Lysine News and Research

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Tracing adaptation to ACE2 use in sarbecoviruses

A detailed study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 argues that recombination accounts for the appearance of the ability of both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 to use the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (hACE) 2 as the binding receptor mediating viral infection of human cells.

8 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

Study reports structure of enzyme activator for high pathogenic avian influenza

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing the current pandemic of COVID-19, is the focus of many investigators seeking to find an effective vaccine or therapeutic. Among the potential targets are various protease enzymes suspected of allowing the virus to gain entry to host cells and establish a successful infection.

16 Jun 2020

Researchers question the mechanism of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers who made a knock-in mouse-model of the genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa 59, or RP59, expected to see retinal degeneration and retinal thinning. As reported in the journal Cells, they surprisingly found none, calling into question the commonly accepted -- though never proved -- mechanism for RP59.

12 Jun 2020

Researchers explore amino acids for a new diet approach

A new diet approach that restricts essential amino acids was explored in new research by a team of international scientists from Australia, Denmark, and Germany.

11 Jun 2020

Examining the envelope protein of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers at the University of Valencia and published on the preprint online server bioRxiv in May 2020 reports the topology of the envelope protein of the virus, which could contribute to a better understanding of how the virus interacts with other cell components and hopefully help to fight the disease better.

28 May 2020

Physical activity prevents the accumulation of damaged proteins and keeps muscles healthy

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports have demonstrated that physical activity prompts a clean-up of muscles as the protein Ubiquitin tags onto worn-out proteins, causing them to be degraded.

28 May 2020

Collagen maturation regulates PEDF availability, study shows

Cells are like tiny self-contained machines that are constantly fine-tuned in response to both internal and external signals. Some of these signals are induced by extracellular ligands, specialized proteins that bind to specific receptors on the cell surface, stimulating signaling pathways and altering gene expression.

26 May 2020

Researchers explore how a small change in protein shape causes long-term consequences

Sometimes proteins misfold. When that happens in the human brain, the pileup of misfolded proteins can lead to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.

19 May 2020

Technologies converge on interacting surfaces in protein complexes

Researchers have fine-tuned a method to pinpoint surfaces within interacting large multi-protein complexes.

14 Apr 2020

Tracking tau protein yields insight into possible treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

In the fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the tau protein is a major culprit.

1 Apr 2020

Researchers elucidate new mechanism for controlling DNA methylation in cells

Why normal cells turn into cancer cells One of the factors is deeply related to the failure of the cell differentiation mechanism called DNA methylation.

17 Mar 2020

Study contributes to better understanding of rare KAT6A syndrome

A research team has described five new cases of a rare disease -known as KAT6A syndrome- of which there are only eighty dominant cases worldwide.

26 Feb 2020

Study identifies novel anti-aging targets

A recent study published in Nature has reported two conserved epigenetic regulators as novel anti-aging targets.

26 Feb 2020

Turning stink into therapy for atherosclerosis

In an amusing but amazing turnaround, it seems the most foul-smelling compound on earth, called putrescine, could help relieve chronic inflammation, most importantly in the arterial thickening called atherosclerosis. This discovery is reported in the journal Cell Metabolism in January 2020.

30 Jan 2020

Study identifies previously unknown toxic by-products potentially present in drinking water

Researchers at John Hopkins University have found that the most common method for disinfecting water can generate toxic by-products.

29 Jan 2020

Jefferson researcher probes kidney cancer's genes for interactions with p53 pathway

p53 is the most famous cancer gene, not least because it's involved in causing over 50% of all cancers. When a cell loses its p53 gene -- when the gene becomes mutated -- it unleashes many processes that lead to the uncontrolled cell growth and refusal to die, which are hallmarks of cancer growth.

20 Dec 2019

Novel nanopipette pH biosensor could help with cancer diagnosis and treatment

Nanopipettes with zwitterionic membranes may offer improved monitoring of changes in pH surrounding living cells, which can indicate traits of invasive cancer cells and their response to treatment, report researchers at Kanazawa University in Nature Communications.

6 Dec 2019

Researchers make major breakthrough in cell signalling

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have made a major breakthrough in the field of cell signalling.

4 Nov 2019

Study: MIB2 improves inflammation by degrading CYLD enzyme

The tumor suppressor CYLD lysine 63 deubiquitinase (CYLD) is a deubiquitinating enzyme that suppresses polyubiquitin-dependent signaling pathways, including the proinflammatory and cell growth-promoting NF-κB pathway.

30 Oct 2019