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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.

Researchers use mouse model of autism to treat CTD

Using a mouse model of autism, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have successfully treated an autism spectrum disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment.

3 Jul 2012

Rodents may hold the key to long and active lifespan

Compared to the average three year life span of a common rat, the 10 to 30 year life of the naked mole rat, a subterranean rodent native to East Africa, is impressive. And compared to the human body, the body of this rodent shows little decline due to aging, maintaining high activity, bone health, reproductive capacity, and cognitive ability throughout its lifetime. Now a collaborative of researchers in Israel and the United States is working to uncover the secret to the small mammal's long - and active - lifespan.

3 Jul 2012

NOTCH1 signaling promotes T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia-initiating cell regeneration

Research suggests that patients with leukemia sometimes relapse because standard chemotherapy fails to kill the self-renewing leukemia initiating cells, often referred to as cancer stem cells. In such cancers, the cells lie dormant for a time, only to later begin cloning, resulting in a return and metastasis of the disease.

3 Jul 2012

Researchers identify new gene target for leukemia therapy

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Hoxworth Blood Center have discovered a new gene target for leukemia therapy.

3 Jul 2012

GRP78 plays an important role in breast cancers that respond to anti-estrogen therapy

Researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a single molecule they say is a major determinant of resistance to anti-estrogen therapy used to treat or prevent breast cancer in high-risk women.

3 Jul 2012

Cells close to death from toxin exposure can survive when toxins are removed

The vast majority of cells that appear to be on a one-way track to death after exposure to toxins can bounce back completely after those toxins are removed, Johns Hopkins scientists report in a new study. The finding, published in the June 15 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, is not only a testament to the indomitable cellular spirit, but could also offer some practical insight on how to save dying tissues after heart attacks or strokes as well as prevent cancer in cells transiently exposed to toxins.

3 Jul 2012

Study identifies possible new approach to defeat bacterial infections

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response.

3 Jul 2012

Osteoarthritis susceptibility: eight potential genes discovered

The largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of osteoarthritis to date, published Online First in The Lancet, has uncovered eight new genetic variants or loci that appear to increase susceptibility to the most common form of arthritis, which affects about 40% of the world population older than 70 years. These findings bring the total number of osteoarthritis susceptibility genes isolated in European populations to 11.

3 Jul 2012

GHB binds to GABAA-receptor in the brain under physiologically relevant conditions

Researchers are closer to understanding the biology behind GHB, a transmitter substance in the brain, best known in its synthetic form as the illegal drug fantasy. These findings have just been published in the scientific journal PNAS.

3 Jul 2012

Scientists discover Eya1 enzyme control of pulmonary barrier integrity

Scientists have provided the first evidence that an enzyme called Eya1 protein phosphatase is a critical regulator of lung function and that this may have broad implications for sufferers of a variety of pulmonary diseases.

3 Jul 2012

Study demonstrates effectiveness of combination therapy for breast cancer cells in vitro

A study conducted at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) demonstrates an effective combination therapy for breast cancer cells in vitro.

3 Jul 2012

Gene vital to flu severity discovered

Researchers have discovered that a protein known as PA-X, produced from a ribosomal frameshift mutation in a gene in the influenza A genome, has a substantial impact on host response to the virus.

2 Jul 2012

DKK1 boosts liver cancer diagnostic options

Measurement of the protein Dickkopf-1 in serum could be used to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma, especially early disease, Chinese researchers report.

2 Jul 2012

Potential link between mutant huntingtin, cell loss and cell death in Huntington's disease

Using an in vitro cell model of Huntington's disease (HD), researchers at Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have discovered a novel mechanism and potential link between mutant huntingtin, cell loss and cell death or apoptosis in the brain, which is responsible for the devastating effects of this disease. Apoptosis has been proposed as one of the mechanisms leading to neuronal death in HD.

2 Jul 2012

Rexahn submits RX-5902 IND to FDA for treatment of advanced or metastatic solid tumors

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that it has submitted an investigational new drug application (IND) to the Food and Drug Administration for a first-in-human study of RX-5902 to treat advanced or metastatic solid tumors.

2 Jul 2012

CytRx granted European patent for tumor-targeting linker platform technology

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, today announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has issued a patent covering the Company's tumor-targeting linker platform technology and pharmaceutical compositions.

2 Jul 2012

Safer alternative to experimental gene therapy against HIV infection

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a surprisingly simple and safe method to disrupt specific genes within cells. The scientists highlighted the medical potential of the new technique by demonstrating its use as a safer alternative to an experimental gene therapy against HIV infection.

2 Jul 2012

Chronic inflammation can predispose the brain to develop Alzheimer's disease

Research published today in Biomed Central's open access journal Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that chronic inflammation can predispose the brain to develop Alzheimer's disease.

2 Jul 2012

Blocking AXL protein may prevent resistance to lung cancer drug

People with lung cancer who are treated with the drug Tarceva face a daunting uncertainty: although their tumors may initially shrink, it's not a question of whether their cancer will return—it's a question of when. And for far too many, it happens far too soon.

2 Jul 2012

Researchers map significant portion of functional sequences of mouse genome

Popularly dubbed "the book of life," the human genome is extraordinarily difficult to read. But without full knowledge of its grammar and syntax, the genome's 2.9 billion base-pairs of adenine and thymine, cytosine and guanine provide limited insights into humanity's underlying genetics.

2 Jul 2012