Protein News and Research

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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.

Study provides new insight on cancer prevention

Clear communication between cells is essential to every aspect of the body's internal function. But since cells can't talk, or send emails, how do they communicate?

4 Feb 2013

Identification of progenitors may help treat clinical taste dysfunction

Scientists at the Monell Center have identified the location and certain genetic characteristics of taste stem cells on the tongue. The findings will facilitate techniques to grow and manipulate new functional taste cells for both clinical and research purposes.

4 Feb 2013

Mcl-1 gene essential for survival of antibody-producing cells

Scientists have identified the gene essential for survival of antibody-producing cells, a finding that could lead to better treatments for diseases where these cells are out of control, such as myeloma and chronic immune disorders.

3 Feb 2013

Scientists visualise molecular changes in Bax protein that force cells to die

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have for the first time visualised the molecular changes in a critical cell death protein that force cells to die.

3 Feb 2013

Epidermal growth factor speeds recovery of blood-making stem cells after radiation exposure

Epidermal growth factor has been found to speed the recovery of blood-making stem cells after exposure to radiation, according to Duke Medicine researchers. The finding could open new options for treating cancer patients and victims of dirty bombs or nuclear disasters.

3 Feb 2013

Scientists produce monoclonal antibody in tobacco plants that neutralizes rabies viruses

Smoking tobacco might be bad for your health, but a genetically altered version of the plant might provide a relatively inexpensive cure for the deadly rabies virus. In a new research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, scientists produced a monoclonal antibody in transgenic tobacco plants that was shown to neutralize the rabies virus.

2 Feb 2013

Researchers create high-resolution map of gene regulatory elements in the brain

Future research into the underlying causes of neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, should greatly benefit from a first-of-its-kind atlas of gene-enhancers in the cerebrum (telencephalon).

2 Feb 2013

PKCζ protein plays a critical role in regulating tumor metabolism

Cancer cells need food to survive and grow. They're very good at getting it, too, even when nutrients are scarce. Many scientists have tried killing cancer cells by taking away their favorite food, a sugar called glucose. Unfortunately, this treatment approach not only fails to work, it backfires-glucose-starved tumors actually get more aggressive.

2 Feb 2013

New drug to prevent early stages of Alzheimer's could enter clinical trials soon

A new drug to prevent the early stages of Alzheimer's disease could enter clinical trials in a few years' time according to scientists.

2 Feb 2013

Potential connection between autism and insulin-like growth factor

A New York-based physician-researcher from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, best known for his research into fertility and twinning, has uncovered a potential connection between autism and a specific growth protein that could eventually be used as a way to predict an infant's propensity to later develop the disease.

2 Feb 2013

Medicare expands competitive bidding program

The new prices will kick in July 1 and are expected to save on average 45 percent for products such as walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen equipment and other medical products.

2 Feb 2013

Dairy intake may increase risk of bone mineral density in the hip

A study by researchers at the Institute for Aging Research (IFAR) at Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS), has found that dairy intake -specifically milk and yogurt -is associated with higher bone mineral density (BMD) in the hip, but not the spine.

1 Feb 2013

Hyperion Therapeutics receives FDA approval for Ravicti to treat urea cycle disorders

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Ravicti (glycerol phenylbutyrate) for the chronic management of some urea cycle disorders (UCDs) in patients ages 2 years and older.

1 Feb 2013

Scientists uncover key mechanism that links obesity and diabetes with cancer

Sugars are needed to provide us with energy and in moderate amounts contribute to our well-being. Sustained high levels of sugars, as is found in diabetics, damages our cells and now is shown that can also increase our chance to get cancer: The dose makes the poison as Paracelsus said.

1 Feb 2013

Scientists identify specific p53 pocket that can be targeted by cancer-fighting drugs

UC Irvine biologists, chemists and computer scientists have identified an elusive pocket on the surface of the p53 protein that can be targeted by cancer-fighting drugs. The finding heralds a new treatment approach, as mutant forms of this protein are implicated in nearly 40 percent of diagnosed cases of cancer, which kills more than half a million Americans each year.

1 Feb 2013

Study investigates R1441G mutation of Parkinson's disease

A team from the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country came across a mutation of the LRRK2 gene in 2004, which is particularly prevalent among the population of Gipuzkoa. It is the R1441G mutation and is known as the Basque mutation.

1 Feb 2013

Endothelial cells can trigger changes in cancer cells without direct contact

Blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to tumors can also deliver something else - a signal that strengthens nearby cancer cells, making them more resistant to chemotherapy, more likely to spread to other organs and more lethal, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online in Cancer Cell.

1 Feb 2013

Notch protein responsible for activating GATA2 gene to generate hematopoietic stem cells

Researchers from the group on stem cells and cancer at IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) have deciphered one of the gene regulation circuits which would make it possible to generate hematopoietic blood cells, i.e. blood tissue stem cells.

1 Feb 2013

Merck full-year 2012 worldwide sales decrease 2% to $47.3 billion

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012.

1 Feb 2013

Study demonstrates new fragile genomic sites responsible for chromosomal alterations in tumors

Cancer arises from the accumulation of mutations and structural changes in chromosomes, which in some cases give rise to combinations that favour the growth or expansion of the disease. In this context, chromosomes tend to lose or duplicate entire regions, although, the mechanisms that initiate these chromosomal abnormalities are not fully understood.

1 Feb 2013