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.

Mutated Nesprin4 protein prevents hearing

Because half of all instances of hearing loss are linked to genetic mutations, advanced gene research is an invaluable tool for uncovering causes of deafness - and one of the biggest hopes for the development of new therapies. Now Prof. Karen Avraham of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University has discovered a significant mutation in a LINC family protein - part of the cells of the inner ear - that could lead to new treatments for hearing disorders.

29 Jan 2013

Reprogramming eye cells that enable night vision may one day treat retinitis pigmentosa

Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Jan 2013

DRCRF announces recipients of Nov. 2012 Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 15 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

29 Jan 2013

New DNA-delivering film holds promise for improving effectiveness of vaccines

Vaccines usually consist of inactivated viruses that prompt the immune system to remember the invader and launch a strong defense if it later encounters the real thing. However, this approach can be too risky with certain viruses, including HIV.

29 Jan 2013

Researchers unveil first maturation-based ‘disease in a dish’ model for ARVD/C

Most patients with an inherited heart condition known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) don't know they have a problem until they're in their early 20s. The lack of symptoms at younger ages makes it very difficult for researchers to study how ARVD/C evolves or to develop treatments. A new stem cell-based technology created by 2012 Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., helps solve this problem.

29 Jan 2013

UAB dietitian suggests five foods for healthier eating

With the hectic hustle and bustle of daily life — managing family, career, home and more — it is no wonder that creativity in the kitchen can fall to the wayside. To help people get out of a food rut and eat healthier this year, a dietitian from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) suggests adding five foods to the grocery cart.

29 Jan 2013

Skin cells transformed into heart cells for research into cardiomyopathy

...

28 Jan 2013

Temple scientists to solve long-standing mystery in sepsis

Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine are inching closer to solving a long-standing mystery in sepsis, a complex and often life-threatening condition that affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. every year.

28 Jan 2013

The LINC complex essential for hearing

In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Karen Avraham and colleagues at Tel Aviv University identified a genetic mutation in two families with hereditary high frequency hearing loss. The mutated gene, which has not previously been linked to hearing loss, encodes NESP4, a protein that is expressed in the outer nuclear membrane (ONM) of the hair cells of the ear.

28 Jan 2013

Evidence links HPV16 to focal cortical dysplasia type IIB

Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) - the most common cause of cervical cancer - to a common form of childhood epilepsy.

28 Jan 2013

Alzheimer's Association, SNMMI publish appropriate use criteria for brain amyloid imaging with PET

Only recently has it become possible to create high-quality images of the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease in living people through positron emission tomography (PET). Even so, questions remain about what can be learned from these PET images and which people should have this test.

28 Jan 2013

HSS involving resiniferatoxin receives U.S. patent to alleviate intractable pain

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a patent to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services involving resiniferatoxin, or RTX, an experimental compound that represents a potential new class of drugs to alleviate the intractable pain that can occur in people with advanced cancer, severe arthritis, and other extremely chronic conditions.

28 Jan 2013

UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine to develop blood test that can diagnose MCI

The Biomarker Discovery Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine has been awarded a three-year, $799,800 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to develop a blood test that can diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI) caused by early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jan 2013

Carmenta acquires option to license Stanford technology for preeclampsia diagnostic test

Carmenta Bioscience, Inc., a privately held medical technology company focused on maternal and fetal health, today announced it has acquired the option for a worldwide, exclusive license from Stanford University to develop a set of tests enabling physicians to better diagnose and predict preeclampsia.

28 Jan 2013

FDA accepts Genzyme’s LEMTRADA sBLA for review

Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company's supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) file seeking approval of LEMTRADA (alemtuzumab) for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).

28 Jan 2013

Endo Pharmaceuticals, GVK BIO enter research collaboration agreement

GVK Biosciences (GVK BIO), Asia's leading drug discovery research and development CRO announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with U.S. based Endo Pharmaceuticals focused on discovering novel small molecules targeting an exciting protein.

28 Jan 2013

Study sheds new light on why certain people are more likely to suffer from RA

University of Michigan research sheds new light on why certain people are more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis - paving the way to explore new treatments for both arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

28 Jan 2013

TSRI scientists to identify, test and develop drug candidates for several neurodegenerative disorders

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have been awarded approximately $1.2 million from the U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health to identify, test and develop a series of drug candidates for a number of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease and several neurodegenerative disorders.

28 Jan 2013

IRHOM2-targeted drugs can effectively treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

28 Jan 2013

FDA approves Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 to prevent pneumococcal disease in older children, adolescents

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for the expansion of the company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diphtheria CRM197 Protein]), for use in older children and adolescents aged 6 years through 17 years for active immunization for the prevention of invasive disease caused by the 13 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes contained in the vaccine.

28 Jan 2013