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.

New drug target for herpes viruses

Scientists in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Hidde Ploegh and the Harvard University lab of Rachelle Gaudet have solved the complex structure of a recently discovered protein that is found in a wide range of herpes viruses. This protein may prove to be a potential drug target.

11 Mar 2007

New drug target for herpes viruses

11 Mar 2007

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus tricks cells to become tumors

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) subverts a normal cell process in order to promote tumor growth.

8 Nov 2006

Protection for nerve cells - eating up defective proteins

Nerve cells in the Central Nervous System can defend against and recover from damage by proteinlike clusters which are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's Chorea.

13 Sep 2006

Molecular chaperones protect cells

Falsely folded proteins and their aggregations in neurons are considered to be the cause of neurodegenerative diseases, among them Chorea Huntington.

13 Sep 2006

Boosting enzyme may reverse Alzheimer's

New research by scientists at Columbia University suggests that boosting the function of a certain enzyme may provide a promising strategy for battling Alzheimer's disease, and possibly reversing its effects.

28 Aug 2006

Researchers find cause of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is the second major form of dementia.

17 Jul 2006

Scientists discover molecular security mechanism for keeping gene mutations in check

Everyone knows mutations - genetic mistakes in DNA, the material of heredity - are bad: The more mutations in the cell's DNA, the higher the risk of cancer developing.

8 May 2006

Important new global mechanism for gene repression

Most of the time in most cells of the body, the great majority of genes are silenced, locked away within the compacted but orderly material that makes up chromosomes.

18 Apr 2006

New information about the molecular pathway used by ubiquitin

Because ubiquitin plays a key role in cell survival, scientists have already begun to develop drugs to target parts of the ubiquitin pathway in treating diseases such as cancer.

28 Mar 2006

New understanding of Mediterranean spotted fever

New research by a team of scientists in France and the United States has identified both the bacterial and host receptor proteins that enable Rickettsia conorii, the Mediterranean spotted fever pathogen, to enter cells.

15 Dec 2005

Preventing muscle wasting with a leucine-rich diet

Muscle in adults is constantly being built and broken down. As young adults we keep the two processes in balance, but when we age breakdown starts to win. However, adding the amino acid leucine to the diet of old individuals can set things straight again.

5 Dec 2005

Ubiquitin ligase Rnf6 may be involved in oncogenesis

In a recent study, Dr. Ingolf Bach and colleagues from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester and the University of Hamburg describe a novel role for the ubiquitin/proteosome protein degradation pathway in the regulation of local actin dynamics in neurons.

3 Oct 2005

Why do estrogen-dependent breast-cancer cells grow and spread rapidly?

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say it may be because estrogen virtually eliminates levels of a vitally important regulatory protein.

10 Sep 2005

Biological breakthrough that could offer new hope in the fight against liver cancer

Professor John Mayer and Dr Simon Dawson, in collaboration with colleagues at Japan's Kyoto University, have discovered the function of a new liver oncoprotein - or cancer causing protein - which could be the first step to finding effective new treatments for the deadly illness.

21 Jul 2005

NIPA levels act as switch regulating cell division

Cells control mitosis (cell division) by assembling a biochemical switch to block it or by disassembling the switch to trigger it, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Technical University of Munich.

18 Jul 2005

Researchers find enzyme vital for controlling the early stages of cell death

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found an enzyme vital for controlling the early stages of cell death - a beneficial and normal process when it works right, but malignant in a variety of cancers when it malfunctions.

30 Jun 2005

Researchers explain how ubiquitin function is determined

University of Maryland researchers have explained, for the first time, why the linkage between the cell-regulating protein molecules called ubiquitins determines their function.

10 Jun 2005

Scientists have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells. Understanding the network's physical layout is an important step toward learning its precise function, and in finding ways to correct flaws in the system that could lead to cancer.

2 Jun 2005

Discovery of new genes involved in the development of cancer

Dutch researcher Sebastian Nijman has discovered new genes which are involved in the development of cancer. The results of his research have led to a new treatment for patients with an inherited form of cancer, cylindromatosis.

15 May 2005