Protein Synthesis News and Research

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Modified protein plays a key role in memory processes

How do we process thoughts and store memories? A team of researchers headed by Dr. Nahum Sonenberg of McGill's Department of Biochemistry and Goodman Cancer Centre has discovered that brains in mammals modify a particular protein in a unique way, which alters the protein's normal function.

26 Mar 2010

New research may help advance treatment strategies for common liver disease

A research article published in the journal PloS Pathogens could lead to improvements in the production of vaccines for hepatitis A, the most widespread viral disease in the world.

26 Mar 2010

Key cellular defect in protein synthesis can lead to cancer susceptibility

UCSF researchers have discovered that a key cellular defect that disturbs the production of proteins in human cells can lead to cancer susceptibility. The scientists also found that a new generation of inhibitory drugs offers promise in correcting this defect.

17 Mar 2010

Aging and Alzheimer's disease: Novel brain imaging technologies help create new insights

The emergence of multiple new brain imaging technologies and the combined application of these new approaches is helping to create new insights into aging and Alzheimer's disease. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the deposition of amyloid beta protein in clumps or "plaques" within the brain. These plaques can be measured in humans with PET scans that use a chemical marker or radiotracer called 11C-PIB.

16 Mar 2010

Pangu BioPharma's naturally occurring splice variants of human tRNA synthetases study awarded second grant

The Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong government has awarded Pangu BioPharma, the Hong Kong subsidiary of aTyr Pharma, a second grant to fund research it is performing in collaboration with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) provides matching funds over the next 18 months to expand Pangu's successful work in the identification and characterization of naturally occurring splice variants of human tRNA synthetases.

1 Mar 2010

Scientists create tiny RNA molecule to synthesize proteins

An extremely small RNA molecule created by a University of Colorado at Boulder team can catalyze a key reaction needed to synthesize proteins, the building blocks of life. The findings could be a substantial step toward understanding "the very origin of Earthly life," the lead researcher contends.

23 Feb 2010

ATM tumor-suppressor also recognizes damage caused by ROS and orders autophagy

ATM, a protein that reacts to DNA damage by ordering repairs or the suicide of the defective cell, plays a similar, previously unknown role in response to oxidative damage outside of the nucleus, researchers report this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

19 Feb 2010

Seaside Therapeutics granted U.S patent covering methods of treating autism

Seaside Therapeutics LLC today announced the issuance of U.S. patent 7,648,993 B2 (‘993 patent), which covers methods of treating autism with group 1 antagonists of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) pathway. An earlier related patent, U.S. patent 6,890,931 B2 (‘931 patent), was issued in 2005 and covers methods of treating Fragile X Syndrome, the most common known cause of autism, with group 1 antagonists of the mGluR pathway.

10 Feb 2010

Global market for oncology drugs is forecast to reach $80 billion by 2050

New Medicine's Oncology KnowledgeBASE (nm/OK) residing at http://nmok.net became available on the Internet 10 years ago and, since then, the oncology field has evolved into one of the most challenging, complex and promising drug development sectors, both in terms of its potential contribution to medicine and to its market opportunities.

29 Jan 2010

The American Journal of Pathology: Highlights from February 2010 issue

A group led by Dr. Peter Lloyd Jones at the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland; the University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO; and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA has demonstrated that tenascin-C affects proto-oncogene function in breast cancer. Their report can be found in the February 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

22 Jan 2010

Sirnaomics certifies polypeptide nanoparticle technology

Sirnaomics, Inc. (www.sirnaomics.com) announced today that the company has licensed a polypeptide nanoparticle technology invented by Professor A. James Mixson of University of Maryland Medical School.

18 Jan 2010

Breakthrough findings could lead to new treatments for prostate, brain and skin cancers

Researchers at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in Montreal have discovered a previously unsuspected link between two different genetic pathways which suppress the growth of cancer tumours.

8 Jan 2010

Research uncovers structural basis for multifunctionality of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases

Research published in the December 13, 2009 edition of Nature Structural Biology uncovers the structural basis for the multifunctionality of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases are universal and essential enzymes of protein synthesis machinery found in all organisms.

14 Dec 2009

Some combination drug therapies are counter-productive

Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.

16 Nov 2009

HFSP grant to develop molecular probes to study "cellular GPS" system

An international group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Goettingen Medical School in Germany and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom have received a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) grant to develop molecular probes that will help researchers better understand the "cellular GPS" system that guides neurons to create a properly wired nervous system.

11 Nov 2009

Phase 1 study of STX107 for Fragile X syndrome begins

NIH-supported scientists at Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., are beginning a clinical trial of a potential medication designed to correct a central neurochemical defect underlying Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. There has to date been no medication that could alter the disorder's neurologic abnormalities. The study will evaluate safety, tolerability, and optimal dosage in healthy volunteers.

3 Nov 2009

Pateamine A found to inhibit yet another anti-cancer mechanism

Pateamine A (PatA), a natural product first isolated from marine sponges, has attracted considerable attention as a potential anti-cancer agent, and now a new activity has been found for it, which may reveal yet another anti-cancer mechanism. That's the assessment of Daniel Romo, a Texas A&M chemistry professor, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University who are pioneers in research involving this novel marine natural product.

3 Nov 2009

Viral protein could be a major player in SARS virulence

Ever since the previously unknown SARS virus emerged from southern China in 2003, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston virologists have focused on finding the source of the pathogen's virulence - its ability to cause disease. In the 2003 epidemic, for example, between 5 and 10 percent of those who fell sick from the SARS virus died, adding up to more than 900 fatalities worldwide.

30 Oct 2009

UTMB researchers suggest efficient eating strategy for muscle-building

For thousands of years, people have believed that eating large amounts of protein made it easier to build bigger, stronger muscles. Take Milo of Croton, the winner of five consecutive Olympic wrestling championships in the sixth century BC: If ancient writers are to be believed, he built his crushing strength in part by consuming 20 pounds of meat every day.

27 Oct 2009

Roche's xCELLigence RTCA SP Instrument used for in vitro testing of cells

The C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA Polymerase II consists of multiple repeats of an evolutionary conserved motif of seven amino acids, forming a repetitive structure of 52 repeats in humans and 26 repeats in yeast. Twenty years after the first description of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain, its function is still unclear.

23 Oct 2009