Amino Acid News and Research

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Amino Acid is one of several molecules that join together to form proteins. There are 20 common amino acids found in proteins.

Researchers trigger natural defense mechanism to alleviate intestinal inflammation

Treating inflammatory diseases of the bowel is extremely challenging: Genes, gut microbes and disrupted immune function all contribute.

31 May 2018

FDA approves novel enzyme therapy for adults with rare and serious genetic disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Palynziq (pegvaliase-pqpz) for adults with a rare and serious genetic disease known as phenylketonuria (PKU).

25 May 2018

Scientists report new strategy for fighting bacteria

Antimicrobial resistance is a major medical problem worldwide, impacting both human health and economic well-being.

24 May 2018

Study provides blueprint of how fruit flies can be used to screen potentially pathogenic human genes

It all began with one young patient; a 7-year old boy who was born without a thymus, an important organ of the immune system, and without functional immune cells. The boy also presented with cardiac and skeletal defects, dysmorphic craniofacial features and some signs of autistic behaviors.

23 May 2018

Scientists decipher workings of little-understood bacterial riboswitch

In a discovery that points to potential new antibiotic medicines, scientists from Rice University and the University of Michigan have deciphered the workings of a common but little-understood bacterial switch that cuts off protein production before it begins.

22 May 2018

HCM mutation prevents the heart from increasing pumping force, study shows

Researchers from Washington State University have discovered how a genetic mutation linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) disrupts the heart's normal function.

21 May 2018

New study reveals the extent of brain damage due to elevated homocysteine

The amino acid homocysteine occurs naturally in the human body, generated as a byproduct of methionine metabolism.

17 May 2018

UC San Diego scientists discover gene that helps prevent neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists know that faulty proteins can cause harmful deposits or "aggregates" in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Although the causes of these protein deposits remain a mystery, it is known that abnormal aggregates can result when cells fail to transmit proper genetic information to proteins.

16 May 2018

Researchers are developing new algorithms to predict protein structure

With protein design dating back to the mid-1970s, today’s scientists have access to a huge amount of information and tools that they can use to create proteins – such abundant, diverse material, in fact, that the data they need may be hard to find.

16 May 2018

Taurine deficiency in sperm linked to male infertility

Sperm are highly specialized cells adapted to achieve a single goal: fertilize an egg. Along the road to fertilization sperm must embark on a lengthy journey to the female oviduct, avoiding several fatal stresses that occur when they pass through different physiological environments.

11 May 2018

Researchers discover glutamine-dependent activation of cell growth and autophagy

The human body consists of about 35 trillion cells, so it could be said that overall body growth is the growth of individual cells.

3 May 2018

Specific type of RNA editing plays key role in protein variation in cancer cells, shows research

A multi-center study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shed light on why proteins, the seedlings that serve as the incubator for many cancers, can vary from cancer to cancer and even patient to patient, a discovery that adds to a growing base of knowledge important for developing more effective precision therapies.

27 Apr 2018

Researchers trigger E. coli’s toxin-antitoxin system to inhibit bacterial growth

According to new research, the toxin-antitoxin (TA) system found within E. coli can be induced to inhibit the growth of the bacterium. This may have important consequences for human infection.

23 Apr 2018

Long-term exposure to cold temperatures reduces diabetes and obesity, shows study

A new study in fat cells has revealed a molecular mechanism that controls how lifestyle choices and the external environment affect gene expression.

19 Apr 2018

Artificial antimicrobial peptides may help fight against drug-resistant bacteria

During the past several years, many strains of bacteria have become resistant to existing antibiotics, and very few new drugs have been added to the antibiotic arsenal.

16 Apr 2018

Targeting metabolism of key nutrients could be effective in treating squamous cell carcinoma

Researchers from UCLA and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center have found that two targeted therapies could be more effective if used in combination to treat squamous cell carcinomas of the lung.

12 Apr 2018

Researchers develop new technique to study self-assembling virus shell

Northwestern Engineering researchers have developed a new way to manipulate a virus shell that self-assembles from proteins and holds promise as a carrier for disease detection, drug delivery, and vaccinations.

11 Apr 2018

Two new studies highlight GABA's importance in type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Dynamic interactions between the nervous system, hormones and the immune system are normally on-going but in diabetes the balance is disturbed.

5 Apr 2018

Sulfur amino acid restriction consistently demonstrates range of health benefits in animals

The longevity and health improvements seen in animals on sulfur amino acid-restricted diets could translate to people, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who recently conducted a review of published studies. More research is needed to confirm the benefits in people, the scientists said.

4 Apr 2018

Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they work

When she was a young physician, Dr. Martha Gulati noticed that many of her mentors were prescribing vitamin E and folic acid to patients. Preliminary studies in the early 1990s had linked both supplements to a lower risk of heart disease.