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.

Connexin 43 deficiency may protect against bed rest-associated bone loss

Mice lacking connexin 43, the most abundant gap junction protein in bone, have a decreased susceptibility to the effects of mechanical unloading on bone, US researchers report.

21 Jun 2012

New understanding of how motor neurons die in spinal muscular atrophy patients

Cedars-Sinai's Regenerative Medicine Institute has pioneered research on how motor-neuron cell-death occurs in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, offering an important clue in identifying potential medicines to treat this leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers.

21 Jun 2012

First study to demonstrate long-term and sustained cardiac benefit for patients after gastric bypass

Total cholesterol, triglycerides and C-reactive protein levels are among 11 risk factors for heart attack that remained greatly reduced up to seven years after gastric bypass surgery, according to a new Stanford University study presented here at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.

21 Jun 2012

GBM patients with CNP subtype may have less aggressive subtype of cancer

A diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is generally a death sentence, but new research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison lab of Dr. John Kuo shows that at least one subtype is associated with a longer life expectancy. This discovery could help with better patient prognoses and lead to targeted drug treatments for GBM subtypes.

21 Jun 2012

Tinkering with p190RhoGAP molecule shapes development of cardiac stem cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a single protein molecule may hold the key to turning cardiac stem cells into blood vessels or muscle tissue, a finding that may lead to better ways to treat heart attack patients.

21 Jun 2012

Blocking Sigma-1 receptor can reduce binge eating

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated in experimental models that blocking the Sigma-1 receptor, a cellular protein, reduced binge eating and caused binge eaters to eat more slowly.

21 Jun 2012

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Medgenics’ INFRADURE Biopump

Medgenics, Inc., the developer of Biopump, a novel technology for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins in patients using their own tissue, today announced that its INFRADURE Biopump has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) for the treatment of hepatitis D.

21 Jun 2012

Researchers discover distinct differences in how muscle affects two layers of bone in men, women

Researchers have long been aware that the progressive loss of muscle mass and bone density is a natural part of aging. But little work has investigated how muscle tissue affects the inner and outer layers of bone microstructure.

21 Jun 2012

Researchers can silence mutated gene responsible for Huntington's with single drug treatment

With a single drug treatment, researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine can silence the mutated gene responsible for Huntington's disease, slowing and partially reversing progression of the fatal neurodegenerative disorder in animal models.

21 Jun 2012

Illumina launches RapidTrack WGS service

Illumina, Inc. today launched the RapidTrack Whole Genome Sequencing Service, a new offering in its FastTrack Sequencing Services operation that delivers a whole human genome in less than two weeks.

From Illumina, Inc. 21 Jun 2012

Researchers discover protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves

A protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

21 Jun 2012

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce inflammation in overweight older adults

New research shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplements can lower inflammation in healthy, but overweight, middle-aged and older adults, suggesting that regular use of these supplements could help protect against and treat certain illnesses.

21 Jun 2012

Structure of human P-glycoprotein in a moving 3D computer model

A picture is worth 1,000 words when it comes to understanding how things work, but 3D moving pictures are even better. That's especially true for scientists trying to stop cancer by better understanding the proteins that make some chemotherapies unsuccessful.

21 Jun 2012

Biochemists map structure of key protein-RNA complex required for assembly of telomerase

UCLA biochemists have mapped the structure of a key protein-RNA complex that is required for the assembly of telomerase, an enzyme important in both cancer and aging.

20 Jun 2012

Researchers determine structure of MRN complex

Double-stranded breaks in cellular DNA can trigger tumorigenesis. Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have now determined the structure of a protein involved in the repair and signaling of DNA double-strand breaks. The work throws new light on the origins of neurodegenerative diseases and certain tumor types.

20 Jun 2012

Researchers unlock structure of STING protein

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have unlocked the structure of a key protein that, when sensing certain viruses and bacteria, triggers the body's immediate immune response.

20 Jun 2012

Combination therapy may help defeat pancreatic cancer

Combining a new targeted therapy with standard chemotherapy may help defeat pancreatic cancer, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, held here June 18-21.

20 Jun 2012

FDA provides Orphan Drug Designation to Alnylam’s ALN-TTR02

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has provided Orphan Drug Designation to ALN-TTR02 as a therapeutic for the treatment of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), one of the predominant clinical manifestations of transthyretin (TTR)-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR).

20 Jun 2012

KPT-SINEs might offer new treatment for people with acute leukemia

A novel family of experimental agents that blocks a molecule from shuttling proteins out of the cell nucleus might offer a new treatment for people with acute leukemia, according to a study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

20 Jun 2012

New approach to decipher roles of genes associated with autism

Fish cannot display symptoms of autism, schizophrenia or other human brain disorders. However, a team of MIT biologists has shown that zebrafish can be a useful tool for studying the genes that contribute to such disorders.

20 Jun 2012