Ubiquitin News and Research

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Ubiquitin is a small regulatory protein that has been found in almost all cells (''ubiquitously'') with nuclei (eukaryotes). It directs proteins to recycling and other functions.

cFLIP protein makes breast cancer cells resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis

Researchers at the Andalusian Institute for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the University of Granada found that cFLIP -an inhibitor of death ligand-induced apoptosis- is not only essential in breast tumor cells resistance to TRAIL treatments (a death ligand with a potent therapeutic potential against cancer), but this protein is also key to the survival of such cancer cells.

14 Dec 2010

Hybrigenics receives EUR 800,000 payment from Oseo

Hybrigenics (ALHYG), a bio-pharmaceutical group with a focus on research and development of new cancer treatments and a fully-owned subsidiary specialized in protein interactions services, today announces it has received EUR 800,000 as the second and last payment of a EUR 1.4 million refundable grant contract originally signed with France’s innovation agency, Oseo Innovation, in 2008.

2 Dec 2010

New findings provide insight into brain development

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination. Defects in this system affect the architecture of the brain and are associated with epilepsy, mental retardation and perhaps malignant brain tumors.

25 Nov 2010

Scientists use NMR technology to improve protein purification in drug development

The purification of drug components is a large hurdle facing modern drug development. This is particularly true of drugs that utilize proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from other potentially deadly impurities. Scientists within the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to understand and improve an important protein purification process.

30 Sep 2010

Cell quality control mechanism research paves way for new understanding of neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have solved a long-standing mystery of how cells conduct "quality control" to eliminate the toxic effects of a certain kind of error in protein production. The findings may lead to a better understanding of a host of neurodegenerative diseases.

13 Sep 2010

Researchers find role of Vpr protein in HIV infection

Dr. Éric A. Cohen, Director of the Human Retrovirology research unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team published yesterday, in the online open-access journal PLos Pathogens, the results of their most recent research on the role of the Vpr protein in HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection and AIDS (acquired autoimmune deficiency syndrome).

3 Sep 2010

RPA70 associated with SUMO-specific protease facilitates DNA repair: Research

A team of investigators led by a physician-scientist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shown for the first time that the small protein SUMO can team up with the replication protein A (RPA) complex to facilitate DNA repair. The study is published in the Aug. 13 edition of the journal Molecular Cell.

13 Aug 2010

University of Maryland receives grant from NCRR to acquire superconducting NMR spectrometer

The University of Maryland, in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland Baltimore County, has received a $7.9 million federal grant to acquire a superconducting 950 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) magnet that will help researchers unravel the mysteries of molecules and develop new agents to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

12 Aug 2010

Researchers discover enzyme crucial for DNA repair

Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.Scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Life Sciences Institute of Zhejiang University in China report the discovery of the enzyme and its role in repairing DNA damage called cross-linking in the Science Express advance online publication of Science.

30 Jul 2010

Progenra receives Official Notice of Allowance for screening platform

Progenra, Inc., announced today their receipt of an Official Notice of Allowance, dated June 15, 2010, of U.S. Patent Application No. 11/156,707, "Diagnostic and Screening Methods and Kits Associated with Proteolytic Activity." IP protection of this technology was also recently granted by the European Union. This technology will enable faster drug discovery by improving the ability to identify more selective drugs that modulate the handling of proteins associated with various disease states.

27 Jul 2010

Elevation of Smurf1 may play a role in molecular basis of PAH: Study

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease, marked by shortness of breath and fatigue which can be fatal if untreated. Increased pressure in the pulmonary artery and its branches is associated with dysfunctional growth control of endothelial and smooth muscle cells leading to excessive thickening of the blood vessel wall, obliteration of the lumen and right heart failure.

22 Jun 2010

An ubiquitin-specific peptidase that potentially promote cancer cell necrosis

"ubiquitin-specific peptidase 21 (USP21) has been identified as another essential player in regulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation by working on receptor-interacting protein 1(RIP1)."

18 Jun 2010

Increasing levels of GGA3 protein prevent accumulation of enzyme linked to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine have zeroed in on a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The team found that increasing levels of the protein (called GGA3) prevented the accumulation of an enzyme linked to Alzheimer's. The strategy may lead to new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease.

26 May 2010

New on-off switches: SUMO protein silences developmental genes, SNP2 snips SUMO to allow gene expression

Deleting a gene in mouse embryos caused cardiac defects and early death, leading researchers to identify a mechanism that turns developmental genes off and on as an embryo matures, a team led by a scientist at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today in Molecular Cell.

23 Apr 2010

Death protein ubiquitin binds to and activates RIG-I: UT Southwestern researchers

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have determined how a protein that normally latches onto molecules inside cells and marks them for destruction also gives life to the body's immune response against viruses.

22 Apr 2010

NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award for Zhihao Zhuang

Zhihao Zhuang, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware, has won the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award.

17 Apr 2010

New production method yields hundredsfold more ubiquitylated proteins critical for cancer research

Scientists at the University of Delaware have developed a new method for producing proteins critical to research on cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases.

3 Apr 2010

ITCH gene causes multisystem autoimmune disorder

The gene for a newly recognized disease has been identified thanks to the determination of an Amish father and the clinical skills and persistence of Indiana University and Riley Hospital for Children physicians in collaboration with physicians and researchers at the Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, Penn., which specializes in disorders of the Amish.

9 Mar 2010

HMS study suggests new targets for treating Angelman syndrome

Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism. Over a decade ago, researchers found that AS was caused by mutation in a single gene, but no one had been able to explain how this defect resulted in the debilitating neurological symptoms of the disease.

5 Mar 2010

Peer-reviewed articles elucidate role of clusterin in promoting tumor resistance to cancer treatment

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that two peer-reviewed articles have been published that further elucidate the biological function of clusterin, its role in promoting tumor resistance to cancer treatment, and the role of an inhibitor of clusterin such as custirsen (OGX-011) that is designed to knock down treatment resistance in the cells and enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies.

1 Mar 2010