News Release

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 13, 2007

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Chemical Society

American Chemical Society

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Here is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) News Service Weekly press package (PressPac) with reports selected from 35 major peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News. With more than 160,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society. Please cite the individual journal, or the American Chemical Society, as the source of this information.


ACS NEWS SERVICE: June 13, 2007 Weekly PressPac: ALL CONTENT IS FOR IMMEDIATE USE EXCEPT ARTICLE #5 (EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, June 18, 2007)

PressPac Archive: http://www.chemistry.org/news/presspac.html


In This Edition:

  • New hot pocket geography may point toward better avian flu drugs
  • Toward a much-needed new test for cancer of the urinary bladder
  • Protein-enriched milk may reduce need for antibiotics in animal feed
  • Crude oil contains less toxic mercury than coal
  • Concerns about safety of Chinese ingredients may be unwarranted when it comes to prescription drugs

Journalists Resources:

  • "Huh, a what?"Find out "what" in a Chemistry Glossary [hyperlink]
  • Introducing ACS Updates: Forensic Science; Emerging Water Contaminants
  • Science Elements: ACS Audio Clips
  • News, features, background, sources from ACS 233rd National Meeting
  • Summer Features: Beach sand may harbor disease-causing E. coli bacteria, and Fireworks displays linked to perchlorate contamination in lakes

Mark Your Calendars:

  • 234th ACS National Meeting, August 19-23, Boston, MA
  • 11th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, Washington, DC

This information is intended for your personal use in news gathering and reporting and should not be distributed to others. Anyone using advance ACS News Service Weekly Press Package information for stocks or securities dealing may be guilty of insider trading under the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934.


ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New "hot pocket" geography may point toward better avian flu drugs
Journal of the American Chemical Society

Amid heightened concern over a possible epidemic of bird flu in humans, scientists in the United States and Taiwan are reporting critical new insights into the architecture of a key enzyme in the H5N1 avian influenza virus that enables the virus to spread. The report is scheduled for the June 20 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication.

Rommie E. Amaro and colleagues focused on what has been termed the "hot pocket," or more technically "the 150-loop." This chain of amino acids forms a cavity in the neuraminidase enzyme that facilitates H5N1’s spread. Anti-flu drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors work by entering and binding to the hot pocket, almost like a hand fitting into a glove.

In the new study, researchers report that the hot pocket actually can have internal shapes substantially different than previously believed. That new structural understanding of the 150-loop could be valuable in efforts to design new and more effective anti-flu drugs, they state. Drugs capable of fitting more snugly into the cavity could yield a class of neuraminidase inhibitors that are more effective against H5N1-like flu viruses.

ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Remarkable Loop Flexibility in Avian Influenza N1 and Its Implications for Antiviral Drug Design

DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jacsat/asap/pdf/ja0723535.pdf
DOWNLAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jacsat/asap/html/ja0723535.html

CONTACT:
Rommie E. Amaro, Ph.D.
University of California at San Diego
San Diego, CA
Phone: 858-822-0169
Fax: 858-534-4974
Email: ramaro@mccammon.ucsd.edu


ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Toward a much-needed new test for cancer of the urinary bladder
Journal of Proteome Research

Progress toward development of a much-needed test for early detection of cancer of the urinary bladder and for monitoring patients after treatment is being reported in an article scheduled for the July 6 issue of ACS Journal of Proteome Research.

In the report, the University of Florida's Steve Goodison and colleagues at the University of Michigan note that urinary bladder cancer is among the five most common malignancies worldwide. Early detection and treatment dramatically increases patient survival rates. However, the existing urinalysis test has serious drawbacks. Consequently, the development of noninvasive urinalysis assays using reliable diagnostic markers would be of tremendous benefit to both patients and healthcare providers,the report points out.

Their research identified potential biomarkers for bladder cancer, including a protein present in the urine of patients with bladder cancer but not other individuals. It is the same protein linked to liver and ovarian cancer in previous studies. Although the protein appears promising as a biomarker, the researchers cite the need for further studies in large groups of bladder cancer patients to determine its usefulness.

ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bladder Cancer Associated Glycoprotein Signatures Revealed by Urinary Proteomic Profiling

DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jprobs/asap/pdf/pr0700807.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jprobs/asap/html/pr0700807.html

CONTACT:
Steve Goodison, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Jacksonville, FL 32209
Phone: 904-244-6180
Fax: 904-244-4667
Email: steve.goodison@jax.ufl.edu


ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Protein-enriched milk may reduce need for antibiotics in animal feed
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

The search for ways to promote growth of farm animals without adding antibiotics to feed has led scientists in Taiwan to an advance toward genetically engineering animals that produce higher levels of a natural growth-promoting protein in their milk.

In a study scheduled for publication in the June 13 issue of ACS'sJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal, Winston T. K. Cheng and colleagues point out that the protein, lactoferrin (LF), has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory actions and may serve as an alternative to antibiotics in agriculture. The researchers genetically engineered laboratory mice to produce milk enriched in pig LF, and studied the growth of 10 generations of mice pups fed on the milk. Mice fed LF-enriched milk grew 10-15 per cent faster than those fed on ordinary milk.

In animal husbandry, it is thought that supplementing the diet of neonatal pigs with porcine LF may decrease mortality rates of piglets due to diarrhea and anemia by rendering them more resistant to common infectious agents, the report states. Transgenic animals expressing the LF protein in the mammary gland and secreting high levels of LF in the milk may be generated to produce a whole new herd of diarrhea- and anemia-resistant piglets with better growth performance and commercial value.

ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Recombinant Porcine Lactoferrin Expressed in the Milk of Transgenic Mice Enhances Offspring Growth Performance

DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/asap/pdf/jf063759o.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/asap/html/jf063759o.html

CONTACT:
Winston T. K. Cheng, Ph.D.
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan
Phone: 886-2-2733-7180
Fax: 886-2-2732-4070 Email: wtkcheng@ntu.edu.tw

Chuan-Mu Chen, Ph.D.
National Chung Hsing University
Taichung, Taiwan
Phone: 886-4-2285-6309
Fax: 886-4-2287-4740
Email: chchen1@dragon.nchu.edu.tw


ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Crude oil contains less toxic mercury than coal
Environmental Science & Technology

A 4-year study of mercury in crude oil refined in the United States has found that, of the two major sources of U.S. fossil energy mined coal and crude oil crude oil contains much less toxic mercury, on average, than coal. The study is scheduled for publication in the July 1 issue of ACS Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

S. Mark Wilhelm and colleagues point out that extensive studies had been done on mercury in coal, the nation's other major fuel. Coal is the largest source of human-generated mercury emissions in the United States. Coal-fired power plants released about 48 tons of mercury annually, according to U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, a figure that would drop to 15 tons annually with implementation of new clean air regulations.

However, the amount of mercury present in crude oil, and thus potentially released into the air in automobile exhaust and other sources, remained uncertain due to a lack of accurate mercury concentration data for the wide range of crude oils produced domestically and imported into the U. S., the study noted.

To understand the mean concentration of mercury in oil processed by U.S. refineries, EPA employed two independent laboratories, each using different pre-qualified methods, to analyze oil streams arriving at U.S. refineries by tanker or pipeline. The samples included oil from the U. S. and 20 foreign countries. The total amount of mercury in crude oil processed in the U. S. annually is less than five percent of the amount contained in U. S. coal produced annually, the study concluded.

ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mercury in Crude Oil Processed in the United States (2004)

DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/pdf/es062742j.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es062742j.html

CONTACT:
S. Mark Wilhelm, Ph.D.
Mercury Technology Services
Tomball, Texas 77377
Phone: 281-255-3775
Cell: 713-261-3154
Email: smw@hgtech.com


ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, June 18, 2007

Concerns about safety of Chinese ingredients may be unwarranted when it comes to prescription drugs
Chemical & Engineering News

With Chinese manufacturers poised to increase exports of drug ingredients and perhaps even begin shipping finished drug products to the United States, an article http://pubs.acs.org/cen/business/85/8525bus1.html in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS's weekly newsmagazine, questions allegations that foreign-made ingredients often are manufactured in factories that have never been inspected by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The article, written by Jean-Franois Tremblay, of C&ENAsia-Pacific Bureau, notes that concerns about counterfeit ingredients arose after recent scandals involving Chinese food and drug ingredients. In one incident, media reports said that an over-the-counter cough syrup formulated with a counterfeit Chinese ingredient killed dozens of people in Panama last November.

It is unlikely that counterfeit ingredients could reach prescription medicines sold in the United States because of the high degree of scrutiny that those ingredients receive in China and along their route to the pharmacy shelf, Tremblay reports. However, there is less scrutiny from FDA and other sources for over-the-counter or nonprescription ingredients. FDA only inspects the formulation facilities that make pills, syrups, and other finished products out of ingredients purchased from various suppliers, the article notes.

ARTICLE # 5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, June 18, 2007

Trusting medicine from China: Close FDA scrutiny of Chinese pharmaceutical ingredients extends only to those for prescription drugs

This story will be available on June 18 at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/business/85/8525bus1.html

FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michael Bernstein
ACS News Service
Phone: 202-872-6042
Fax: 202-872-4370
Email: m_bernstein@acs.org


Journalists Resources

General Chemistry Glossary
http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/glossary.shtml

ACS Updates: Hot research that can be a treasure trove for journalists seeking news and feature topics, or trying to keep current in rapidly-evolving scientific disciplines.

Forensic Science

Concise summaries of articles on forensic science published from 2005-2006 in a dozen major journals, courtesy of ACS Analytical Chemistry

Emerging Water Contaminants

Summaries of key research articles on water analysis and emerging contaminants published mainly from 2005-2006.

Science Elements: ACS Audio Clips

News, features, background, sources from ACS National Meeting

News media resources from the March 25-29 meeting in Chicago include more than 9,000 abstracts of technical presentations and more than 1,000 non-technical summaries in a searchable database, plus press releases, podcasts and other materials.


Summer Features

Beach sand may harbor disease-causing E. coli bacteria
DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/2007/41/i07/pdf/es0623156.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/2007/41/i07/html/es0623156.html

Fireworks displays linked to perchlorate contamination in lakes
DOWNLOAD PDF http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/pdf/es0700698.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es0700698.html


Mark Your Calendars

  • 11th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference This pioneering conference on one of the hottest topics in chemistry will be held June 26-29, 2007 at the Capital Hilton hotel in Washington, DC.
    http://www.gcande.org/

  • 234th ACS National Meeting, August 19-23 Boston, MA

News media registration is now open for the 234th ACS national meeting, which will be held in Boston, MA on August 19-23, 2007 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and more than a dozen hotels across the city. More than 16,000 scientists and others are expected to attend this scientific extravaganza. There will be more than 9,500 presentations on new discoveries in chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, and other fields. The theme: "Biotechnology for Health and Wellness." http://chemistry.org/news/acs_media_registration.html

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