Protein News and Research

RSS

Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

New study sheds light on natural small molecule with antimicrobial effects

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered the unique mechanism of a powerful natural product with wide-ranging antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects.

31 Mar 2015

Complete review of amyloid-beta protein behind Alzheimer's disease

"It will still take many years to understand the mechanisms leading to the formation of the characteristic plaques seen in brains affected by Alzheimer's disease", explains Alessandro Laio, SISSA professor. "We know they are mostly a build-up of amyloid-beta peptide, the protein that research is currently focusing on". And, as of today, all those involved in biomolecular research on Alzheimer's will have access to a new and important instrument: an extensive and complete review of all scientific knowledge about this "killer protein" has in fact just been published in the journal Chemical Reviews.

31 Mar 2015

Researchers identify potential drug molecule that kills cancer cells

The average living cell needs communication skills: It must transmit a constant stream of messages quickly and efficiently from its outer walls to the inner nucleus, where most of the day-to-day decisions are made.

31 Mar 2015

New drug shows potential against rare type of acute leukemia

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a new drug that shows potential in laboratory studies against a rare type of acute leukemia. And additional studies suggest the same compound could play a role in prostate cancer treatment as well.

30 Mar 2015

Reoccurring oxygen deprivation during pregnancy affects offspring's liver function

Sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep, is a potentially serious condition because it deprives the body of oxygen. It becomes an even more serious condition in pregnant women—who can be more prone to it—because the oxygen deprivation may affect the baby.

30 Mar 2015

Patient with severe Alzheimer's shows promising benefits during treatment with Bryostatin drug

Researchers at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute and the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine announced their findings from a new study entitled, "PSEN1 Variant in a Family with Atypical AD." An Alzheimer patient with very severe disease, genetically confirmed to have a known variant of PSEN1, showed promising benefits during treatment with the drug Bryostatin 1.

30 Mar 2015

Study finds link between neurodegenerative disorders and inflammation

Researchers from McMaster University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York have discovered that a protein associated with neurodegenerative diseases like ALS also plays an important role in the body's natural antiviral response.

30 Mar 2015

Caris Life Sciences study may have potentially significant benefit in patients with uterine cancer

Caris Life Sciences today announced the presentation of a study that found drugs targeting specific pathways may have potentially significant benefit in a select subset of patients with uterine cancer. The study results were highlighted today in an oral presentation in a Plenary Session at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2015 Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in Chicago, Ill.

30 Mar 2015

Big data helps discover gephyrin protein's connection in human history

Big data: It's a term we read and hear about often, but is hard to grasp. Computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis' School of Engineering & Applied Science tackled some big data about an important protein and discovered its connection in human history as well as clues about its role in complex neurological diseases.

30 Mar 2015

DaVita Kidney Care celebrates its dietitians and social workers

DaVita Kidney Care, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. and a leading provider of kidney care services, is celebrating its more than 3,600 dietitians and social workers during March for their distinctive and important roles in patient care.

30 Mar 2015

One round of adenosine triphosphate turnover sufficient for SNARE complex disassembly

In 2013, James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular machineries for vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in cells for maintaining cellular processes. Vesicle traffic acts as a kind of "home-delivery service" in cells.

30 Mar 2015

Synageva announces submission of Kanuma application to Cofepris for treatment of LAL Deficiency

Synageva BioPharma Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic products for rare disorders, announced today the submission to the Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios in Mexico for Kanuma as a treatment for patients with lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL Deficiency), a rare genetic disease with significant morbidity and early mortality.

30 Mar 2015

Medunik announces availability of PHEBURANE drug in Canada for chronic management of UCD

Medunik Canada, a Canadian pharmaceutical company specialized in rare diseases, is pleased to announce that PHEBURANE (a tasteless oral formulation of sodium phenylbutyrate), is now available for distribution in Canada. PHEBURANE is the first drug to be approved in Canada for the chronic management of urea cycle disorders (UCD) after receiving market authorisation on January 27th, 2015.

30 Mar 2015

MDC scientists find solution to increase efficiency of precise genetic modifications

CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful new tool for editing the genome. For researchers around the world, the CRISPR-Cas9 technique is an exciting innovation because it is faster and cheaper than previous methods. Now, using a molecular trick, Dr. Van Trung Chu and Professor Klaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch and Dr. Ralf Kühn, MDC and Berlin Institute of Health, have found a solution to considerably increase the efficiency of precise genetic modifications by up to eightfold.

30 Mar 2015

Rare genetic mutation explains why flu can kill in rare cases

Nobody likes getting the flu, but for some people, fluids and rest aren't enough. A small number of children who catch the influenza virus fall so ill they end up in the hospital — perhaps needing ventilators to breathe — even while their family and friends recover easily. New research by Rockefeller University scientists, published March 26 in Science, helps explain why: a rare genetic mutation.

30 Mar 2015

MRI technique may help detect cancerous cells

Imaging tests like mammograms or CT scans can detect tumors, but figuring out whether a growth is or isn't cancer usually requires a biopsy to study cells directly. Now results of a Johns Hopkins study suggest that MRI could one day make biopsies more effective or even replace them altogether by noninvasively detecting telltale sugar molecules shed by the outer membranes of cancerous cells.

30 Mar 2015

Researchers harness gene editing technique in mosquito that infects people with deadly diseases

Traditionally, to understand how a gene functions, a scientist would breed an organism that lacks that gene - "knocking it out" - then ask how the organism has changed. Are its senses affected? Its behavior?

30 Mar 2015

Discovery opens new drug development avenues for treating multiple diseases

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a control switch for the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular stress relief mechanism drawing major scientific interest because of its role in cancer, diabetes, inflammatory disorders and several neural degenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

30 Mar 2015

Mitochondrial DNA movement: an interview with Professor Jiri Neuzil, Griffith University

According to our understanding, mitochondria undergo cycles of fusion-fission, i.e. they divide within the constraints of a cell and, upon cell division, each of the two daughter cells gets its ‘share’ of mitochondria.

29 Mar 2015

UCSF professor wins Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

Peter Walter was chosen as winner of the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science for his pioneering work on how proteins are transported between cellular compartments and for unraveling the components of a regulatory mechanism that cells use to handle stress tied to the aggregation of misshapen proteins.

29 Mar 2015

Protein News and Research

Further Reading

New study sheds light on natural small molecule with antimicrobial effects

Complete review of amyloid-beta protein behind Alzheimer's disease

Researchers identify potential drug molecule that kills cancer cells

New drug shows potential against rare type of acute leukemia

Reoccurring oxygen deprivation during pregnancy affects offspring's liver function

Patient with severe Alzheimer's shows promising benefits during treatment with Bryostatin drug

Study finds link between neurodegenerative disorders and inflammation

Caris Life Sciences study may have potentially significant benefit in patients with uterine cancer

Big data helps discover gephyrin protein's connection in human history

DaVita Kidney Care celebrates its dietitians and social workers

One round of adenosine triphosphate turnover sufficient for SNARE complex disassembly

Synageva announces submission of Kanuma application to Cofepris for treatment of LAL Deficiency

Medunik announces availability of PHEBURANE drug in Canada for chronic management of UCD

MDC scientists find solution to increase efficiency of precise genetic modifications

Rare genetic mutation explains why flu can kill in rare cases

MRI technique may help detect cancerous cells

Researchers harness gene editing technique in mosquito that infects people with deadly diseases

Discovery opens new drug development avenues for treating multiple diseases

Mitochondrial DNA movement: an interview with Professor Jiri Neuzil, Griffith University

UCSF professor wins Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Latest Life Science News