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.

Early childhood adversity linked with depression and inflammation

When a person injures their knee, it becomes inflamed. When a person has a cold, their throat becomes inflamed. This type of inflammation is the body's natural and protective response to injury. Interestingly, there is growing evidence that a similar process happens when a person experiences psychological trauma. Unfortunately, this type of inflammation can be destructive.

4 Jul 2012

Researchers reveal how WBCs move to infection or inflammation in the body

Researchers in the biological sciences department in the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary have revealed how white blood cells move to infection or inflammation in the body; findings which could help lead to developing drug therapies for immune system disorders.

4 Jul 2012

Social interventions may help slow or treat age-related dementia

Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees.

4 Jul 2012

Scientists reprogram amniotic fluid cells without introduction of extra genes

Stem cells found in amniotic fluid can be transformed into a more versatile state similar to embryonic stem cells, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Therapy. Scientists from Imperial College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health succeeded in reprogramming amniotic fluid cells without having to introduce extra genes.

4 Jul 2012

Treating Sickle Cell Disease with L-Glutamine

By focusing on how best to help patients, researchers can sometimes find solutions that are much simpler than anticipated. That has been the guiding approach to our efforts to develop a treatment for sickle cell disease.

3 Jul 2012

New method promotes selection and growth of dangerous cancer cells

The news a cancer patient most fears is that the disease has spread and become much more difficult to treat. A new method to isolate and grow the most dangerous cancer cells could enable new research into how cancer spreads and, ultimately, how to fight it.

3 Jul 2012

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