Protein Folding News and Research

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Molecular mechanisms of BN108 and timosaponin AIII described in a journal

Bionovo, Inc. today announced the publication in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal Public Library of Science One (PLoS ONE) of a paper describing the molecular mechanisms underlying the selective cytotoxic activity of its drug candidate BN108 and its active compound, timosaponin AIII.

2 Oct 2009

Latest optical and laser technology in medicine displayed at FiO meeting

From scopes that help premature babies breathe to techniques for imaging live neurons and beating hearts as they develop, the latest optical and laser technology being deployed in medicine and the biosciences will be on display at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO), which takes place Oct. 11-15 at the Fairmont San Jose Hotel and the Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose, Calif.

1 Oct 2009

Amicus Therapeutics to initiate Phase 1 study of AT2220

Amicus Therapeutics today announced it plans to initiate a Phase 1 study of AT2220 (1-deoxynojirimycin HCl), its investigational drug in development for the treatment of Pompe Disease.

30 Sep 2009

Gentic circuits that cause mucous hyper-production identified

Scientists have identified the main genetic switch that causes excessive mucous in the lungs, a discovery that one day could ease suffering for people with chronic lung diseases like asthma and cystic fibrosis, or just those fighting the common cold.

15 Sep 2009

Calcium stones and cell death is linked to prolonged stressful conditions

Study shows prolonged stress sparks ER to release calcium stores and induce cell death in aging-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and neurodegeneration

15 Sep 2009

Genetic switch that causes excessive mucus in the lungs identified

Scientists have identified the main genetic switch that causes excessive mucus in the lungs, a discovery that one day could ease suffering for people with chronic lung diseases like asthma and cystic fibrosis, or just those fighting the common cold.

15 Sep 2009

BEST bags orders for state-of-the-art synchrotron instrumentation

Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc. (BEST) today announced that its subsidiary Bruker ASC GmbH in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, has been awarded several significant contracts for state-of-the-art synchrotron instrumentation from leading research institutions worldwide.

8 Sep 2009

Nanotechnology helps scientists measure the forces that hold proteins together

Rice University physicists have written the next chapter in an innovative approach for studying the forces that shape proteins -- the biochemical workhorses of all living things.

6 Aug 2009

Heat shock proteins provide protection against cataracts

The human eye lens consists of a highly concentrated mix of several proteins. Protective proteins prevent these proteins from aggregating and clumping. If this protective function fails, the lens blurs and the patient develops cataracts. Two research groups at the Department of Chemistry of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have succeeded in explaining the molecular architecture of this kind of protective protein.

31 Jul 2009

Researchers discover how prion protein damages brain cells

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.

11 Jun 2009

New method to induce protein folding

A new method to induce protein folding by taking the pressure off of proteins is up to 100 times faster than previous methods, and could help guide more accurate computer simulations for how complex proteins fold, according to research by a team of University of Illinois scientists accepted for publication in the journal Nature Methods and posted on the journal's Web site May 31.

1 Jun 2009

Scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shape

In an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" - the switching back and forth of the protein between a bent helix and an extended helix as the surface that it is binding to changes.

16 Mar 2009

Scientists shed light on how proteins find their shapes

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have brought together UCSD theoretical modeling and Caltech experimental data to show just how amino-acid chains might fold up into unique, three-dimensional functional proteins.

23 Feb 2009

New hope for leptin as a solution to obesity

The discovery more than a decade ago of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone secreted by fat tissue, generated headlines and great hopes for an effective treatment for obesity.

6 Jan 2009

Sulfurous ping-pong in the urinary tract

Transfer of information is a basic property of biological systems. Common examples include transfer of genetic information or nerve impulses.

18 Dec 2008

New research reveals key steps in HIV's assault on the brain

Scientists have unraveled in unprecedented detail the cascade of events that go wrong in brain cells affected by HIV, a virus whose assault on the nervous system continues unabated despite antiviral medications that can keep the virus at bay for years in the rest of the body.

16 Nov 2008

Aventix Pharma takes over key patents for innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis

The rights to key patents for an innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis were transferred today to Swiss biotech company Axentis Pharma AG.

26 Jun 2008

Intracellular antibody mops up mutant protein in Huntington's disease model

Scientists have created a tool for mopping up the clumps of mutant protein that drive neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease. Emory University researchers engineered a virus to make an intracellular antibody or "intrabody" against huntingtin, the protein whose mutant forms poison the brain cells of people with Huntington's.

26 May 2008

Discovery alters long standing concept of fixed protein structure

The thousands of proteins found in nature are simply strings of amino acids, assembled by genes, and scientists have long believed that they automatically fold themselves into uniquely fixed, 3-dimensional shapes to fire the engine of life.

19 Mar 2008