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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.

Transport of bacterial substrates through injectisome observed almost in real time

When attacking body cells, bacteria, such as salmonellae or Yersinia (plague pathogens), inject specific bacterial proteins through hollow, syringe-like structures - called injectisomes - into the host cells. These substances reprogram the cells and can thus overcome their defense. From then on, they can infiltrate the cells unhindered in large numbers, and trigger diseases such as typhus, plague, or cholera.

13 Dec 2013

Researchers uncover second rare genetic mutation linked to higher risk of Alzheimer's disease

A research team from The University of Nottingham has helped uncover a second rare genetic mutation which strongly increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease in later life.

13 Dec 2013

Researchers discover completely new targets for treatment of blood cancers

A particularly aggressive form of leukemia is the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is especially common among children and very difficult to treat. Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have now discovered completely new targets for the treatment of blood cancers.

13 Dec 2013

Protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells that fight against bacteria

A protein in Salmonella inactivates mast cells -- critical players in the body's fight against bacteria and other pathogens -- rendering them unable to protect against bacterial spread in the body, according to researchers at Duke Medicine and Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS).

13 Dec 2013

Names of 2014 Breakthrough Prize winners in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences unveiled

The names of the 2014 Breakthrough Prize winners in Fundamental Physics and Life Sciences were unveiled at an exclusive ceremony at the NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA. At a total awarded amount of $21 million, sponsored by Sergey Brin & Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma & Cathy Zhang, Yuri & Julia Milner and Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan, the prizes aim to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career.

13 Dec 2013

New treatment options for diabetic wound healing in cornea and skin

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), a metabolic disorder that affects nearly 170 million people worldwide, is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia that disrupts carbohydrate fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. DM can cause long-term damage, dysfunction and even failure of various organs.

13 Dec 2013

Vaccines for whooping cough contain 3 to 5 protective antigens

Vaccines for whooping cough contain three to five protective antigens, the presence of which are critical to the vaccine's effectiveness. But one of the antigens, pertactin, which had been present in almost all isolates of Bordetella pertussis in the US as late as 2010, is now absent from more than half of them, according to a paper published ahead of print in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

13 Dec 2013

Researchers find way to stop first part of breast cancer metastasis in mice

Cell biologists at Johns Hopkins have identified a unique class of breast cancer cells that lead the process of invasion into surrounding tissues. Because invasion is the first step in the deadly process of cancer metastasis, the researchers say they may have found a weak link in cancer's armor and a possible new target for therapy.

13 Dec 2013

Researchers caution pregnant women about eating red and processed meats

Pregnant women and women planning to become pregnant can make use of the holiday season to adjust their diets and reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute.

13 Dec 2013

New treatment needed for women with HER2- and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer with PIK3CA mutation

Women with breast cancer characterized by high levels of the protein HER2 and hormone receptors gained much less benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapies if their cancer had one or more mutations in the PIK3CA gene, according to results presented here at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 10-14.

12 Dec 2013

Circulating nucleosomes and colorectal cancer diagnostics: an interview with Dr. Stefan Holdenrieder, University Hospital Bonn

For my MD thesis I modified and evaluated an immunological assay that detected the cell death products “nucleosomes” as a new blood-based cancer biomarker. As cell death processes are enhanced or suppressed during different stages of tumor development, it was assumed that they may enable stage-dependent detection of cancer disease.

12 Dec 2013

Combination therapy safe and active in follicular lymphoma

One drug attacks tumor cells directly, the other treats the immune system by taking the brakes off T cell response.

12 Dec 2013

Mitochondrial enzyme SIRT5 regulates proteins involved in metabolism

The Sirtuin family of protein deacylases has received considerable attention in recent years due to its links to longevity, diabetes, cancer, and metabolic regulation.

12 Dec 2013

Study shows that age and sleep deprivation induce cellular stress in pancreas

Sleep, or the lack of it, seems to affect just about every aspect of human physiology. Yet, the molecular pathways through which sleep deprivation wreaks its detrimental effects on the body remain poorly understood.

12 Dec 2013

Researchers discover new therapeutic approach for hemophilia

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine and the Medical College of Wisconsin found that a new kind of gene therapy led to a dramatic decline in bleeding events in dogs with naturally occurring hemophilia A, a serious and costly bleeding condition that affects about 50,000 people in the United States and millions more around the world.

12 Dec 2013

Research: Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease might be transmitted by blood transfusion

Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare but fatal disease in humans. For the first time, the presence of infectivity[1] in the blood of patients affected by sporadic and the new variant of CJD was established by scientists from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the French National Veterinary School (ENVT), in collaboration with European partners.

12 Dec 2013

IDIBELL researchers explain the regulator mechanisms of mitosis

Researchers at the Cell Cycle Research Group of the Bellvitge Institute of Biomedical Research (IDIBELL) led by Ethel Queralt have reported in the journal PLoS Genetics an article which delve into the regulator mechanisms of mitosis, a key stage of the cell-cycle for the correct transmision of genetic information from parents to sons.

12 Dec 2013

Late-breaking abstracts on treatment of blood cancers and bleeding disorders presented at ASH meeting

A range of studies highlighting late-breaking research advances in the understanding and treatment of blood cancers and bleeding disorders are being presented today during the 55th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans.

12 Dec 2013

Ribosomal proteins RPL5, RPL11 play essential role in normal cell proliferation

Researchers from the Laboratory of Cancer Metabolism (LCM) led by George Thomas at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Cincinnati, have shown that loss of either one of two tumor suppressors, ribosomal proteins RPL5 or RPL11, fail to induce cell-cycle arrest, but prevent the proliferation of cells as they have a reduced capacity to synthesize proteins.

12 Dec 2013

Study: Taxol and Herceptin highly effective for lower-risk breast cancer patients

A remarkable 98.7 percent of certain lower-risk breast cancer patients were cancer free for at least three years after taking a combination of the drugs Herceptin and Taxol, a study has found.

12 Dec 2013