Protein C News and Research

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Beiging of white fat could be harnessed to combat diabetes

Researchers are getting closer to learning how to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells, in a process called "beiging," to bring down blood sugar levels and fight diabetes. The team, led by Joseph Baur, PhD, an assistant professor of Physiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published their findings this month in the journal Diabetes.

18 Feb 2016

Caltech researchers identify gene that causes severe insomnia when overactivated

Caltech biologists have performed the first large-scale screening in a vertebrate animal for genes that regulate sleep, and have identified a gene that when overactivated causes severe insomnia. Expression of the gene, neuromedin U (Nmu), also seems to serve as nature's stimulant--fish lacking the gene take longer to wake up in the morning and are less active during the day.

18 Feb 2016

Autoantibodies can potentially detect lung cancer at early stage

Preliminary research has identified autoantibodies, immune proteins found in the blood specific for one's own proteins, that can potentially detect lung cancer early by distinguishing between smokers with or without lung cancer and also discriminate between lung cancer and low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) detected non-cancerous lung lesions.

18 Feb 2016

Mtss1 'tumour suppressor' for CML

The metastasis suppressor 1 protein acts a tumour suppressor in chronic myeloid leukaemia stem cells, reveals research published in Leukemia.

17 Feb 2016

Researchers reveal how brain-specific microRNA plays key role in causing abnormal brain development

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of highly inheritable behavioural disorders that pose major personal and public health concerns. Patients with ASDs have mild to severe communication difficulties, repetitive behaviour and social challenges. Such disorders significantly challenge an individual's ability to conduct daily activities and function normally in society. Currently there are very few medication options that effectively treat ASDs.

17 Feb 2016

New optogenetic technology could turn on immune cells to attack melanoma tumors

A new optogenetic technology developed at UMass Medical School, called optogenetic immunomodulation, is capable of turning on immune cells to attack melanoma tumors in mice. Using near-infrared light, UMMS researchers have shown they can selectively activate an immune response by controlling the flow of calcium ions into the cell. This breakthrough could lead to less invasive, and more controlled and selective, immunotherapies for cancer treatment.

17 Feb 2016

NUS-led study reveals key player contributing to maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells

A study led by scientists from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has uncovered a key player contributing to the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), blood cell precursors which have the ability to become any type of blood cell in the body.

17 Feb 2016

Wistar researchers find potential way for using STAT3 inhibitors to stop cancer progression

Imagine developing a drug designed to inhibit a protein that helps cancer cells proliferate and survive only to find that the drug does not perform very well in the clinic. This was the dilemma faced by scientists researching inhibitors of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3), a protein that controls transcription by the STAT3 gene.

17 Feb 2016

Small peptide TAxI holds promise for carrying biologic drugs into spinal cord

A small peptide dubbed TAxI is living up to its name. Recent studies show it to be an effective vehicle for shuttling functional proteins, such as active enzymes, into the spinal cord after a muscle injection.

17 Feb 2016

Green tea compound has high potential as treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Washington State University in Spokane have identified a potential new approach to combating the joint pain, inflammation and tissue damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

17 Feb 2016

Synthetic RNA and DNA could reverse protein deficiency that causes Friedreich's ataxia

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified synthetic RNA and DNA that reverses the protein deficiency causing Friedreich's ataxia, a neurological disease for which there is currently no cure.

17 Feb 2016

Study shows new RNA letter as regulatory key to control gene expression

DNA, RNA, protein -- the end. Or is it? Until recently, the pattern used to encode genetic information into our cells was considered to be relatively straightforward: four letters (A,G,C,T) for DNA and four (A,G,C,U) for RNA. This equation, however, turned out to be oversimplified -- RNA was holding out.

17 Feb 2016

Researchers discover factor that controls embryonic stem cell development

After a gestation period of around ten months, fawns are born in early summer - when the weather is warm and food is plentiful for the mother. Six months would actually be enough for the embryo's development, but then offspring from mating in the later portion of summer would be born in winter.

17 Feb 2016

Research shows how developing neurons use copper for their various needs

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have used a precision sensor in a chicken embryo to find dramatic differences in the use of copper between developing and fully mature neurons.

17 Feb 2016

Beige-fat formation could be harnessed to fight diabetes

Researchers are getting closer to learning how to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells, in a process called "beiging," to bring down blood sugar levels and fight diabetes.

17 Feb 2016

Aerobic exercise may prevent alcohol-related liver damage

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use is responsible for more than 80,000 deaths in the United States each year. Over time, excessive drinking can lead to several chronic conditions, such as fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.

16 Feb 2016

Innovative tool helps observe protein aggregates linked to neurodegenerative diseases

For rent: 32 individual rooms for a combined surface area of 4cm2, heating and food included! Biologists and microfluidics specialists at EPFL have joined forces and developed a highly innovative research tool: a 2cm by 2cm 'chip' with 32 independent compartments, each of which is designed to hold a nematode - a widely used worm in the research world. The device is described in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration.

16 Feb 2016

Apogenix awarded €3 million grant to develop immuno-oncology candidate APG101 as personalized therapy

Apogenix, a biopharmaceutical company developing next generation immuno-oncology therapeutics, announced today that it has received funding approval in the amount of €3 million from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for the so-called CancerMark project.

16 Feb 2016

Study could pave way for new treatment strategies for PKU

Phenylketonuria, also known as PKU, is the most common inherited disease affecting amino acid metabolism. Children are tested for PKU at birth, and babies diagnosed with the disease must adhere to a highly restricted diet to prevent permanent intellectual impairment.

16 Feb 2016

Researchers identify how Toxoplasma parasite crosses blood-brain barrier

An estimated 30 percent of the world's population is chronically infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Most people live with the infection without noticeable effect, but it can be life-threatening for people with suppressed immune systems, such as people on cancer therapies or who have HIV/AIDS.

16 Feb 2016