Drug Targets – News and Features

Researchers have discovered that about 5% of adult cancers rely on a gene called PELO to survive, offering a promising drug target.

Scientists in Hungary found that antibiotic resistance can emerge before new drugs are even in clinical use. The study highlights pre-existing bacterial mutations that render new treatments ineffective.

Researchers have identified a specific brain circuit that, when inhibited, reduces anxiety without any side effects.

Stanford researchers highlight the potential of EBC-46, a compound derived from Australia’s blushwood tree, in eradicating HIV. EBC-46 activates dormant virus cells, enabling targeted therapies to clear infections.

Functional genomics can help deconvolute the link between genotype and phenotype in disease, revealing new drug targets and progressing understanding of existing drugs.

Harvard and Boston University researchers mapped the Nipah virus polymerase, a key protein for viral replication, using cryo-electron microscopy. The study identifies potential drug targets.

Two newly identified disease-causing genes, known as Bzw2 and Eif5a2, have been implicated in early prostate cancer development.

Researchers mapped HIV-1’s translation strategy, revealing RNA elements like uORFs, iORFs and an intricate frameshift site structure that regulate viral protein synthesis. These findings highlight ribosome pausing as a key mechanism.

Jakub Vašíček joined us to discuss a new bioinformatic tool – ProHap – a Python-based tool that creates custom protein sequence databases from large panels of reference human haplotypes.

UK Biobank's proteomics study will measure 5,400 proteins in 600,000 samples, tracking changes over mid-to-late life. By combining genetic, imaging and proteomic data, this initiative promises breakthroughs in disease diagnosis and drug discovery.