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.

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer technology shows how cancer may take hold

A team, led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution,* has found a key biochemical cycle that suppresses the immune response, thereby allowing cancer cells to multiply unabated.

26 Sep 2007

MIT model could improve some drugs' effectiveness

MIT researchers have developed a computer modeling approach that could improve a class of drugs based on antibodies, molecules key to the immune system.

24 Sep 2007

Secrets of protein folding revealed

A team led by biophysicist Jeremy Smith of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has taken a significant step toward unraveling the mystery of how proteins fold into unique, three-dimensional shapes.

18 Sep 2007

Androstenone determines whether male body odor smells pleasant

New research from Rockefeller University, performed in collaboration with scientists at Duke University in North Carolina, reveals for the first time that this extreme variability in peopl's perception of androstenone is due in large part to genetic variations in a single odorant receptor called OR7D4.

17 Sep 2007

Amino acid, N-acetyl cysteine may curb addiction of pathological gamblers

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered that a common amino acid, available as a health food supplement, may help curb pathological gamblers' addiction.

12 Sep 2007

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes, an unusual form of diabetes that affects very young children and results in lifelong dependence on insulin injections, report researchers from the University of Chicago and Peninsula University (Exeter, UK) in Sept. 18, 2007, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published early online.

11 Sep 2007

Key differences discovered between avian and human flu

St. Jude scientists have found key features that distinguish influenza viruses found in birds from those that infect humans.

5 Sep 2007

New way to burn off calories

A new study in the September issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, points to a new method for burning off all those irresistible extra calories—by turning on an energy-draining, but otherwise futile, cycle of protein synthesis and breakdown.

5 Sep 2007

Discovery may lead to fast and cheap method of making vaccines

Researchers may be able to tinker with a single amino acid of an enzyme that helps viruses multiply to render them harmless, according to molecular biologists who say the discovery could pave the way for a fast and cheap method of making vaccines.

29 Aug 2007

All eukaryotic kinases share 1 common set of substrates

Kinase mediated phosphorylation is generally recognised as the major regulator of virtually all metabolic activities in eukaryotic cells including proliferation, gene expression, motility, vesicular transport and programmed cell death.

24 Aug 2007

Tumors use enzyme to recruit regulatory T-cells and suppress immune response

One way tumors fly under the radar of the immune system is by using IDO, an enzyme used by fetuses to help avoid rejection, to recruit powerful regulatory T cells that turn down the immune response, researchers say.

17 Aug 2007

Glycine prevents arthrosis and osteoporosis

Glycine is a non-essential amino acid used by the organism to synthesise proteins and is present in foods such as fish, meat or dairy products.

6 Aug 2007

Call for EU to launch major project to map out all our proteins

Biologists still have no clear idea how many active genes there are coding for proteins in humans and other organisms, even though for some species the genomes have been completely sequenced.

26 Jul 2007

The future of Alzheimer's disease research

Imagine the day when a routine visit to the family doctor includes a simple blood test to predict the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD).

26 Jul 2007

New findings on vitamin D

Surprising findings by Queen's University researchers have shed new light on how the 'sunshine vitamin' - D - increasingly used to treat and prevent cancer and other diseases is broken down by our bodies.

25 Jul 2007

New understanding of how anaesthetics work in the brain

An important clue to how anaesthetics work on the human body has been provided by the discovery of a molecular feature common to both the human brain and the great pond snail nervous system, scientists say today.

20 Jul 2007

Protein pulling advances in protein folding science

Rice University physicists have unveiled an innovative way of finding out how proteins get their shape based on how they unfold when pulled apart.

20 Jul 2007

New approach to predict protein function

In a paper published online this month in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, researchers report that they have developed a way to determine the function of some of the hundreds of thousands of proteins for which amino acid sequence data are available, but whose structure and function remain unknown.

12 Jul 2007

Researchers discover how microRNAs control protein synthesis

While most RNAs work to create, package, and transfer proteins as determined by the cell's immediate needs, miniature pieces of RNA, called microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression.

10 Jul 2007

More muscle for the argument to give up smoking

Researchers at The University of Nottingham have got more bad news for smokers. Not only does it cause cancer, heart attacks and strokes but smokers will also lose more muscle mass in old age than a non-smoker. The effect of this predisposes smokers to an accelerated decline in physical function and loss of independence.

9 Jul 2007