Protein News and Research

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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

Researchers pinpoint rare gene mutations that increase risk of heart attack early in life

A team of investigators from the Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and other leading biomedical research institutions has pinpointed rare mutations in a gene called APOA5 that increase a person's risk of having a heart attack early in life. These mutations disable the APOA5 gene and also raise the levels in the blood of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, a type of fat.

11 Dec 2014

Drugs delay disease progression for women with hormone-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer

A new combination of cancer drugs delayed disease progression for patients with hormone-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to a multi-center phase II trial. The findings of the randomized study (S6-03) were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-9, by Kerin Adelson, M.D., assistant professor of medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center and chief quality officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven.

11 Dec 2014

New therapeutic approach for women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer

Loyola researchers and collaborators have reported promising results from a novel therapeutic approach for women with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer.

11 Dec 2014

New study investigates Ebola protein

A new study by Robert Stahelin, an adjunct associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame and an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, as well as a member of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health, investigates how the most abundant protein that composes the Ebola virus, VP 40, mediates replication of a new viral particle.

11 Dec 2014

New technique allows rapid, large-scale studies of gene function

Using a gene-editing system originally developed to delete specific genes, MIT researchers have now shown that they can reliably turn on any gene of their choosing in living cells.

11 Dec 2014

Stem cells from healthy eye could one day be used to repair scarred cornea

Treating the potentially blinding haze of a scar on the cornea might be as straightforward as growing stem cells from a tiny biopsy of the patient's undamaged eye and then placing them on the injury site, according to mouse model experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

11 Dec 2014

CUMC researchers devise way to replace torn knee meniscus

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have devised a way to replace the knee's protective lining, called the meniscus, using a personalized 3D-printed implant, or scaffold, infused with human growth factors that prompt the body to regenerate the lining on its own.

11 Dec 2014

Enzymatic activity essential for vision may provide target for drug transport

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have uncovered the mechanism that enables the enzyme Lecithin: retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) to store vitamin A--a process that is indispensable for vision.

10 Dec 2014

Simple supplement could reduce heart disease in individuals born with low birth weight

A simple supplement could be a safe and cost-effective way of reducing heart disease in individuals born with a low birth weight, suggests research from the University of Cambridge. The study, carried out in rats, also raises the possibility of developing a blood test to indicate how much damage there is in the aortas of these individuals.

10 Dec 2014

Scientists develop new technique to get detailed images of mouse neurons

Scientists can now explore nerves in mice in much greater detail than ever before, thanks to an approach developed by scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy. The work, published online today in Nature Methods, enables researchers to easily use artificial tags, broadening the range of what they can study and vastly increasing image resolution.

10 Dec 2014

Heat-shock protein 90 enables ER+ breast cancers to develop resistance to hormonal therapy

Long known for its ability to help organisms successfully adapt to environmentally stressful conditions, the highly conserved molecular chaperone heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) also enables estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers to develop resistance to hormonal therapy.

10 Dec 2014

UT Southwestern biophysicist named recipient of 2015 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas has selected Dr. Yuh Min Chook, Professor of Pharmacology and of Biophysics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as the recipient of the 2015 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science.

10 Dec 2014

Novel drug target could lead to better antipsychotic medications

Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health have identified a novel drug target that could lead to the development of better antipsychotic medications.

10 Dec 2014

Chemical chaperone: A new therapeutic option for epilepsy

Researchers found out that the conformational defect in a specific protein causes Autosomal Dominant Lateral Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (ADLTE) which is a form of familial epilepsy. They showed that treatment with chemical corrector called "chemical chaperone" ameliorates increased seizure susceptibility in a mouse model of human epilepsy by correcting the conformational defect.

10 Dec 2014

Advances in fight against TB, sudden cardiac death

Research projects into two of the biggest killers in worldwide health, tuberculosis and sudden cardiac death, will be the subjects of the University of Leicester Graduate School Doctoral Inaugural Lectures, delivered by two of the winners of this year's PhD prizes in the College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Engineering.

10 Dec 2014

University of Illinois study could provide insight into protein-misfolding diseases

When a large protein unfolds in transit through a cell, it slows down and can get stuck in traffic. Using a specialized microscope -- a sort of cellular traffic camera -- University of Illinois chemists now can watch the way the unfolded protein diffuses.

10 Dec 2014

Drug proves effective at inhibiting growth of drug-resistant bacteria

A treatment pioneered at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research is far more effective than traditional antibiotics at inhibiting the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, including so-called "superbugs" resistant to almost all existing antibiotics, which plague hospitals and nursing homes.

10 Dec 2014

PD-1, PD-L1 differentially expressed in NSCLC

The expression of the immune checkpoint protein programmed death-1 receptor and its ligand varies according to tumour and patient characteristics in oncogene-addicted non-small-cell lung cancer, research indicates.

9 Dec 2014

Agent THZ1 shrinks human-like small cell lung tumors in mice

Small cell lung cancer - a disease for which no new drugs have been approved for many years - has shown itself vulnerable to an agent that disables part of tumor cells' basic survival machinery, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported.

9 Dec 2014

BAZ2A protein directly influences the aggressiveness of prostate cancer

A protein that influences the epigenetic characteristics of tumor cells is directly linked to the grade of malignancy of prostate cancer. This key discovery has been made by a team of scientists from the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Zurich, Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, Heidelberg University, and other institutes in a study of 7,700 samples of tumor tissue.

9 Dec 2014