G Protein News and Research

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Targeting inflammatory pathways may lead to new therapies

Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center have uncovered more details about how defects in components of the machinery that makes new proteins can lead to blood and other cancers.

2 Apr 2012

Study sheds light on cellular mechanisms involved in flu resistance

Scientists from the University of Utah School of Medicine have discovered that a mouse protein called IFITM3 contributes to the body's defense against some types of viral infections by binding to an enzyme responsible for regulating the pH of a cell's waste disposal system.

2 Apr 2012

Blocking PRC2 protein may help protect against AML

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have identified a candidate drug target for treating acute myeloid leukemia, a white blood cell cancer that proliferates out of control in the bone marrow.

2 Apr 2012

ProteinSimple introduces Sally Western Blot

ProteinSimple today introduced Sally as the next member of the revolutionary Simple Western product family. Sally eliminates a critical bottleneck in large-scale protein research and biopharmaceutical development – manual Western Blot analysis. With Sally, researchers can perform 96 Simple Westerns in a single automated experiment.

From ProteinSimple 2 Apr 2012

MAPK/ERK2 pathway plays a major role in mediating testosterone's effects

Testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, appears to have antidepressant properties, but the exact mechanisms underlying its effects have remained unclear. Nicole Carrier and Mohamed Kabbaj, scientists at Florida State University, are actively working to elucidate these mechanisms.

2 Apr 2012

RNA binding motif protein 20 regulates titin splicing

Cardiomyopathy comprises a deterioration of the heart muscle that affects the organ's ability to efficiently pump blood through the body. Previously researchers have tied forms of the disease to the alternative splicing of titin, a giant protein that determines the structure and biomechanical properties of the heart, but the molecular mechanism remained unknown.

2 Apr 2012

Genetic variations could be linked with meconium ileus in CF patients

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers working as part of the International Cystic Fibrosis Consortium have discovered several regions of the genome that may predispose cystic fibrosis (CF) patients to develop an intestinal blockage while still in the uterus.

2 Apr 2012

Survivin protein could be a useful tool in understanding pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer kills more than 40,000 people every year, and among cancers it's particularly insidious. For 80 percent of patients, the disease is already so advanced at the time of diagnosis that treatment is unlikely to provide significantly life-extending benefits. For patients diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer, the five-year survival rate remains barely above 20 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.

2 Apr 2012

Aurora-A protein plays an important role in head and neck cancer

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a protein associated with other cancers appears to also be important in head and neck cancer, and may consequently serve as a good target for new treatments. The findings will be reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Sunday, April 1.

2 Apr 2012

Galeterone safe, effective for patients with CRPC

Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer had limited side effects and in many cases a drop in prostate-specific antigen expression with galeterone (TOK-001), a small-molecule oral drug, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held here March 31 - April 4.

2 Apr 2012

Study provides new information on why A-T disease attacks the brain

Rutgers scientists think they have found a way to prevent and possibly reverse the most debilitating symptoms of a rare, progressive childhood degenerative disease that leaves children with slurred speech, unable to walk, and in a wheelchair before they reach adolescence.

2 Apr 2012

STAT-1 and PLSCR-1 proteins could play a crucial role in breast cancer

At the time of diagnosis, the majority of breast cancers are categorized as estrogen-receptor positive, or hormone sensitive, which means their cancerous cells may need estrogen to grow. Patients with this type of cancer often respond favorably to treatments called aromatase inhibitors, like tamoxifen, which cause cell death by preventing estrogen from reaching the cancerous cells.

2 Apr 2012

Study shows how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes

In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a new therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and obesity-related metabolic diseases, the authors say.

2 Apr 2012

Aberrations in translation regulators linked with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer survival

Four proteins involved in translation, the final step of general protein production, are associated with poor prognosis in hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer when they are dysregulated, researchers reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012.

2 Apr 2012

Rare immune cells found to play a major role in lasting immunity

According to the latest research from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute the characterization of a rare immune cell’s involvement in antibody production and ability to ‘remember’ infectious agents could help to improve vaccination and lead to new treatments for immune disorders.

1 Apr 2012

Diversity of intestinal stem cells is greater than previously thought

Tales from the crypt are supposed to be scary, but new research from Vanderbilt University, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and colleagues shows that crypts can be places of renewal too: intestinal crypts, that is. Intestinal crypts are small areas of the intestine where new cells are formed to continuously renew the digestive tract. By focusing on one protein expressed in our intestines called Lrig1, the researchers have identified a special population of intestinal stem cells that respond to damage and help to prevent cancer.

31 Mar 2012

New project to focus on role of Myc oncoproteins in B-cell lymphoma

The National Institutes of Health has awarded The Scripps Research Institute $2 million to study the role of a pathway in the development and maintenance of B-cell lymphoma, a type of cancer that begins in immune system and turns normal disease fighting cells into cancers. The disease affects immune cells known as lymphocytes, which are part of our white blood cells.

31 Mar 2012

Starvation during childhood may increase risk of heart complications

Russians born during the Leningrad Siege in World War II, which was responsible for some of the greatest losses of civilian life in history, are giving scientists new strategies to identify people who experienced intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and starvation during childhood at greatest risk of developing long term heart complications.

31 Mar 2012

CSL Behring initiates rVIIa-FP Phase I study in hemophilia A and B

CSL Behring announced today the first in human dosing of recombinant fusion protein linking coagulation factor VIIa with albumin (rVIIa-FP). The Phase I study will investigate in healthy volunteers the safety and pharmacokinetics of rVIIa-FP in comparison to placebo.

31 Mar 2012