Protein News and Research

RSS

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.

Research could lead to new drugs that combat HIV infection by shutting down the virus's assembly lines

After infecting a susceptible cell, the human immunodeficiency virus hijacks that cell's normal machinery to produce carbon copies of itself. New HIV particles roll off the cellular assembly lines, burst like bubbles out of the cell, and float off to invade other cellular factories.

14 Mar 2005

New way of looking at MicroRNA and how it controls gene expression

A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute is reporting a discovery that sheds light on an area of research fundamental to everything from the normal processes that govern the everyday life of human cells to the aberrant mechanisms that underlie many diseases, including cancer and septic shock.

13 Mar 2005

RNA interference as promising therapy for ALS

Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have used RNA interference in transgenic mice to silence a mutated gene that causes inherited cases of amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), substantially delaying both the onset and the progression rate of the fatal motor neuron disease.

13 Mar 2005

Gene for AMD has now been identified by researchers

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a debilitating eye disease affecting about 15 million people in the United States.

13 Mar 2005

Active brains stave off Alzheimer's signs

Mice who keep busy playing with toys also keep their brains and bodies active; more importantly, they also have lower levels of the peptides and brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, compared to mice raised in environments not "enriched" with chew toys, running wheels,and tunnels, according to a new study in the 11 March issue of the journal Cell.

13 Mar 2005

Mouse gene shows new mechanism behind cardiac infarction in man

A gene that, in different variants, increases or decreases the level of atherosclerosis has been identified in mice. The corresponding human gene has been shown to play a role in the development of myocardial infarction.

9 Mar 2005

Protein sequenced from 75,000 year old Iraqi

An international team led by researchers at the Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Liepzig, Germany and Washington University in St. Louis, has extracted and sequenced protein from a Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave, Iraq dating to approximately 75,000 years old.

9 Mar 2005

Telomerase finding has major implications for cancer

UCLA biochemists have determined the three-dimensional structure of a major domain of telomerase, the enzyme that helps maintain telomeres - small pieces of DNA on the ends of chromosomes that act as protective caps - allowing DNA ends to be copied completely when cells are replicated.

9 Mar 2005

Overlapping signals in embryo help get the backbone right

A major step in the development of the vertebrate embryo - the establishment of a back that morphs into a brain, spinal cord and muscles - turns out to be so important that the body uses at least three signals to make sure it happens properly.

9 Mar 2005

Infertility - discovery could mean new treatment

A team of Japanese scientists at Osaka University led by Dr Masaru Okabe have discovered a protein essential for human sperm to fuse to an egg. The findings could well lead to new methods of treating infertility and the development of new contraceptive strategies.

9 Mar 2005

Progress toward development of a breast cancer vaccine

Progress toward development of a breast cancer vaccine has been reported by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

8 Mar 2005

Biomedical engineers, chemists collaborate on novel method to design better medicines

The ability to select and develop compounds that act on specific cellular targets has just gained a computational ally -- a mathematical algorithm that predicts the precise effects a given compound will have on a cell's molecular components or chemical processes.

8 Mar 2005

NASA scientists find clues about kidney disease

NASA scientists and academic colleagues are studying tiny hairs inside microorganisms to find clues about kidney disease.

8 Mar 2005

New system for growing human embryonic stem cells could make therapies utilising the cells safer for patients

A new system for growing human embryonic stem cells could make therapies utilising the cells safer for patients, concludes a study published online by The Lancet (Tuesday, March 8, 2005).

8 Mar 2005

Protein circulating in the blood delivers selenium to germ cells, enabling normal development of sperm

A paper to be published in the journal Biology of Reproduction offers evidence that a protein circulating in the blood of mammals delivers the dietary micronutrient selenium to germ cells, enabling these cells to develop into normal sperm.

7 Mar 2005

Impaired insulin function may be behind some of the abnormalities found in Alzheimer's disease

A research team led by Dr Suzanne de la Monte and Dr. Jack Wands of the Brown University Medical School has found that impaired insulin function may be behind some of the abnormalities found in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

7 Mar 2005

Two chemicals boost immune cells' ability to fight HIV without gene therapy

A UCLA AIDS Institute study has discovered that two chemical compounds may help the immune systems of HIV-infected persons fight the disease without invasive gene therapy.

7 Mar 2005

ViroLogic and AstraZeneca to conduct Iressa biomarker study

ViroLogic announced today that it had entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca to conduct a cancer biomarker study with application to Iressa, AstraZeneca's selective epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor.

7 Mar 2005

Neuren and Metabolic collaborate to develop range of nerve repair compounds

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Neuren) and Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Metabolic) have announced that the two companies have agreed to collaborate to co-develop Neuren's class of Neuro-regenerative Peptides (NRPs) for the treatment of degenerative conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, motor neuron disease and repairing the brain or nerves after injuries such as spinal cord injury.

7 Mar 2005

Novel role for cholesterol inside the cell

Cholesterol, often condemned for its role in heart disease, has always been known to be essential for the health of the fatty membranes that surround individual cells.

7 Mar 2005