Released on = July 26, 2007, 9:57 am

Press Release Author = GTCbio

Industry = Pharmaceuticals

Press Release Summary = Dr. Ferid Murad who received a Nobel Prize in Physiology and
Medicine and who is currently a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology
and Pharmacology and Director of the Brown Institute of Molecular Medicine at the
University of Texas Medical School will be among the plenary keynote presenters at
GTCbio's 3rd Modern Drug Discovery and Development Summit on November 28-30 in San
Francisco, CA.

Press Release Body = Dr. Ferid Murad who received a Nobel Prize in Physiology and
Medicine and who is currently a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology
and Pharmacology and Director of the Brown Institute of Molecular Medicine at the
University of Texas Medical School will be among the plenary keynote presenters at
GTCbio's 3rd Modern Drug Discovery and Development Summit on November 28-30 in San
Francisco, CA.

Dr. Murad will give a presentation entitled "The Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP
Signaling System in Drug Discovery and Development."

The role of nitric oxide in cellular signaling in the past three decades has become
one of the most rapidly growing areas in biology. Nitric oxide is a gas and a free
radical with an unshared electron that can regulate an ever-growing list of
biological processes. Nitric oxide is formed from L-arginine by a family of enzymes
called nitric oxide synthases. These enzymes have a complex requirement for a number
of cofactors and regulators including NADPH, tetrahydrobioterin, flavins, calmodulin
and heme. The enzymes are present in most cells and tissues. In many instances,
nitric oxide mediates its biological effects by activating the soluble isoform of
guanylyl cyclase and increasing cyclic GMP synthesis from GTP. Cyclic GMP, in turn,
can activate cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) and can cause smooth muscles
and blood vessels to relax, decrease platelet aggregation, alter neuron function,
etc. These effects can decrease blood pressure, increase blood flow to tissues,
alter memory and behavior, decrease blood clotting, etc. The list of effects of
nitric oxide that are independent of cyclic GMP formation is also growing at a rapid
rate.

Dr. Murad's lecture will discuss the discovery of the first biological effects of
nitric oxide and how the field has evolved since our original reports in 1977. The
possible utility of this signaling pathway to facilitate novel drug development and
the creation of numerous projects in the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries
will also be discussed.

The 3rd Modern Drug Discovery & Development Summit features over 150 speakers
participating in 6 concurrent conferences, 6 study sessions and 3 pre-conference
workshops. Other Plenary keynotes include Mahdi Fawzi, EVP of Preclinical Research
at Wyeth and Keith James, SVP and Site Head of Pfizer La Jolla. Tracks include
Biological Therapeutics, Drug Delivery Technology, Translational Medicine, Drug
Design and Lead Optimization, Emerging Targets, and Pharmaco - Kinetics, Dynamics,
Genomics and Genetics. For more information, visit www.gtcbio.com

ABOUT GTCbio

GTCbio organizes conferences specifically for the biomedical and biopharmaceutical
industries. The company's goal is to facilitate the exchange of biopharmaceutical
and biomedical intelligence between industry leaders, academic and government
organizations, and the financial community.

GTCbio is a subsidiary of Global Technology Community, LLC, a privately held company
founded in 2002.


Web Site = http://www.gtcbio.com

Contact Details = Contact: GTCBIO (626) 256-6405, (626) 256-6460 fax,
raniah@gtcbio.com