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.

New understanding of structure and behavior of collagen

The structure and behavior of one of the most common proteins in our bodies has been resolved at a level of detail never before seen, thanks to new research performed at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

27 Feb 2008

New insight into the fundamentals of Parkinson's disease

A single change in a protein may play a role in whether someone develops Parkinson's disease, say University of Florida Genetics Institute researchers writing in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Feb 2008

New Alzheimer's patent by Affiris

Affiris GmbH has secured another Europe-wide patent for an innovative method of treating Alzheimer's disease. This new blood-cleansing method is similar to dialysis and is designed to reduce the amount of harmful protein deposits in the brain. It is based on the AFFITOME technology established by Affiris, which was patented in October 2007 for an Alzheimer's vaccine.

27 Feb 2008

Nanoemulsion vaccines show increasing promise

A novel technique for vaccinating against a variety of infectious diseases - using an oil-based emulsion placed in the nose, rather than needles - has proved able to produce a strong immune response against smallpox and HIV in two new studies.

27 Feb 2008

Other types of E. coli shouldn't be ignored

While many of us are worried about E. coli 0157 in our food supply, a pre-harvest food safety expert at Kansas State University cautions that other types of E. coli shouldn't go ignored.

27 Feb 2008

Adult-onset obesity seen in mice when gene ubiquitin disrupted

Texas and California scientists who disrupted one type of the gene ubiquitin (Ubb) in mice observed neuronal death in the hypothalamus, impaired control of energy balance and adult-onset obesity in the rodents.

27 Feb 2008

You are what you eat and drink - and that is recorded in your hair

University of Utah scientists developed a new crime-fighting tool by showing that human hair reveals the general location where a person drank water, helping police track past movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

27 Feb 2008

Scientists identify proteins that help bacteria put up a fight

Scientists have identified the role of two proteins that contribute to disease-causing bacteria cells' versatility in resisting certain classes of antibiotics.

27 Feb 2008

OHSU Cancer Institute research gives hope for chemo holidays for men with advanced prostate cancer

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers, in a first-of-its-kind study, have found that even men with advanced prostate cancer can take a much-needed safe break, or holiday, from chemotherapy.

27 Feb 2008

Mechanism of blood clot elasticity revealed in high definition

Blood clots can save lives, staunching blood loss after injury, but they can also kill. Let loose in the bloodstream, a clot can cause a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism.

26 Feb 2008

High zinc status in lung cells slows growth and induces DNA

Researchers at the University of Maryland at College Park have discovered that Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells cultured in medium with elevated zinc level, at the high end of plasma zinc attainable by oral supplementation, demonstrated inhibition of cell growth, up-regulation of growth arrest and DNA damage-induced gene (Gadd45) mRNA and protein expression, and blockage of G2/M cell cycle progression.

26 Feb 2008

New gene discovered that determines hair texture and density in humans

A Columbia University Medical Center research team has discovered a new gene involved in determining hair texture in humans.

26 Feb 2008

Abbott receives approval for HUMIRA (Adalimumab) for polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Abbott has announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market HUMIRA (adalimumab) as a treatment to reduce signs and symptoms of moderately to severely active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in patients four years of age and older.

26 Feb 2008

Small protein discovered that specifically recognizes tumors responding to chemotherapy

A technique that specifically "tags" tumors responding to chemotherapy may offer a new strategy for determining a cancer treatment's effectiveness within days of starting treatment, according to a new study by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators.

26 Feb 2008

New large-scale method reveals drug targets

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists have developed a new large-scale method to identify the interactions between proteins that are a major target for therapeutic intervention.

26 Feb 2008

Notch protein plays a critical role in bone formation

Notch, a protein known to govern the determination of cell differentiation into different kinds of tissues in embryos, plays a critical role in bone formation and strength later in life, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Medicine.

26 Feb 2008