G Protein News and Research

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Whole grain diets lower risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Diets with high amounts of whole grains may help achieve significant weight loss, and also reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a team of Penn State researchers at University Park and the College of Medicine.

7 Feb 2008

RNA-associated introns guide nerve-cell channel production

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that introns, or junk DNA to some, associated with RNA are an important molecular guide to making nerve-cell electrical channels.

7 Feb 2008

Europe's most common genetic disease is a liver disorder

Much less widely known than the dangerous consequences of iron deficiencies is the fact that too much iron can also cause problems.

7 Feb 2008

Chemical chaperone could open door to treatment of neurological disorder

An unexpected finding turned out to be a clue leading researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to propose a new treatment approach for Niemann-Pick disease, a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder.

7 Feb 2008

Scientists create fluorescent proteins for live cell imaging, biosensor design

Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University's Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center have developed new "fluorogen activating proteins" (FAPs) that will become a key component of novel molecular biosensor technology being created at Carnegie Mellon.

7 Feb 2008

Australian researchers cracking the code of bird flu time bomb

Researchers at Griffith University Institute for Glycomics, Queensland led by Professor Mark von Itzstein have developed a technique to 'crack-the-code' of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus.

5 Feb 2008

Inhibiting a protein protects against heat stroke

Until now, we have not had any specific treatment for the often fatal effects of heat stroke.

5 Feb 2008

Study shows that a key protein appears to enable spread of melanoma to the small intestine

A study by researchers at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center has shown that a receptor protein found on melanoma cells appears to facilitate the disease's spread to the small intestine.

5 Feb 2008

Molecules developed at UB boost vaccine potency

Two novel proteins studied by a University at Buffalo professor of microbiology and immunology appear to have the potential to enhance the production of antibodies against a multitude of infectious agents.

5 Feb 2008

Experimental drug shows promise for cystic fibrosis

An experimental drug that has proven effective in treating muscular dystrophy also works for cystic fibrosis, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

5 Feb 2008

Study of successful drug targets could hasten development of new medications

Guidance from an innovative computational approach could speed up the process and cut down the cost of new drug development, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center and Columbia University suggest in a study to be published in the February 2008 issue of Genome Research, available early online.

5 Feb 2008

Enbrel shown to significantly reduced levels of C-reactive protein

Amgen and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth have announced findings from a retrospective analysis, which demonstrated that ENBREL reduced C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis following 12 weeks of treatment. Median reduction in CRP levels was 10 times greater in the ENBREL treated group compared to the placebo treated group.

5 Feb 2008

Precise geometry and energy of protein structures holds key to cures

Your mother always told you to do your geometry homework, and for scientists seeking new treatments for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, this advice turns out to be right on the mark.

5 Feb 2008

Chemists track how amantadine drug changes, blocks flu virus

An anti-virus drug attacks influenza A by changing the motion and structure of a proton channel necessary for the virus to infect healthy cells, according to a recently published research paper by two Iowa State University chemists.

5 Feb 2008

Structure of important neurotransmitter regulator solved

Researchers from Virginia Tech and the Brookhaven National Laboratory have solved the structure of an enzyme that is critical in the regulation of the neurotransmitter system in the human brain.

4 Feb 2008

Breaking down Huntington's disease one protein at a time

Hoping to piece together the intricate series of interactions that lead to Huntington's disease, Indiana University Bloomington scientists have determined the shape and structure of a binding site that may prove useful in combating the neurodegenerative disease

4 Feb 2008

Researchers identify cells that cause nervous system disease

Two teams of University of Michigan researchers have tracked down the cells responsible for neurofibromatosis type1, a disfiguring, incurable condition and one of the most common hereditary disorders.

4 Feb 2008

Resisting lung cancer recurrence - Vaccine booster gives persistent immune response

What if we could prevent cancer recurrence for years after surgery by giving simple recall injections every two or three years? This concept may no longer be a fantasy.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers uncover key interaction in cholesterol regulation

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined the specific way in which a destructive protein binds to and interferes with a molecule that removes low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the so-called "bad" cholesterol, from the blood.

4 Feb 2008

Targeting astrocytes slows progression of Lou Gehrig's disease

In what the researchers say could be promising news in the quest to find a therapy to slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have shown that targeting neuronal support cells called astrocytes sharply slows disease progression in mice.

4 Feb 2008