Protein News and Research

RSS

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 identify potential cause of PPROM which accounts for 40% of pre-term births

Scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and UCL (University College London) have identified what they believe could be a cause of pre-term premature rupture of the fetal membrane (PPROM), which accounts for 40 per cent of pre-term births, and is the main reason for infant death world-wide.

13 Oct 2014

Blocking STAT3 in immune system cells increases anti-tumour immunity

The STAT transcription factors are involved in the development of many forms of cancer. STAT3 is frequently activated in tumour cells, so drugs targeting STAT3 could be used in cancer therapy. However, STAT3 is also important in the development of the immune system. Dagmar Gotthardt and colleagues at the Vetmeduni Vienna now show that blocking STAT3 in cells of the immune system actually leads to increased anti-tumour immunity. Anti-STAT3 therapy may thus be highly promising.

13 Oct 2014

Rockefeller University researchers gain new insight into how cholesterol processes in our body

In spite of its dangerous reputation, cholesterol is in fact an essential component of human cells. Manufactured by the cells themselves, it serves to stiffen the cell's membrane, helping to shape the cell and protect it. By mapping the structure of a key enzyme involved in cholesterol production, Rockefeller University researchers and a colleague in Italy have gained new insight into this complex molecular process.

12 Oct 2014

Four UCLA researchers receive NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Four scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received a National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award that will forward revolutionary stem cell and neuro-science in medicine.

12 Oct 2014

Synthetic oil triheptanoin improves Rett syndrome, longevity

When young mice with the rodent equivalent of a rare autism spectrum disorder (ASD), called Rett syndrome, were fed a diet supplemented with the synthetic oil triheptanoin, they lived longer than mice on regular diets. Importantly, their physical and behavioral symptoms were also less severe after being on the diet, according to results of new research from The Johns Hopkins University.

10 Oct 2014

New UCLA study reveals why people with autism experience neural stem cell overgrowth after birth

People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes.

10 Oct 2014

Discovery may provide new therapeutic avenue to target autophagy in tumors

No matter what type of chemotherapy you attack a tumor with, many cancer cells resort to the same survival tactic: They start eating themselves.

10 Oct 2014

Isis Pharmaceuticals provides update on Phase 2 clinical studies of ISIS-SMN Rx in children with SMA

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today provided an update on its ongoing open-label Phase 2 clinical studies of ISIS-SMN Rx in infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy at the 19th International World Muscle Society (WMS) Congress in Berlin, Germany.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers explore risks associated with consumption of bat bushmeat

Ebola, as with many emerging infections, is likely to have arisen due to man's interaction with wild animals – most likely the practice of hunting and eating wild meat known as 'bushmeat'. A team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge and the Zoological Society of London has surveyed almost six hundred people across southern Ghana to find out what drives consumption of bat bushmeat – and how people perceive the risks associated with the practice.

10 Oct 2014

TSRI research points toward new method for treating atherosclerosis

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have created a synthetic molecule that mimics "good" cholesterol and have shown it can reduce plaque buildup in the arteries of animal models. The molecule, taken orally, improved cholesterol in just two weeks.

10 Oct 2014

CUMC researchers use innovative algorithm to find driving force behind aggressive form of glioblastoma

Using an innovative algorithm that analyzes gene regulatory and signaling networks, Columbia University Medical Center researchers have found that loss of a gene called KLHL9 is the driving force behind the most aggressive form of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers reveal new information about Protein Kinase A

Using X-rays and neutron beams, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Utah and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have teased out new information about Protein Kinase A (PKA), a ubiquitous master switch that helps regulate fundamental cellular functions like energy consumption and interactions with hormones, neurotransmitters and drugs.

10 Oct 2014

First study of promising Ebola vaccine commenced in West Africa

Professor Myron M. Levine, MD, Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the CVD, in conjunction with its sister institution, The Center for Vaccine Development of Mali and the Ministry of Health of Mali, have begun a clinical trial in health care workers (and other front-line workers) to evaluate a promising experimental Ebola vaccine.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers use light to erase specific memories in mice

Just look into the light: not quite, but researchers at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology have used light to erase specific memories in mice, and proved a basic theory of how different parts of the brain work together to retrieve episodic memories.

10 Oct 2014

UC Berkeley, UCSF researchers team up to create center for neurodegenerative disease research

Researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley have teamed up to create an innovative, integrated center for research on neurodegenerative diseases. Supported by a $3 million grant from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, the new center aims to pave the way to developing novel treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease by investigating the many ways that proteins can malfunction within cells.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers discover mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA-lookalikes in human genome

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are ancient workhorse molecules and part of the cellular process that creates the proteins, critical building blocks of life that keep a cell running smoothly.

9 Oct 2014

Neuroscientists solve mystery of ‘chemo brain’

It is estimated that as many as half of patients taking cancer drugs experience a decrease in mental sharpness.

9 Oct 2014

Astute Medical to get $30 million from CRG to support commercialization of NephroCheck Test System

Astute Medical, Inc. and CRG today announced that Astute recently achieved a milestone under the terms of its existing term loan agreement with CRG. Under the term loan agreement, CRG will provide up to $30 million to support the commercialization of the NephroCheck Test System.

9 Oct 2014

RPS Diagnostics receives CE mark for FebriDx test

RPS Diagnostics, Inc. today announced CE mark of its FebriDx test, clearing the way for sales in the European Union and all countries recognizing the CE mark.

9 Oct 2014

CytRx begins Phase 1b trial of aldoxorubicin plus gemcitabine in patients with metastatic solid tumors

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology, today announced the initiation of enrollment in an open-label Phase 1b clinical trial designed to investigate the preliminary safety and activity of aldoxorubicin plus gemcitabine in subjects with metastatic solid tumors.

9 Oct 2014

Protein News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers identify potential cause of PPROM which accounts for 40% of pre-term births

Blocking STAT3 in immune system cells increases anti-tumour immunity

Rockefeller University researchers gain new insight into how cholesterol processes in our body

Four UCLA researchers receive NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Synthetic oil triheptanoin improves Rett syndrome, longevity

New UCLA study reveals why people with autism experience neural stem cell overgrowth after birth

Discovery may provide new therapeutic avenue to target autophagy in tumors

Isis Pharmaceuticals provides update on Phase 2 clinical studies of ISIS-SMN Rx in children with SMA

Researchers explore risks associated with consumption of bat bushmeat

TSRI research points toward new method for treating atherosclerosis

CUMC researchers use innovative algorithm to find driving force behind aggressive form of glioblastoma

Researchers reveal new information about Protein Kinase A

First study of promising Ebola vaccine commenced in West Africa

Researchers use light to erase specific memories in mice

UC Berkeley, UCSF researchers team up to create center for neurodegenerative disease research

Researchers discover mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA-lookalikes in human genome

Neuroscientists solve mystery of ‘chemo brain’

Astute Medical to get $30 million from CRG to support commercialization of NephroCheck Test System

RPS Diagnostics receives CE mark for FebriDx test

CytRx begins Phase 1b trial of aldoxorubicin plus gemcitabine in patients with metastatic solid tumors

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

Latest Life Science News