It’s a GPCR world by David Filmore PDF version (436 KB PDF) Cell-based screening assays and structural studies are fueling G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) as one of the most popular classes of investigational drug targets. Drugs targeting receptors in this membrane protein superfamily represent the core of modern medicine, accounting for the majority of best-selling drugs and about 40% of all prescription pharmaceuticals on the market. And there is broad consensus that GPCRs will remain at the hub of drug development activities for the foreseeable future. But there is still much to be learned about how GPCRs work, and technologies designed specifically to tackle this understanding are blossoming. Sorting out the mess by Randall C. Willis PDF version (240 KB PDF) From drug discovery to model animal design to disease diagnosis, researchers rely on a handful of techniques to help them isolate individual cell types from heterogeneous populations. Some of these methods use direct fluorescent labeling, while others employ magnetic beads and antibodies to identify their targets. And throughout the developmental history of these techniques, demands for higher throughput and lower costs have led to microfluidic manipulations with ever-shrinking samples.

Ready to Read
The Fight Over the Future (68 KB PDF)
Reviewed by Ivan Suleiman
[Buy from Amazon.com]

Product Info Now (html)

On the Calendar
American Society for Cell Biology (64 KB PDF)
The 44th annual meeting heads to the nation’s capital.

Content in Context
Research politics (32 KB PDF)
by Ann M. Thayer

New and Noteworthy (124 KB PDF)
RNAi to eye • Double-binding inhibitor • Smallpox progress • Airway alliance • Tumor-slowing duo • Dendrimer detox • Eye of the beholder • Stent assessment

Focus on Business

	Marketplace, deals, and people (52 KB PDF)
	Fostering innovation (76 KB PDF) by Charles Dormer Transparency in drug discovery activities can boost productivity.
	Unpredictable inventions (72 KB PDF) by Mark L. Hayman Patenting bionanotechnology inventions presents certain enablement challenges.

Diseases and Disorders
Epilepsy (56 KB PDF)
by Julie L. McDowell
With many treatments available, the pipeline for new drugs to treat this enigmatic disease is thin.

Rules and Regulators
SEC and FDA: Tag-team regulating (72 KB PDF)
by David Filmore
Securities and Exchange Commission investigators are using whatever tools they can to monitor drug company disclosures.

Clinical Trials Track
Thalidomide therapy? (64 KB PDF)
by David Filmore
The infamous morning sickness drug and its derivatives are the focus of clinical trials in multiple disease areas.

Applications Notebook
This just in (108 KB PDF)
by Jared Browning and Brian Almond
Researchers rely on reporter systems to analyze gene expression in cell-based assays.

Sites and Software
Identifying the protein (84 KB PDF)
by D. C. Anderson
New developments in software for mass spectrometry-based proteomics

The Tool Box
Sedimentation for success (96 KB PDF)
by Michelle Arkin
Characterizing small-molecule/protein interactions by sedimentation analysis helps validate lead series early in the drug discovery process.