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.

SutroVax completes $22 million Series A financing

SutroVax, a recently established biopharmaceutical vaccine company, today announced the completion of a $22 million Series A financing. SutroVax is developing vaccines for infectious disease targets, with an initial emphasis on best-in-class conjugate vaccines, using an exclusive license to Sutro Biopharma's Xpress CF and Xpress CF+ platforms for cell free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation respectively.

23 Jul 2015

Study points to potential treatment for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

A rare autoimmune disease creates sudden pain in the abdomen or the head, sending a patient to the emergency room with a potentially fatal condition. The pain comes from a multitude of blockages of tiny blood vessels, formed after the patient's own immune system somehow inhibits an enzyme that is vital to control clotting.

23 Jul 2015

Drug addiction expert uncovers molecular mechanisms that contribute to addiction resistance

Growing up in West Virginia, Jill Turner saw firsthand the kind of havoc that drug addiction can wreak. "I had a lot of friends who had very promising lives and promising careers ahead of them," the assistant professor in the South Carolina College of Pharmacy says, "but they ended up either overdosing or going to jail for drug-related stuff. It's one of the reasons I went into drug addiction research."

22 Jul 2015

Heidelberg University scientists gain new insight into cytotoxic effect of Ebola virus

In the course of basic research in membrane biochemistry scientists at Heidelberg University have gained new insight into the cytotoxic effect of the Ebola virus. Employing biochemical and cell biological methods they have shed light on the molecular relationships between the Ebola glycoprotein and its role in mediating cytotoxicity.

22 Jul 2015

Abingdon Health seeks distributors for newly launched Seralite - FLC diagnostic device

Following the commercial launch of Seralite - FLC Abingdon Health is looking to appoint distributors in order to enable as many people as possible affected by multiple myeloma (a cancer arising from plasma cells) to have access to, and benefit from its rapid diagnostic capabilities.

17 Jul 2015

Study examines how low-methionine diet may help improve outcomes in triple-negative breast cancer patients

A diet that starves triple-negative breast cancer cells of an essential nutrient primes the cancer cells to be more easily killed by a targeted antibody treatment, UW Carbone Cancer Center scientists report in a recent publication.

15 Jul 2015

New method could help identify 'handedness' of different molecules in mixture

Scientists have demonstrated for the first time the ability to rapidly, reliably and simultaneously identify the 'handedness' of different molecules in a mixture.

25 Jun 2015

Stress during pregnancy affects babies' brain development

Stress during the first trimester of pregnancy alters the population of microbes living in a mother's vagina. Those changes are passed on to newborns during birth and are associated with differences in their gut microbiome as well as their brain development, according to a new study by University of Pennsylvania researchers.

23 Jun 2015

New research could help reverse side effects of acetaminophen overdose

New research could help reverse deadly side effects caused by excessive doses of the drug acetaminophen, the major ingredient in Tylenol and many other over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

23 Jun 2015

Finding may pave way for much-needed treatments for people with epilepsy

An amino acid whose role in the body has been all but a mystery appears to act as a potent seizure inhibitor in mice, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins.

22 Jun 2015

Ruhr-Universität Bochum scientists develop mouse model to investigate SCA6

Scientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum established a mouse model for the human disease SCA6. SCA6 is characterised by movement deficits and caused by similar genetic alterations as Chorea Huntington. The mouse model will be used to investigate the disease mechanisms.

17 Jun 2015

New UAB research identifies link between temporal lobe epilepsy and memory loss

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham identifies an epigenetic cause for why patients with temporal lobe epilepsy tend to have memory loss, and suggests a potential way to reverse that loss.

8 Jun 2015

Process of aging could be delayed in human cell lines

Can the process of aging be delayed or even reversed? Research led by specially appointed Professor Jun-Ichi Hayashi from the University of Tsukuba in Japan has shown that, in human cell lines at least, it can. They also found that the regulation of two genes involved with the production of glycine, the smallest and simplest amino acid, is partly responsible for some of the characteristics of aging.

1 Jun 2015

RI-MUHC researchers receive $1.5 million to develop glutamate biosensor platform for brain diseases

In the human brain and retina, glutamate is an important messenger that carries information from one neuron to another. The level of glutamate transmitted between neurons is crucial to cell communication: too high and neurons die, too low and the information is not communicated properly. In either case this can contribute to neurological diseases including stroke, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's.

29 May 2015

Scientists reveal why lone kidney gets bigger when the other one is lost

Scientists have found an explanation for the century-old observation that if you end up with just one kidney, the lone organ gets bigger.

29 May 2015

Scorpion venom could kill cancer cells

When the toxin invades channels in the cells with this disease produces cellular damage until killing them.

27 May 2015

Researchers identify six mRNA isoforms that could be used to diagnose early-stage ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat, making it an especially fatal disease. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have now identified six mRNA isoforms (bits of genetic material) produced by ovarian cancer cells but not normal cells, opening up the possibility that they could be used to diagnose early-stage ovarian cancer.

26 May 2015

Researchers submit patent application for drug that could destroy acute lymphoblastic leukemia

A patent application for a drug that could destroy the deadly childhood disease known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia — and potentially other cancers as well — has been submitted by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Maryland and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

14 May 2015

TSRI scientists map out protein structure involved in cellular function, nervous system development

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, working closely with researchers at the National Institutes of Health, have mapped out the structure of an important protein involved in cellular function and nervous system development.

12 May 2015

New study reveals genetic causes of rare syndrome that manifests as high blood pressure

The culmination of two decades of research, a new study reveals the genetic causes of a curious, rare syndrome that manifests as hypertension (high blood pressure) accompanied by short fingers (brachydactyly type E).