Advancing Medical Research

Janus kinases (JAKs) named after Janus, the Roman two-faced god of duality, are enzymes with two “faces,” or domains, that play a key role in signal transduction of cytokines, the molecular messengers that trigger the inflammatory and immune responses. Scientific discoveries related to JAKs in recent years have led to novel treatments for…

Large families can be complex. And while you may know some of its members individually, you can’t really gain a true understanding of their relationships and dynamics without considering the group in its totality.

Such is the case for solute carrier (SLC) transporters, a “superfamily” of some 400 proteins found in our cell membranes responsible for shuttling nutrients, neurotransmitters, medicines and other…

When it comes to creating new medicines, the stories that most often reach the public are the discoveries of new biological pathways or novel compounds. But in the nearly decade-long journey a medicine takes to get from the lab to patients, drug safety studies are an integral, though often behind-the-scenes, part of the process. We recently spoke with Pfizer scientists who work in various areas of toxicology to…

Sometimes it only takes one inspiring educator to set you on your career path. As an undergrad at UC Davis in the late 1970s, Jon Cook had a charismatic professor who sparked his interest in the field of toxicology, which studies the safety effects of drugs and chemicals on living organisms.

“This guy…

Thanks to a recent strategic research collaboration with XtalPi, a U.S.-China pharmaceutical tech company, Pfizer scientists are performing crystal structure prediction in a matter of days. Pioneered by a group of quantum physicists from MIT, the XtalPi technology leverages artificial intelligence and cloud computing to perform these complex equations.

Iron is an essential part of the biologic operating manual for organisms from single-celled bacteria up to complex human beings. But iron also has a dark side: Because of its capacity to turn molecules into free radicals that can damage cell membranes and DNA, too much iron can be as dangerous as too little. 

The old saying “you are what you eat” may not be strictly accurate, but like many a timeworn adage, it holds a kernel of truth. For example, while eating a high-fat diet may not necessarily make people fat, the amount and type of fat in their diets still influences their overall health. When people think about the relationship between eating and health, however, they rarely consider how their dietary habits could…

If you’ve ever had a liver function test as part of an annual physical, you may know that the exam screens for certain biomarkers, like liver enzymes in the blood. If these substances are found to be elevated, it may mean that you have a liver disease or have been exposed to some medications or environmental toxins. 

Liver biomarkers are also important tools in the drug development process. Before a drug…