Cell Membrane News and Research

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Several minute intermediate stage in virus-cell fusion may represent a window of opportunity for drug development

To ignite a life-threatening infection in the body, a virus such as HIV invades body cells by first merging, or fusing, with the cell's outer membrane. Once inside the cell, the invading microbe's genetic material takes over, turning the 'host' cell into a factory to produce more copies of the virus, which then spill out to invade other cells in the body.

8 Jun 2005

World first air purification technology for H5N1 Avian Influenza

Sharp Corporation has demonstrated that Plasmacluster Ions reduce activity of the highly fatal and highly pathogenic airborne H5N1 avian influenza ("bird flu") virus by 99%.

6 Jun 2005

Novel insights into how prion and other neurodegenerative diseases develop

Abnormal prion proteins are little understood disease agents involved in causing horrific brain-wasting diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in people, mad cow disease in cattle and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk.

3 Jun 2005

Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Since 2001, scientists have wrestled with the discovery that there are fewer genes in humans than biological processes linked to those genes over the course of a human lifespan. One way to understand genetically coded events is by studying epigenetics, the regulation and heritability of genes at a cellular level due to molecular changes to the many proteins (called histones) that package DNA in a cell's nucleus.

23 May 2005

Unsuspected protein CD147, regulates the production of plaque-forming peptides that are the defining feature of Alzheimer's

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered an unsuspected subunit of the protein complex gamma-secretase, which plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease.

15 May 2005

Discovery may pave way for immunotherapies for prostate cancer

Using a common chemotherapy agent, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine found a way to move an important biomarker expressed in prostate cancer, shaking it loose from one location in a cell – where it could not be accessed by blood – to another, easier to target area.

11 May 2005

Research offers new molecular approaches to therapies for the most deadly cancers

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have found promising new molecular targets and treatment approaches for some of the most malignant brain tumors.

10 May 2005

Promising new molecular targets and treatment approaches for some of the most malignant brain tumors

The first study identified a protein that seems to control the malignant features of brain tumor cells, suggesting a new treatment target for anti-cancer drugs. Researchers found that a little-known protein called Fra-1 was effective in controlling vascular endothelial growth factor D, a factor that promotes the growth of new blood vessels in most malignant brain tumors.

8 May 2005

Researchers zero in on sleep gene

Zeroing in on the core cellular mechanisms of sleep, researchers at University of Wisconsin Medical School have identified for the first time a single gene mutation that has a powerful effect on the amount of time fruit flies sleep.

27 Apr 2005

Molecular mechanism that desensitizes us to cold, discovered

Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have discovered how the membrane protein that allows us to sense cold works and how this protein becomes desensitized so that one no longer feels the cold.

27 Apr 2005

Breast cancer gene may play a major role in the recurrence of prostate cancer

A gene associated with breast cancer also may play a major role in the recurrence of prostate cancer, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

20 Apr 2005

New method for the study of ion channel gating kinetics

An ion channel is a protein pore that lets ions (charged atoms such as calcium) pass through a cell's membrane. The method fits data to a new class of models, called manifest interconductance rank (MIR) models, which will give researchers a better understanding of the mechanisms by which ion channels open and close.

19 Apr 2005

Researchers determine structure of binding site of colon-cancer drug Erbitux and its protein target

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined the precise molecular details of how Erbitux, a recently approved colorectal cancer drug, binds to its target on cancer cells. Knowing this chemical configuration will lead to better drug design for this family of cancer medications.

19 Apr 2005

Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells

Retroviruses are among the trickier and more malicious disease agents, causing AIDS and cancers such as leukemia. The viruses manage to sneak into cells with the help of special protein assemblies scattered all over their surfaces. These retrovirus surface proteins cause the membrane envelope of the virus to fuse with the membrane of the cell, spilling virus RNA into the cell to wreak damage.

13 Apr 2005

Ephrins may influence learning

A Burnham Institute study has found that one of the cell's largest families of signaling molecules, called ephrins, which are known to regulate the development of nerve cells, also controls nerve cells' ability to engulf critical chemicals and proteins for learning and memory.

11 Apr 2005

Molecular motors cooperate in moving cellular cargo

Researchers using an extremely fast and accurate imaging technique have shed light on the tiny movements of molecular motors that shuttle material within living cells. The motors cooperate in a delicate choreography of steps, rather than engaging in the brute-force tug of war many scientists had imagined.

7 Apr 2005

Process called sumoylation regulates key ion channel

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that a recently discovered biological process known as sumoylation -- until now thought to be active only in the nucleus -- also occurs near the cell's surface where it regulates at least one and possibly many kinds of proteins, providing a novel target for the development of new drugs.

7 Apr 2005

Yeast discovery provides new insights into familial dysautonomia

A discovery in yeast that has important implications for finding a cure for a devastating disease of nerve cell failures -- called familial dysautonomia (FD) -- has been made by Cornell University researchers.

6 Apr 2005

Promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors

Melanoma is a particularly deadly form of skin cancer very resistant to treatment. Researchers at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of South Florida are testing a promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors.

5 Apr 2005

Tarvacin shows significant anti-viral activity

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals today announced that there will be two presentations, April 4 and 6, at the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) annual meeting in San Diego, California, indicating the anti-viral potential of its Tarvacin antibody. Dr. Melina Soares of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will present pre-clinical data titled "Targeting inside-out phospholipids on viruses in a guinea pig model of Lassa fever."

4 Apr 2005