SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cytokinetics, Incorporated announced today that it is sponsoring a Special Interest Subgroup at the 45th American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. The subgroup, to be held on Saturday, December 10, 2005, will assemble a group of experts to discuss the function and regulation of actin-myosin interactions in vitro and in vivo.
Contractility has evolved from simple cytokinetic events in prokaryotic life to include muscle contractility and more complex intracellular events in higher eukaryotic organisms where contractile tissues play a role in a variety of physiologic processes including cardiac contractility, blood pressure maintenance, airflow regulation, and bladder control. The three major muscle types -- skeletal, smooth, cardiac -- are each highly specialized, expressing their own set of distinct contractile proteins and regulated by distinctly different mechanisms. However, regardless of muscle type or regulation, muscle contractility and cellular contractile events derive their function fundamentally from the interaction of a force generating motor, myosin, with a filamentous polymer, actin. This meeting will present current research across a wide variety of topics including cytokinesis, muscle contractility and the nature of actin-myosin interactions in the contractile setting.
"We're pleased to sponsor our fourth special subgroup at ASCB on topics related to the cytoskeleton and contractility," stated James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., Cytokinetics' President and Chief Executive Officer. "This meeting will bring together many of the world's thought leaders in the field of contractility research and Cytokinetics is pleased, once again, to organize and sponsor this meeting for the academic community. The presentations will illustrate the richness and the complexities of fundamental biological processes associated with contractility and their implications for a broad array of human diseases."
Cytokinetics has sponsored three previous subgroups at the annual ASCB meeting: "The Cytoskeleton and Mechanisms of Disease" in 2000, "Cytoskeletal Pharmacology and the Role of Cytoskeletal Proteins in Human Disease" in 2002 and "The Interface Between Small Molecule Chemistry and Cell Biology" in 2003. During the same timeframe, the company has made progress in bringing into clinical trials drug candidates for the potential treatment of cancer and heart failure which leverage its expertise in cytoskeletal pharmacology.
Background on Cardiac Myosin Activators and Cardiac Contractility
Cardiac myosin is the cytoskeletal motor protein in the cardiac muscle cell that is directly responsible for converting chemical energy into the mechanical force resulting in cardiac contraction. Cardiac contractility is driven by the cardiac sarcomere, the fundamental unit of muscle contraction in the heart that is a highly ordered cytoskeletal structure composed of cardiac myosin, actin and a set of regulatory proteins. The sarcomere represents one of the most thoroughly characterized protein machines in human biology.
Cytokinetics' heart failure program is focused towards the discovery and development of small molecule cardiac myosin activators in order to create next-generation treatments to manage acute and chronic congestive heart failure. Cytokinetics' program is based on the hypothesis that activators of cardiac myosin may address certain mechanistic liabilities of existing pharmaceuticals by increasing cardiac contractility without increasing intracellular calcium or inhibiting phosphodiesterase activity, each of which may be associated with adverse clinical effects in heart failure patients. Existing drugs that improve cardiac cell contractility increase the concentration of intracellular calcium, which indirectly activates cardiac myosin, but this effect on calcium levels also has been linked to potentially life-threatening side effects. In contrast, cardiac myosin activators have been shown to work by a novel mechanism that directly stimulates the activity of the cardiac myosin motor protein by accelerating the rate-limiting step of the myosin enzymatic cycle and thereby shifting the enzymatic cycle in favor of the force producing state.
Special Interest Subgroup E at the 45th Annual ASCB Meeting Saturday, December 10, 2005 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, California, Room 101
"Function and Regulation of Actin-Myosin Interactions in vitro and in vivo"
Moderator: -- James Spudich, Ph.D. Opening Remarks Stanford University School of Medicine Speakers and Topics: -- Anne Houdusse, Ph.D. Recent Structural Insights for Institut Curie the Motor Mechanism of Myosin Motors -- Yale E. Goldman, M.D., Ph.D. Angle Changes and Torque of University of Pennsylvania Conventional and Unconventional Myosins -- Kathleen Trybus, Ph.D. Regulation and Processivity of Myosin V University of Vermont -- H. Lee Sweeney, Ph.D. Myosin VI: a Myosin with Kinesin-Like University of Pennsylvania Properties -- Jeff Robbins, Ph.D. The Cardiac Myosin Heavy Chains: of Cincinnati Children's Mouse, Man (and Rabbits) Hospital Medical Center -- Neal Epstein, M.D. The Importance of Cardiac Myosin Light National Institutes of Health Chains in the Cardiac Cycle and Their Role in the Discovery of Adult Cardiac Stem Cells -- James H. Sabry, M.D., Ph.D. Concluding Remarks Cytokinetics, Inc. About Cytokinetics
Cytokinetics is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small molecule drugs that specifically target the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is a complex biological infrastructure that plays a fundamental role within every human cell. Cytokinetics' focus on the cytoskeleton enables it to develop novel and potentially safer and more effective classes of drugs directed at treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases. Cytokinetics has developed a cell biology driven approach and proprietary technologies to evaluate the function of many interacting proteins in the complex environment of the intact human cell. Cytokinetics employs the PUMA(TM) system and Cytometrix(TM) technologies to enable early identification and automated prioritization of compounds that are highly selective for their intended protein targets without other cellular effects, and may therefore be less likely to give rise to clinical side effects. Cytokinetics and GlaxoSmithKline have entered into a strategic alliance to discover, develop and commercialize small molecule therapeutics targeting human mitotic kinesins for applications in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. GlaxoSmithKline is conducting Phase II and Phase Ib clinical trials for ispinesib (SB-715992) and a Phase I clinical trial for SB-743921, each a drug candidate that has emerged from the strategic alliance. Cytokinetics' heart failure program is the second program to leverage the company's expertise in cytoskeletal pharmacology. Cytokinetics recently initiated a Phase I human clinical trial with CK-1827452, a novel small molecule cardiac myosin activator, for the treatment of heart failure. Additional information about Cytokinetics can be obtained at www.cytokinetics.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Cytokinetics disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and claims the protection of the Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Act. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the potential benefits of our drug candidates and potential drug candidates and the enabling capabilities of our proprietary technologies. Such statements are based on management's current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties relating to difficulties or delays in development, testing, regulatory approval, production and marketing of Cytokinetics' drug candidates that could slow or prevent clinical development or product approval (including the risks relating to uncertainty of patent protection for Cytokinetics' intellectual property or trade secrets, Cytokinetics' ability to obtain additional financing if necessary and unanticipated research and development and other costs). For further information regarding these and other risks related to Cytokinetics' business, investors should consult Cytokinetics' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cytokinetics, IncorporatedCONTACT: Robert I. Blum, EVP, Corporate Development and CommercialOperations, and CBO of Cytokinetics, Incorporated, +1-650-624-3000; orinvestors, Clay A. Kramer or media, Justin Jackson, +1-212-213-0006, bothof Burns McClellan, Inc., for Cytokinetics
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