Tag Archives: treat

Big Hunt for Small Molecule to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases

Two UA researchers say that finding the ideal molecule could open the door to therapeutic drugs to treat diseases such as ALS.

Late last year, University of Arizona colleagues Daniela Zarnescu and May Khanna sped west on Interstate 8 bound for a brain-research conference in San Diego. Khanna is a biochemist who works with small molecules. Zarnescu is a molecular and cellular biologist who works with flies. (more…)

Read More

Trout trick-or-treat: fish gobble furry animals with four feet

Freshwater fish with bellies full of shrews – one trout a few years back was found to have eaten 19 – aren’t as random as scientists have thought.

In some years, probably when shrew populations boom, the small mouse-like land animals end up in the stomachs of a quarter of rainbow trout and Arctic grayling larger than a foot, according to University of Washington-led research in the coastal lakes and streams of Southwest Alaska. (more…)

Read More

New protein structure could help treat Alzheimer’s, related diseases

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, but the research community is one step closer to finding treatment.

University of Washington bioengineers have designed a peptide structure that can stop the harmful changes of the body’s normal proteins into a state that’s linked to widespread diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and Lou Gehrig’s disease. The synthetic molecule blocks these proteins as they shift from their normal state into an abnormally folded form by targeting a toxic intermediate phase. (more…)

Read More