcomes.