Biochemistry News and Research

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Mechanosensitive ion channels play a key role in pain sensation

Humans and animals are able to perceive even the slightest vibration and touch of the skin. Mechanosensitive ion channels play a crucial role in the mediation of these sensations. Ion channels are pores in the cell membrane which are highly responsive to external signals.

19 Feb 2010

Cellular metabolism plays a key role in cancer development

It is not unusual to hear people blame their metabolism after gaining a few pounds. But changes in metabolism - the process that shapes how our bodies turn food into energy -- can have much more sinister effects than making it hard to fit into your favorite jeans.

19 Feb 2010

Intezyne announces new patents covering IVECT Method in major pharmaceutical markets

Intezyne today announced the issuance of new patents that cover multiple dimensions of the Company’s revolutionary technology platform, the IVECTTM Method, in the major pharmaceutical markets of the United States, Europe, and Japan. All patents are wholly owned by Intezyne.

18 Feb 2010

Gilead Sciences’ “Quad” regimen for HIV exhibits antiretroviral activity comparable to Atripla

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced Phase II clinical trial results today showing that its investigational fixed-dose single-tablet “Quad” regimen of elvitegravir, GS 9350 (cobicistat) and Truvada® (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for the treatment of HIV infection exhibited antiretroviral activity comparable to that of Atripla® (efavirenz 600 mg/ emtricitabine 200 mg/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg).

18 Feb 2010

Research opens up new exploration possibilities for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona (UAB) and University of Stockholm have created a computer modelling of the structural malfunctioning of the ApoE4 protein when it enters into contact with the Amyloid beta molecule, the main cause of Alzheimer's disease.

18 Feb 2010

Research on mosquito genes could be used for disease control measures

By unraveling the mysteries that exist within the molecular composition of mosquitoes, a team of Kansas State University researchers is trying to discover how the insects survive a parasite that causes malaria in humans.

17 Feb 2010

Iowa State University researchers awarded 30 ARRA grants worth $16.38M

Iowa State University researchers have so far won 30 grants worth a total $16.38 million from federal agencies awarding money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

17 Feb 2010

TKS4 protein plays significant role in Frank-Ter Haar syndrome

An international team of investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham, formerly Burnham Institute for Medical Research), Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences and other organizations have discovered that TKS4, a protein implicated in cancer metastasis, also plays a significant role in Frank-Ter Haar syndrome (FTHS), a rare fatal disorder.

17 Feb 2010

Researchers adopt new technique to inhibit cancer growth

One of the difficulties of fighting cancer is that drugs often hit other non-cancerous cells, causing patients to get sick. But what if researchers could sneak cancer-fighting particles into just the cancer cells?

17 Feb 2010

New fluorescent probes improve tumor detection in mice

Building on his Nobel Prize-winning work creating fluorescent proteins that light up the inner workings of cells, a team of researchers led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center has developed biological probes that can stick to and light up tumors in mice.

17 Feb 2010

TB's mechanism to evade body's immune system identified

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have identified a mechanism used by the tuberculosis bacterium to evade the body's immune system and have identified a compound that blocks the bacterium's ability to survive in the host, which could lead to new drugs to treat tuberculosis.

16 Feb 2010

Scientists identify bacterial protein VpsT as master regulator in Vibrio

Finding a biological mechanism much like an online social network, scientists have identified the bacterial protein VpsT as the master regulator in Vibrio, the cause of cholera and other enteric diseases. This discovery, now published in the journal Science, provides a major tool to combat enteric disease.

15 Feb 2010

Fast method for producing bone and cartilage tissue using body's own cells

Injuries to joints and cartilage can have serious consequences, including osteoarthritis. Cartilage degeneration in joints is a widespread disease in Germany and worldwide. Prof. Dr. Prasad Shastri is an expert in tissue engineering (TE), tissue construction and tissue cultivation using the body's own cells. He is Professor of Biofunctional Macromolecular Chemistry at the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS), a Cluster of Excellence at the University of Freiburg, where he has been researching for the last year.

15 Feb 2010

Researchers identify defective signaling pathway that contributes to the severity of cystic fibrosis

In a study that could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with the cystic fibrosis, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified a defective signaling pathway that contributes to disease severity.

15 Feb 2010

Proteins found in intestines can recognize and kill bacteria that have human blood type molecules

A set of proteins found in our intestines can recognize and kill bacteria that have human blood type molecules on their surfaces, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.

15 Feb 2010

Transition through hemogenic endothelial intermediate necessary for hematopoietic stem cell formation

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the specific region in vertebrates where adult blood stem cells arise during embryonic development.

14 Feb 2010

New project to unravel secret lives of cancer cells may help produce new cancer therapies

A team of scientists from Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has embarked on a major new project to unravel the secret lives of cancer cells that go dormant and self-cannibalize to survive periods of stress. The work may help produce new cancer therapies to stem changes that render cancer cells dangerous and resistant to treatment.

12 Feb 2010

IBM, VLSCI scientists to use Blue Gene supercomputer to study human disease

IBM today announced a Research collaboratory in Melbourne, Australia, where scientists from the Victorian Life Sciences Computational Initiative at the University of Melbourne and the IBM Research Computational Biology Center will use high performance computing – including IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer – to study human disease.

12 Feb 2010

Researchers discover cancer gene in ancestral metazoan

To find the causes for cancer, biochemists and developmental biologists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, retraced the function of an important human cancer gene 600 million years back in time. For the first time, they have identified the oncogene myc in a fresh water polyp and they have shown that this oncogene has similar biochemical functions in ancestral metazoan and in humans.

12 Feb 2010