Amino Acid News and Research

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Amino Acid is one of several molecules that join together to form proteins. There are 20 common amino acids found in proteins.

SARS-CoV-2 lured away and trapped by a new decoy version of ACE2

Researchers in the United States and Canada have engineered affinity-optimized “receptor traps” that prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from binding to and infecting cells.

3 Aug 2020

Novel short ACE2 isoform may influence SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility

A study led by researchers at the University of Southampton, UK, has identified a novel short isoform of the full-length receptor that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses to gain entry to host cells.

3 Aug 2020

15 young scientists receive Damon Runyon Fellowship Award to pursue cancer research

Grants totaling nearly $3.5 million give early career investigators independence to pursue brave and bold cancer research.

31 Jul 2020

Study: ANGEL2 enzyme performs unique chemical reaction at the end of RNA molecules

Scientists led by Javier Martinez from the Max Perutz Labs, a joint venture of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna, have identified a unique chemical reaction at the end of RNA molecules for the first time in human cells.

31 Jul 2020

Researcher uses in silico analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to fast-track passive immunity

With millions of COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, people are turning to antibody tests to find out whether they have been exposed to the coronavirus that causes the disease. But what are antibodies? Why are they important? If we have them, are we immune to COVID-19? And if not, why not?

30 Jul 2020

Emergent SARS-CoV-2 D614G spike mutation more infective due to "open" morphology

Researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Duke Human Vaccine Institute & Department of Surgery demonstrated that globally prevalent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with the amino acid substitution D614G in the spike protein is much more infective due to profitable binding encounters with the host receptors.

28 Jul 2020

ProCap DDGS offers high quality nutrition to pigs

With more ethanol in production and a greater ability to upcycle co-products into animal feed ingredients, companies are creating custom products and partnering with University of Illinois researchers to test for quality and digestibility.

25 Jul 2020

People who carry the Neandertal variant of ion channel experience more pain

As several Neandertal genomes of high quality are now available researchers can identify genetic changes that were present in many or all Neandertals, investigate their physiological effects and look into their consequences when they occur in people today.

23 Jul 2020

Researchers determine how SARS-CoV-2 inhibits protein synthesis

Researchers from Munich and Ulm have determined how the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the synthesis of proteins in infected cells and shown that it effectively disarms the body's innate immune system.

19 Jul 2020

Compelling study shows heparin may protect against COVID-19

A compelling new study conducted by an international team of researchers has demonstrated that the widely used blood-thinning medication - heparin - can block infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

16 Jul 2020

Researchers uncover new mechanism for designing antiviral drugs for dengue virus

A multidisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered a new mechanism for designing antiviral drugs for dengue virus. The study is currently available in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

14 Jul 2020

Scientists identify a new role for covalent linker in transmembrane ion channels

In the molecular-level world of ion channels - passageways through membranes that carry signals in a cell's environment and allow it to respond - researchers have debated about the role of a small piece of the channel called a linker, says computational biophysicist Jianhan Chen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

10 Jul 2020

X-ray scattering technique reveals mechanisms of protein folding

KAIST researchers have used an X-ray method to track how proteins fold, which could improve computer simulations of this process, with implications for understanding diseases and improving drug discovery.

9 Jul 2020

Small molecule drugs binding Mac1 domain of SARS-CoV-2

Now, an intriguing new study out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee reveals that numerous small molecule drugs like the proton pump inhibitors omeprazole and rabeprazole bind the important Mac1 domain on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus.

8 Jul 2020

Evolutionary snapshot reveals genetic stability of SARS-CoV-2

A multinational study currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server shows that in the early large genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) only a handful of amino acids are exchanged, implying a relatively low mutation rate and selection pressure.

7 Jul 2020

Study suggests new potential strategy to fight against pancreatic cancer

A University of Michigan-led study is shedding new light on the way pancreatic cancer cells turn nearby connective tissue cells into co-conspirators in their deadly growth.

6 Jul 2020

Mutated European strain of coronavirus more contagious but less potent

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over as it actively spreads across the globe. The infection toll has reached a staggering 10.84 million people since it emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. The virus that has left the city has now spread to 188 countries and territories and has mutated, becoming more infectious.

3 Jul 2020

Researchers find possible cause for SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in uninfected individuals

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) -2, leading to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death in a sizable minority of cases. However, the most significant number are asymptomatic or have only mild infection from which they rapidly recover.

2 Jul 2020

Study indicates that primitive proteins could have progressed to form living cells

What did the very first proteins – those that appeared on Earth around 3.7 billion years ago – look like? Prof. Dan Tawfik of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Norman Metanis of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reconstructed protein sequences that may well resemble those ancestors of modern proteins, and their research suggests a way that these primitive proteins could have progressed to forming living cells.

1 Jul 2020

New approach holds incredible potential for developing new therapeutics

Nearly every drug that is, or has ever been, used was derived from nature -- harnessing compounds created by organisms over eons to fight diseases. But decades ago, biochemists postulated that it might be possible to design a new drug from scratch by linking up amino acids in precise ways.

30 Jun 2020