Newly Patented Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor a Promising Contender for Cancer Treatment

Aurora A Kinase in Cancer Drug Development Aurora A Kinase, along with -B and -C, are members of a family of serine/threonine protein kinases that play critical roles in coordinating mitosis, including establishment of the mitotic spindle, centrosome duplication, centrosome separation as well as maturation, chromosomal alignment, spindle assembly checkpoint, and cytokinesis. The enzyme’s role
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Using the Transcreener® GDP Assay to Discern the Truth about Dynamin Inhibitors

Imagine viewing the plasma membrane of a cell from an interior perspective, with a front-row seat to the process by which substances enter the cell. Over in one corner, the plasma membrane begins to bulge inward, forming a sphere stretching toward you with a droplet-shaped neck on the opposite side that remains connected to the
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New Posters from DOT 2017

Poster Presentations A Homogenous, High Throughput Assay to Measure Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Activity Using Transcreener® GDP Assay Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) positively regulate Rho GTPases by accelerating GDP dissociation to allow formation of the active, GTP-bound complex. Development of inhibitors that specifically disrupt GEF action on a target Rho GTPase may be a
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Taking Up Residence: Using the Transcreener ADP Assay to Measure the Kinetics of Kinase Inhibitor Interactions

Classically speaking, assays for interactions between drug molecules and their targets have measured binding affinity under equilibrium conditions. In drug discovery projects, it had long been assumed that carefully measuring IC50 (half-maximal inhibitory concentration), EC50 (effector concentration for half-maximal response), Kd  (equilibrium dissociation constant), and/or Ki (inhibition constant) would allow drug candidates to be prioritized
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BellBrook Labs Launches Ultra-Sensitive Methyltransferase Assay to Accelerate Epigenetic Drug Discovery

Methyltransferases have become a major focus of drug discovery for cancer and other diseases driven by epigenetic factors.  BellBrook Labs’ new, ultra-sensitive AptaFluor™ SAH Methyltransferase Assay eliminates cost and sensitivity barriers that are slowing the discovery of methyltransferase inhibitors. New AptaFluor SAH Methyltransferase Assay Schematic BellBrook Labs announces the launch of their latest drug discovery
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EZH2 Methyltransferase Inhibitors Hold Promise for Combating Neuropathic Pain

When people experience neuropathic pain, they often describe “pins and needles” sensations or burning, shooting, or stabbing pain that can be agonizing and difficult to bear. In some cases, neuropathic pain is so intense that the pressure of clothing or the weight of a bed sheet can cause misery. Chronic neuropathic pain can be caused
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Sialyltransferases: Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down?

Glycan structures decorate a wide variety of cell types—dotting the surface of blood cells, linked to lipid moieties on neurons, and studding the membrane of tumor cells. These carbohydrate structures create a cellular language that is translated by binding partners, eliciting specific downstream effects. And for some cancers, the effects can be devastating.   Consider
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BellBrook Labs Awarded NIH Grant to Develop a High Throughput cGAS Assay for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease Drug Discovery

BellBrook Labs was recently awarded a $288,000 SBIR Phase I grant from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to develop an HTS assay for cyclic GAMP synthase, an enzyme that triggers immune responses to viruses and tumors. The new assay will be used in an effort to screen for cGAS enzyme modulators as
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Ectonucleotidases: An Outside Chance for Drug Development

Sometimes, the most intriguing cellular processes happen outside of the cell. Case in point: purinergic signaling pathways, in which extracellular receptors sense levels of purines in the extracellular milieu. The result? A wide array of effects on neuronal signaling, vascular tone, thrombosis, and immune function. But what controls the level of extracellular purines? Enter ectonucleotidases:
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New Publication: HTS Method for Measuring Drug Residence Time

View our latest publication, “A High-Throughput Method for Measuring Drug Residence Time Using the Transcreener® ADP2 Assay” in SLAS Discovery. Inhibitor residence times are increasingly being used to prioritize molecules early in lead discovery programs. Current methods for determining residence time are low-throughput or require the synthesis of labeled ligands. Our goal was to create
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