Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown for the first time how the activation of a receptor provokes the inflammation and bone degradation of rheumatoid arthritis - and that activation of this one receptor, found on cells in the fluid of arthritic joints, is all that is required.

A new mechanism to inhibit proteasomes, protein complexes that are a target for cancer therapy, is the topic of an article published in the journal Chemistry & Biology. The first author of the study is Daniela Trivella, researcher at the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (LNBio/CNPEM).

A team of researchers at McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton have successfully evaluated a new, antibody-based drug for certain patients with severe asthma. The drug - named mepolizumab - can replace traditional, steroid-based treatments for a specific subset of patients, resulting in improved outcomes and reduced side effects.

A team of investigators at the University of Kentucky has made a thought-provoking discovery about a type of cholesterol previously believed to be a "bad guy" in the development of heart disease and other conditions. Jason Meyer, a University of Kentucky MD-PhD candidate, worked with Deneys van der Westhuyzen, Ph.D., a Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, to study the role oxidized LDL plays in the development of plaque inside artery walls.

Scientists have made an important breakthrough in the fight against debilitating autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis by revealing how to stop cells attacking healthy body tissue. Rather than the body's immune system destroying its own tissue by mistake, researchers at the University of Bristol have discovered how cells convert from being aggressive to actually protecting against disease.

Wine only protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who exercise, according to results from the In Vino Veritas (IVV) study presented at ESC Congress by Professor Milos Taborsky from the Czech Republic. Professor Taborsky said: "This is the first randomised trial comparing the effects of red and white wine on markers of atherosclerosis (1) in people at mild to moderate risk of CVD.

One of the greatest challenges in modern medicine is developing drugs that are highly effective against a target, but with minimal toxicity and side-effects to the patient. Such properties are directly related to the 3D structure of the drug molecule. Ideally, the drug should have a shape that is perfectly complementary to a disease-causing target, so that it binds it with high specificity.