The big advantage of cell culture to model diseases is its throughput. “You can play the disease over and over again in the dish,” Clive Svendsen told the audience at the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting held in Hamburg last week. That high throughput, however, is not particularly useful if the cell lines themselves do not accurately model the disease. Cancer cell lines are used in many cell culture experiments far beyond cancer for their ability to grow. But they are “highly abnormal,” Bill Skarnes told the audience at an innovation showcase, as well as quite unstable. “I don’t think the [HEK-293] cell line is the same in your lab as it is in the lab next door,” Skarnes said. Read More

The hypothalamus controls several neural circuits that have to do with instinctive behaviors such as food seeking, socialization and offspring maternal care, among others. There is limited knowledge regarding the mechanisms by which internal and external sensory cues are integrated to coordinate innate behavior. Read More

Addex Therapeutics Ltd. has released promising results from its novel γ-aminobutyric acid subtype B receptor (GABA-B) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) chronic cough program. In models of chronic cough in guinea pigs, the candidate GABA-B PAM significantly and dose-dependently reduced citric acid-induced cough frequency and increased cough latency. Read More

Epigenetic desilence of the paternal allele of the gene that causes Angelman syndrome (AS) could be used to treat this disease for which there are currently no approved therapies. Read More

Delta-like protein 3 (DLL3) is a transmembrane protein overexpressed in the majority of neuroendocrine carcinomas of the lung such as small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). The first DLL3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), led to serious adverse events in clinical testing and its development was discontinued. Read More

A team at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted research to evaluate the expression levels of the extracellular matrix protein tubulointerstitial nephritis antigen-like 1 (TINAGL1) in the human ovary. Read More

From no hope to viable treatments, BioWorld  is there to cover the breakthroughs in medicine. Listen to Randy Osborne explain why the BioWorld  team is ‘always on the lookout for what's next.’ Read More

Immuneage Bio has announced its launch, with $2 million in funding and a focus on rejuvenating the immune system by targeting hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) residing in the bone marrow. Read More

Rznomics Inc. has received clinical trial notification (CTN) from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for the initiation of a phase I/IIa trial evaluating RZ-004, a gene therapeutic candidate for autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa with rhodopsin mutation. Read More

Cytokinetics Inc. has disclosed nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAmPRTase; Nampt) activators reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, neurodegeneration, mitochondrial and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular, muscle, renal and inflammatory disorders, among others. Read More

Hua Medicine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. has synthesized ketohexokinase (KHK) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of gout, stroke, coronary artery disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, cataracts, fibrosis and obesity. Read More

An article by Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. scientists reports data from a study designed to assess the potential of combining pharmacological inhibition of hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1) with programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade as a novel strategy to enhance antitumor immunity against tumors with low antigenicity. Read More

University of Florida has identified σ receptor ligands reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, depression, neurodegeneration, stroke, pain, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and anxiety. Read More

Shanghai Yi Zhong Xing Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has divulged serine/threonine-protein kinase/endoribonuclease IRE1 (ERN1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More

Resistance to sorafenib treatment is becoming more common in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Iron is a crucial metal in the mitochondria and is used for synthesis of cofactors that are essential for the correct functioning and cell proliferation. Read More

Korea Institute of Science and Technology has described diosgenin derivatives reported to be useful for the treatment of depression, multiple sclerosis, ischemic stroke, schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neuroblastoma, Alzheimer’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorders. Read More