Protein Folding News and Research

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Recipients of The 2015 Protein Society Awards announced

The Protein Society, the premiere international society dedicated to supporting protein research, announces the winners of The 2015 Protein Society Awards. The awards will be conferred at the 29th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society (July 22-25, 2015, Barcelona, Spain).

5 Feb 2015

Scientific collaboration reveals encouraging insight on AMD disease

Insilico Medicine along with scientists from Vision Genomics and Howard University shed light on AMD disease, introducing the opportunity for eventual diagnostic and treatment options.

12 Dec 2014

University of Illinois study could provide insight into protein-misfolding diseases

When a large protein unfolds in transit through a cell, it slows down and can get stuck in traffic. Using a specialized microscope -- a sort of cellular traffic camera -- University of Illinois chemists now can watch the way the unfolded protein diffuses.

10 Dec 2014

SRY protein alters specific gender-related tissue in males before birth

Case Western Reserve researchers have identified a protein mutation that alters specific gender-related tissue in males before birth and can contribute to the development of cancer as well as other less life-threatening challenges.

21 Nov 2014

TSRI study examines body’s own response against chronic protein misfolding

“Protein misfolding” diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s may be seriously exacerbated by the body’s own response against that misfolding, according to a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.

20 Nov 2014

Research: Ageing and depression are associated with epigenetic changes

Psychological stress and stress-related psychiatric disorders are associated with increased risk for aging-related diseases, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this relation are unknown.

20 Oct 2014

Rice, Baylor scientists analyze how influenza-related proteins help infect cells

A flu virus acts like a Trojan horse as it attacks and infects host cells. Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have acquired a clearer view of the well-hidden mechanism involved.

1 Aug 2014

Scientists reveal secrets of cell membrane proteins

Rice University scientists have succeeded in analyzing transmembrane protein folding in the same way they study the proteins' free-floating, globular cousins.

17 Jul 2014

Extract of Chinese herb thunder god vine suppresses pancreatic cancer cell

A diagnosis of pancreatic cancer—the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the U.S.—can be devastating. Due in part to aggressive cell replication and tumor growth, pancreatic cancer progresses quickly and has a low five-year survival rate (less than 5 percent).

1 Jul 2014

Rice University scientists apply new theory to learn how and why cells differentiate

How does a stem cell decide what path to take? In a way, it's up to the wisdom of the crowd.

17 Jun 2014

Max Planck researchers elucidate important mechanism of protein folding

Proteins are the workhorses of the cell and thus responsible for almost all biological functions including metabolism, signal transmission or the determination of the cell's shape. However, before they can fulfill their various tasks, the chain-like molecules must first adopt an intricate three-dimensional conformation.

13 May 2014

Research to understand exactly how bleach kills bacteria

Spring cleaning often involves chlorine bleach, which has been used as a disinfectant for hundreds of years. But our bodies have been using bleach's active component, hypochlorous acid, to help clean house for millennia. As part of our natural response to infection, certain types of immune cells produce hypochlorous acid to help kill invading microbes, including bacteria.

8 Apr 2014

Harvard stem cell scientists discover potential treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Harvard stem cell scientists have discovered that a recently approved medication for epilepsy may possibly be a meaningful treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-Lou Gehrig's disease, a uniformly fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The researchers are now collaborating with Massachusetts General Hospital to design an initial clinical trial testing the safety of the treatment in ALS patients.

4 Apr 2014

New probes help to quantify normally folded and misfolded conformations of protein in cells

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented small-molecule folding probes that enable them to quantify functional, normally folded and disease-associated misfolded conformations (shapes) of a protein-of-interest in cells under different conditions.

5 Mar 2014

Research uncovers new mechanism in brain cells that may help keep deadly neurological diseases in check

New research from David Westaway, PhD, of the University of Alberta and Jiri Safar, MD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has uncovered a quality control mechanism in brain cells that may help keep deadly neurological diseases in check for months or years.

17 Jan 2014

Research findings may offer new way to treat prion diseases

New research from David Westaway, PhD, of the University of Alberta and Jiri Safar, PhD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has uncovered a quality control mechanism in brain cells that may help keep deadly neurological diseases in check for months or years.

16 Jan 2014

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals presents positive interim data from two ricolinostat clinical trials at ASH 2013

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leader in the development of selective histone deacetylase inhibitors for enhanced therapeutic outcomes, today announced that positive interim clinical data from the two proof-of-concept clinical trials with selective HDAC6 inhibitor, ricolinostat (ACY-1215), were presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans, LA.

9 Dec 2013

Stem cells from Wolfram syndrome patients used to elucidate beta-cell failure pathway in diabetes

Scientists from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute and Columbia University Medical Center have used stem cells created from the skin of patients with a rare form of diabetes—Wolfram syndrome—to elucidate an important biochemical pathway for beta-cell failure in diabetes. The findings by Linshan Shang and colleagues were published today in Diabetes.

13 Nov 2013

Key to treating neurodegenerative prion diseases may lie in ribosome, shows research

New research results from Uppsala University, Sweden, show that the key to treating neurodegenerative prion diseases such as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may lie in the ribosome, the protein synthesis machinery of the cell. The results were recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

2 Jul 2013

Biomolecular interactions of nanoparticles can improve drug development, optical sensors and more

In chemical reactions, left and right can make a big difference. A "left-handed" molecule of a particular chemical composition could be an effective drug, while its mirror-image "right-handed" counterpart could be completely inactive.

30 Jun 2013