Protein C News and Research

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Tissue scarring key to link between obesity and diabetes

The team, in collaboration with University Hospital Aintree, the University of Warwick and researchers in Sweden, found that people classified as obese and those with pre-diabetes have raised levels of a protein called SPARC, that can cause tissue scarring.

13 Aug 2009

When cell death goes wrong - scientists gain new insights

Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong.

13 Aug 2009

First batch of cancer vaccine from Cancer Vaccine Collaborative goes into trial

The first batch of NY-ESO-1 recombinant protein produced in a facility supported entirely by non-profit entities has successfully cleared regulatory review and has entered clinical testing. The clinical trials are part of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, a joint program of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR).

13 Aug 2009

Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips

A protein specialist that opens the genomic door for DNA repair and gene expression also turns out to be a multi-tasking workhorse that protects the tips of chromosomes and dabbles in a protein-destruction complex, a team lead by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 13 edition of Molecular Cell.

13 Aug 2009

Discovery of first gene involved in regulating the optimal length of human sleep

Scientists have discovered the first gene involved in regulating the optimal length of human sleep, offering a window into a key aspect of slumber, an enigmatic phenomenon that is critical to human physical and mental health.

13 Aug 2009

Scientists grow new blood vessels to combat heart disease

Although open-heart surgery is a frequent treatment for heart disease, it remains extremely dangerous. Now groundbreaking research from Dr. Britta Hardy of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has shown the potential for an injected protein to regrow blood vessels in the human heart ― eliminating the need for risky surgery altogether.

13 Aug 2009

Remarkable vision improvements after gene therapy for inherited blindness

One year after a trio of young adults received gene therapy for an inherited form of blindness, researchers have documented that the patients are still experiencing the same level of remarkable vision improvements previously measured within weeks.

13 Aug 2009

Clever biochemical strategy enables bacteria to move freely and colonize host

A team of researchers from Boston University, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently made a discovery that changes a long held paradigm about how bacteria move through soft gels.

13 Aug 2009

Promising new treatment target for Kennedy's disease

New research with transgenic mice reveals that a therapy directed at the muscle significantly improves disease symptoms of a genetic disorder characterized by destruction of the neurons that control movement. The study, published by Cell Press in the August 13th issue of the journal Neuron, highlights a promising new treatment for this currently incurable and nontreatable neurodegenerative disorder.

12 Aug 2009

High-fat diets just as unhealthy in short term as long term

Short-term memory getting worse? Exercise getting harder? Examine your diet. New research published online in The FASEB Journal showed that in less than 10 days of eating a high-fat diet, rats had a decreased ability to exercise and experienced significant short-term memory loss. These results show an important link between what we eat, how we think, and how our bodies perform.

12 Aug 2009

Scientists take the first step to targeted treatment for stomach cancer

Researchers have identified a protein that plays an important role in the development of stomach cancers and that could one day be a target for new treatments for the disease, according to research published (Wednesday) in the British Journal of Cancer.

12 Aug 2009

Living cells controlled with light; potential for stem cell research

University of Central Florida researchers have shown for the first time that light energy can gently guide and change the orientation of living cells within lab cultures. That ability to optically steer cells could be a major step in harnessing the healing power of stem cells and guiding them to areas of the body that need help.

12 Aug 2009

Research shows how long-lasting memories form in the brain

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine may reveal how long-lasting memories form in the brain.

12 Aug 2009

Oxygen treatment may speed memory loss associated with Alzheimer's

A 65-year-old women goes into the hospital for routine hip surgery. Six months later, she develops memory loss and is later diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Just a coincidence? Researchers at the University of South Florida and Vanderbilt University don't think so. They suspect that the culprit precipitating Alzheimer's disease in the elderly women may be a routine administration of high concentrations of oxygen for several hours during, or following, surgery - a hypothesis borne out in a recent animal model study.

12 Aug 2009

Retrovirox receives another NIH grant for novel inhibitors of HIV entry

RetroVirox, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel antivirals, announced today that it has received a grant award of $296,875 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is the second award to RetroVirox from the NIH in less than six months. In March 2009 the company received its first grant to develop novel inhibitors of HIV entry.

12 Aug 2009

New findings on anti-cancer activity of thiazole antibiotics

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine researchers have discovered how some recently approved drugs act against cancer cells. The finding may lead to a more effectively targeted anti-cancer strategy.

11 Aug 2009

Experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis reverses disorder in mice

A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal.

11 Aug 2009

Aldose reductase inhibition shows promise for asthma

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks - and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes.

11 Aug 2009

Toxic levels of Alzheimer's clusters in brain determined

Scientists have long suspected that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by a small protein called the amyloid β-protein (Aβ). This protein clumps or binds to itself, eventually changing chemically to create brain protein deposits (plaques) that are characteristic of AD.

11 Aug 2009

High-fat diet affects physical and memory abilities of rats after 9 days

Rats fed a high-fat diet show a stark reduction in their physical endurance and a decline in their cognitive ability after just nine days, a study by Oxford University researchers has shown.

11 Aug 2009