| ACS News Service Weekly PressPac -- Oct. 4, 2006 | | Posted Monday, October 09, 2006 2:59:23 AM by Blog57 Team | | Scientists are reporting discovery in laboratory experiments of a previously unknown molecular mechanism in which the active ingredient in marijuana may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Scripps Research Institute's Kim D. Janda and colleagues used laboratory experiments to show that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) preserves brain levels of the key neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Existing medications for AD, including donepezil and tacrine, also relieve AD symptoms by inhibiting the enzyme, acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down acetylcholine. THC does so by inhibiting an alternative site on acetylchlolinesterase and at lower concentrations, Janda's group reports in an article in the current (Oct. 2) issue of the ACS bimonthly journal, Molecular Pharmaceutics.... | |
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| | | Danisco must withdraw enzyme | | Posted Monday, August 28, 2006 1:17:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | Danisco now considers its legal options after the company lost a court case involving Novozymes in USA. A federal judge decided in favour of Novozymes in the patent case against the Danisco company Genencor which was found guilty in infringing a patent for the enzyme Spezyme Ethyl. This enzyme is used in the production of the fuel ethanol. The legal options are currently being reviewed and an appeal of the ruling is being considered, Danisco wrote in a comment. Overall, the court ruling will not materially affect Daniscos enzyme business as the product withdrawn is just one of many, Danisco wrote. Novozymes summoned in March last year Genencor claiming that Genencor infringed on the patent on the same day that the Danish enzymes producer obtained the patent for the enzyme Spezyme Ethyl, which Genencor claims that it has developed.... | |
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| | | Scientists pinpoint enzyme as potential drug target for Huntington s disease | | Posted Sunday, July 30, 2006 6:56:38 AM by Blog57 Team | | Washington: A research team from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) has identified an enzyme which may play a crucial role in treating Huntingtons disease. The researchers have found out that an enzyme known to be critical for the repair of damaged cells and the maintenance of cellular energy may be a useful target for new strategies to treat Huntington's disease (HD) and other disorders characterized by low cellular energy levels. The research team has discovered a novel inhibitor of Poly polymerase (PARP1) and those PARP1 inhibitors can protect HD-affected cells from damage in laboratory assays. "While PARP1 is essential for the repair of damaged DNA, we also know that, if overactivated, it can cause cell death by excessive energy depletion. It has recently been shown that neurons from patients with Huntington's appear to be energy-deficient, so we hypothesized that modest stresses that would be tolerated by healthy cells could send HD cells below a viable energy threshold and that blocking PARP1 activation could be protective", Aleksey Kazantsev, PhD, director of the MIND High Throughput Drug Screening Laboratory, who led the current study, said.... | |
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