Protein News and Research

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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

Scientists paint-viruses with proteins to track and treat viral disease and evolution

Biologists from Austria and Singapore developed a technique that adds a new twist on the relationship between biology and art. In an article recently published online in The FASEB Journal and scheduled for the August 2008 print issue, these researchers describe how they were able to coat-or paint-viruses with proteins.

20 May 2008

Plant flavonoid luteolin reduces inflammatory response in the brain

Researchers at the University of Illinois report this week that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain. The findings have implications for research on aging and diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

20 May 2008

Chip-based device measures drug resistance in tumor cells

Multiple drug resistance is a major cause of anticancer therapy failure. Most drug-resistance cancer cells develop this unfortunate characteristic due to a drug-pumping protein known as P-glycoprotein.

20 May 2008

Counting immune cells on a 'protein printboard'

In order to monitor how far an HIV infection has progressed, the number of immune cells - lymphocytes - must be counted. Researchers at the University of Twente have developed a method that neatly arranges the antibodies that bind to these immune cells on a 'molecular printboard'. The researchers are publishing this key step in the road towards antibody-based sensors in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

20 May 2008

Structure of receptor for hot chili pepper and pain revealed

You can now not only feel the spicy kick of a jalapeno pepper, you can also see it in full 3D, thanks to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

19 May 2008

Abnormal "editing" of gene messages may cause Lupus

Researchers at Wake Forest University have uncovered evidence that the abnormal "editing" of gene messages in a type of white blood cell may be behind the development of lupus. Scientists hope the finding will lead to earlier diagnosis, a way to monitor patients' response to therapy and possibly a new way to treat the disease.

19 May 2008

Chemically modified protein may help people with hard-to-treat hemophilia

Pathologists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have developed a chemically modified protein that may help people with a hard-to-treat form of a genetic bleeding disorder known as Hemophilia A. The discovery and the results of pre-clinical tests appear in the May 2 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

19 May 2008

Minocycline may find new life as a stroke treatment

An old intravenous antibiotic may have new life as a stroke treatment, researchers say. Minocycline appears to reduce stroke damage in multiple ways - inhibiting white blood cells and enzymes that, at least acutely, can destroy brain tissue and blood vessels, respectively, says Dr. David Hess, chair of the Department of Neurology in the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.

19 May 2008

An improved gene therapy agent from University of Florida

Replacing one amino acid on the surface of a virus that shepherds corrective genes into cells could be the breakthrough scientists have needed to make gene therapy a more viable option for treating genetic diseases such as hemophilia, University of Florida researchers say.

19 May 2008

Erection problems may signal serious heart disease

Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction (ED) was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.

19 May 2008

Rochester vaccine triggers immune response, prevents Alzheimer's

A vaccine created by University of Rochester Medical Center scientists prevents the development of Alzheimer's disease-like pathology in mice without causing inflammation or significant side effects.

19 May 2008

deCODE discovers novel genetic links between pigmentation traits and risk of skin cancer

In two papers published today, deCODE scientists and academic colleagues from Europe and the U.S. expand upon the company's recent findings in the genetics of pigmentation traits in people of European descent, and demonstrate that certain of these common variants also confer risk of two types of skin cancer.

19 May 2008

Nurse-administered prevention and management strategies can decrease incidence of lymphedema and improve quality of life in patients

A poster session presented by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center at the Oncology Nurses Society 33rd Annual Congress, found that early nursing intervention and implementation of effective strategies can lead to a decrease in the incidence of lymphedema, better management of chronic lymphedema and improved quality of life in breast cancer patients.

19 May 2008

New dimension discovered in body clock rhythm

Research on what makes the body clock tick has led Dr Michael Hastings of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge to discover a new and unanticipated cog in the human body clock. A patent for the compound involved has been filed by MRC Technology. The results, published in Science, could lead to therapies for people whose sleep is disrupted by shift work or old age.

18 May 2008

Bird flu pandemic would require multi-drug approach

Scientists have uncovered a change in the H5N1 bird flu virus which makes it resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. The mutation in the N1 component was found in human cases of the disease and suggests that a single drug approach is likely to be ineffective in case of a bird flu pandemic in humans. The findings by a team at the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research are published in Nature.

15 May 2008

Scientists unravel how smoking causes cancer

Scientists have for the first time pinpointed a protein that explains how smoking can directly lead to genetic changes that cause cancer - research published in the British Journal of Cancer reveals.

15 May 2008

First evidence of native dendritic cells in brain

In a finding that has the potential to change the way researchers think about the brain, scientists at Rockefeller University have found dendritic cells where they've never been seen before: among this organ's neurons and connective cells.

15 May 2008

Arsenic-based agent shown to help eradicate leukemia-initiating cells

In both leukemia and solid tumors, there exists among the multitude of warrior cancer cells a small subgroup that work undercover, patiently lying in wait to launch their attacks. Known as either cancer initiating cells (CICs) or leukemia initiating cells (LICs), these stealth populations are impervious to conventional chemotherapy and undaunted by targeted cancer therapies. When a leukemia patient relapses following a period of remission, it is the LICs that bear responsibility for the disease's reemergence.

12 May 2008

Scientists identify heat sensing regulator - better understanding pain sensitivity

Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins are a step closer to understanding pain sensitivity - specifically why it's variable instead of constant - having identified a gene that regulates a heat-activated molecular sensor.

12 May 2008

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells mature and specialize.

12 May 2008