Achieving a desirable percutaneous absorption of drug molecule is a major concern in formulating dermatological products. The use of penetration enhancers could provide a successful mean for this purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of incorporating a few common penetration enhancers (in different concentrations) into a 0.5% w/w piroxicam (model drug) gel formulation, on th...

Several developments have converged to drive what may be called "the cognitive revolution" in drug discovery in schizophrenia (SCZ), including the emphasis on cognitive deficits as a core disabling aspect of SCZ, the increasing consensus that cognitive deficits are not treated satisfactorily by the available antipsychotic drugs (APDs), and the failure of animal models to predict drug efficacy f...

Mutations in the coding region of the FOXP2 transcriptor factor gene are known to cause speech and language impairment. Chromosomal rearrangements with breakpoints downstream the gene have been hypothesised to impair speech and cognitive abilities via physical separation of distant regulatory DNA elements. In this study, we used highly efficient targeted chromosomal deletions induced by the CRI...

We investigated sequence features of enhancers separated from their target gene by at least one intermediate gene/exon (named tele-enhancers in this study) and enhancers residing inside their target gene locus. In this study, we used whole genome enhancer maps and gene expression profiles to establish a large panel of tele-enhancers. By contrasting tele-enhancers to proximal enhancers targeting...

Cognitive decline most commonly associated with Alzheimer’s dementia can also result from other conditions including cerebral ischemia or brain trauma. One quarter of people over the age of 65 are estimated to suffer some form of cognitive impairment underscoring the need for effective classes of cognitive-enhancing agents. In this mini-review we highlight recent work from our laboratory on the...

Traumatic brain injury is the most common cause of death and disability in young people and survivors often suffer from chronic cognitive deficits. From animal, post-mortem and cognitive studies, there is now increased evidence that abnormalities in the cholinergic system may be underlying some of these deficits. This study investigated this hypothesis in a group of survivors of moderate-severe...