Chaperones News and Research

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Specific N-glycans regulate the development and functional maturation of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

If you're an avid reader of science news, you've probably heard of viral proteins such as the COVID-19 spike protein.

27 Sep 2022

UBR7 protein acts as a histone chaperone during DNA replication, study finds

The protein UBR7 acts as a histone chaperone, regulating histone re-deposition at specific sites during DNA replication, according a recent study published in The EMBO Journal.

20 Dec 2021

New combination of drugs could break down harmful protein aggregates in Parkinson's disease

A new combination of drugs could fix the broken lysosomal enzyme pathway in Parkinson's disease-afflicted brain cells, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Neuron.

23 Nov 2021

Research elucidates how chaperones display "selective promiscuity" for specific proteins

A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has announced a major new advance in understanding how our genetic information eventually translates into functional proteins - one of the building blocks of human life.

12 Oct 2021

Research reveals components of Sinbis virus ribonucleoproteins

To address this gap in research regarding the understanding of post-replicative alphavirus RNPs, scientists have created a novel proteome-wide approach known as viral RNA interactome capture (vRIC). This study is available in the bioRxiv* preprint server while awaiting peer review.

11 Oct 2021

SARS-CoV-2 causes ER-stress-activated unfolded protein response leading to cell death

A new study describes the varying ways in which the virus co-opts the machinery of the host cell following infection to evade or modulate the host immune response, alter the pattern of translation of viral proteins, and the release of new viral particles.

24 Jun 2021

Could GRP78 be a therapeutic target against COVID-19?

A new study by a team of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, USA, reports a potentially important therapeutic target in the form of a molecule called GRP78 that promotes the entry and protein production by many viruses. The team's paper has been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

26 May 2021

Experimental drug reverses key symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have designed an experimental drug that reversed key symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice.

22 Apr 2021

Chaperone protein imbalance can play key role in initiating toxic tau buildup in the aging brain

Chaperone protein imbalance can play a significant role in initiating toxic accumulation of tau in the aging brain - an early step in the development of Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders known as tauopathies, a new preclinical study by University of South Florida Health (USF Health) neuroscientists suggests.

20 Apr 2021

DNAJC9 protein plays a key role in safeguarding histones, shows study

In the cell nucleus histones play a crucial role packaging DNA into chromatin. Histones are however very sticky to both DNA and RNA, so to ensure they are transported to the cell nucleus after synthesis and bind to the right portion of DNA to organize the chromatin, they are guarded by complexes of histone chaperones.

15 Apr 2021

Researchers develop model for SARS-CoV-2 fusion intermediate that helps membrane fusion

The spike protein is the main part of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for the infection. It consists of two subunits S1 and S2. Upon entry of the virus into the human body, the S1 subunit helps the virus bind to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors on host cells.

13 Apr 2021

Compound isolated from Moroccan fungus shows promise to fight triple negative breast cancer

A compound isolated from a fungus growing on the roots of a flowering plant in Morocco shows promise as a powerful opponent of aggressive triple negative breast cancer, scientists say.

4 Mar 2021

Smoking cessation drug shows potential to treat Parkinson's disease in females

Texas A&M University College of Medicine ressearchers have recently discovered that cytisine -- a smoking cessation drug commonly used in Europe -- reduces the loss of dopamine neurons in females. These findings provide potential evidence for the use of the drug to treat Parkinson's disease or stop its progression in women.

4 Mar 2021

Research provides insight into protein structures that could treat Huntington’s disease

In Huntington's disease, a faulty protein aggregates in brain cells and eventually kills them. Such protein aggregates could, in principle, be prevented with a heat shock protein. However, it is not well known how these proteins interact with the Huntington's disease protein.

12 Feb 2021

Biologists investigate how molecular chaperones dissolve protein aggregates linked to Parkinson's

In many neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, protein aggregates form in the brain and are assumed to contribute to neuronal cell death.

11 Nov 2020

Experimental cancer drug AR-12 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 virus

Nine months into the global pandemic, which has infected more than 32 million people, there is still no approved effective and safe drug or vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

24 Sep 2020

Research shows how a protein's small change leads to big trouble for cells

In molecular biology, chaperones are a class of proteins that help regulate how other proteins fold. Folding is an important step in the manufacturing process for proteins. When they don't fold the way they're supposed to, it can lead to the development of diseases such as cancer.

30 Jun 2020

Study finds entry point for curbing the evolution of antibiotic resistance

The team of Professor Tobias Bollenbach from the Institute for Biological Physics at the University of Cologne has published a study on a new approach to improving the effectiveness of antibiotics in bacterial infections.

24 Jun 2020

Scientists discover unexpected role of heat shock proteins during neuronal differentiation

A research team led by Dr Chaogu Zheng from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with a team led by Professor Martin Chalfie (2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) from the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, recently discovered an unexpected role of the heat shock proteins, also known as the molecular chaperones, during neuronal differentiation, which refers to the process a neuron takes to acquire its shape and function.

16 Jun 2020

Researchers identify a natural amino acid as potential treatment for polyQ diseases

Familial spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), Huntington disease, and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy are inherited neurodegenerative diseases.

25 May 2020