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.

Link between infections and venous thromboembolism in surgical patients

Despite receiving blood thinners and other clot prevention treatment, some patients still develop potentially lethal blood clots in the first month after their operations anyway, especially if they developed a surgical-site infection while in the hospital, according to results of a study at Johns Hopkins.

16 Jan 2013

Stem cell transplantation prevents decrease in heart function associated with DMD

Researchers have shown that transplanting stem cells derived from normal mouse blood vessels into the hearts of mice that model the pathology associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) prevents the decrease in heart function associated with DMD.

16 Jan 2013

GE Healthcare submits Optison sNDA to aid in detection of cardiovascular diseases

GE Healthcare today announced that it has filed a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) that will allow the company to manufacture Optison (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), within its own facility.

16 Jan 2013

NEDD9 gene controls growth of progenitor cells that give rise to breast tumors

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. Many of these deaths occur when there is an initial diagnosis of invasive or metastatic disease. A protein called NEDD9-which regulates cell migration, division and survival-has been linked to tumor invasion and metastasis in a variety of cancers.

16 Jan 2013

Experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect against Ebola virus infection

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have found that an experimental vaccine elicits antibodies that can protect nonhuman primates from Ebola virus infection.

16 Jan 2013

Clathrin protein may have a role in suppressing tumors

Newly published research by Indiana University structural biologist Joel Ybe and colleagues identifies a "topology switch" in the protein clathrin, the function of which may shed light on molecular processes involved in tumor suppression.

16 Jan 2013

p53 activation suppresses malic enzyme expression and leads to senescence in pre-cancerous cells

It is perhaps impossible to overstate the importance of the tumor suppressor gene p53. It is the single most frequently mutated gene in human tumors. p53 keeps pre-cancerous cells in check by causing cells, among other things, to become senescent - aging at the cellular level. Loss of p53 causes cells to ignore the cellular signals that would normally make mutant or damaged cells die or stop growing.

16 Jan 2013

GeneTex to introduce new EasyBlot reagent

GeneTex, a leading manufacturer of high-quality antibodies, is pleased to announce that they will be launching EasyBlot, a new secondary antibody reagent that eliminates the interference that has long plagued immunoprecipitation (IP) experiments when the IP and western blot primary antibodies are from the same host.

16 Jan 2013

TSC22D4 gene plays a key role in the onset of cachexia

Cachexia or wasting is a condition affecting up to 70 percent of cancer patients, depending on the type of cancer. It is characterized by a dramatic loss of body weight that is independent of food intake. Cachexia is seen particularly often and most pronounced in patients suffering from cancers of the digestive tract and the lungs.

16 Jan 2013

Researchers discover molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein

Researchers at McGill University and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have discovered the molecular blueprint behind the IFIT protein.

15 Jan 2013

Aggressive breast cancer’s metastasis molecular switch identified

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered the molecular switch that allows aggressive triple negative breast cancer cells to grow the amoeba-like protrusions they need to crawl away from a primary tumor and metastasize throughout the body. Their findings, published in Cancer Cell, suggest a novel approach for developing agents to treat cancer once it has spread.

15 Jan 2013

New hope for people with sound-induced deafness

Preliminary results from a study in mice suggest it may be possible to regenerate cochlear hair cells that have been damaged due to excessive noise exposure.

15 Jan 2013

Smoking intensity affects course of bladder cancer

Smoking not only causes bladder cancer—it also affects its course, in that people who smoke more have greater likelihood of developing more aggressive and deadly disease. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study also found that a panel of bladder cancer markers can predict which particular cases are at the highest risk for a fatal outcome.

14 Jan 2013

Intermittent therapy may be answer to treating drug-resistant melanoma

Findings from a study carried out in mice suggest that an intermittent dosing strategy may be the answer to combating lethal tumor resistance to the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib, in patients with late-stage BRAF-mutated melanoma.

14 Jan 2013

Biguanide mechanism discovered

Researchers have discovered a novel mechanism by which biguanides exert their glucose-lowering effect, potentially leading to new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of diabetes and insulin resistance.

14 Jan 2013

Reviewing the latest methods for characterizing biomaterials

Biomaterials and medical devices must be rigorously tested in the laboratory before they may be implanted into test subjects. By ensuring that these test methods are both quick and efficient, an increased number of materials can be tested and working implants can be produced more rapidly. The development of such tests is therefore essential to biomedical advancement, and Characterization of biomaterials reviews the latest methods for defining properties and characterizing materials. Characterization of biomaterials discusses a wide array of techniques and various unique approaches to the problems faced in characterizing biomaterials, whilst also providing information on standards and methods for assessing the safety and biocompatibility of biomaterials.

14 Jan 2013

Repression of PTB protein in fibroblasts can convert pluripotent stem cells into functional neurons

Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells - abundantly found in connective tissues - into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell.

11 Jan 2013

Blocking interaction of JNK enzyme may counteract neuron destruction

Oxidative stress is a primary villain in a host of diseases that range from cancer and heart failure to Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

11 Jan 2013

Cancer researchers solve mystery of how Chd5 protein exerts its beneficial effects

A team of cancer researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has solved the mystery of how one of the most powerful of the body's natural tumor-suppressing proteins, called Chd5, exerts its beneficial effects.

11 Jan 2013

Placing peanut protein under a patient's tongue helps dampen allergic reactions

Of all foods, peanuts are the most frequent cause of life-threatening and fatal allergic reactions. New research at National Jewish Health provides additional support for a strategy to reduce the severity of reactions to peanut- repeatedly consuming small amounts of the very food that causes those reactions in the first place, a practice called immunotherapy.

11 Jan 2013