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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.

Inflammasome components help protect against colitis

Particular components of inflammasomes-protein complexes needed for generating immune responses to pathogens and cellular damage-lessen the severity of colitis and colitis-associated colon cancer in mice, according to a study published online this week in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

13 Apr 2010

Eight tips to keep families fit and healthy

With so many risk factors prevalent in today's society, parents are increasingly concerned about making sure their children don't fall prey to this alarming trend.

13 Apr 2010

Researchers invent zinc-stapled insulin to reduce insulin-related cancer risk

For millions of Americans with Type-2 diabetes and inject insulin to control diabetes (with onset typically in adulthood) the associated risk of cancer is of increasing concern. Studies have demonstrated that obesity and excess insulin - whether naturally produced by the body or injected in synthetic form - are associated with an increased incidence of some common cancers.

13 Apr 2010

CSL Behring calls for grant requests through LEAD program

CSL Behring, a global leader in the plasma protein biotherapeutics industry, is calling for grant requests through its Local Empowerment for Advocacy Development program. The LEAD program awards funds to United States patient organizations that assist people with rare diseases in advocating for continued access to health care and life-saving plasma protein therapies.

13 Apr 2010

Genzyme, Arecor establish strategic partnership for developing advanced protein therapeutic formulations

Genzyme Corporation and Arecor Limited today signed an agreement providing for extensive collaboration on developing advanced formulations for protein therapeutics. The agreement provides for a close working relationship between Genzyme and Arecor in developing stable, high strength formulations of labile biomolecules. This agreement is the result of a two year working relationship where Arecor has demonstrated their technologies offer an improvement over conventional approaches in protein formulation.

13 Apr 2010

Research finding suggests HCV interference with hepcidin synthesis

Iron overload, a common feature of chronic liver disorders, has been linked with oxidative DNA damage, insulin resistance and liver steatosis, and with triggering of hepatic stellate cells thus inducing liver fibrosis.

13 Apr 2010

Drug boosting production of immune system protein worsens TB

An experimental drug that boosts production of the immune system protein interferon worsens tuberculosis (TB) in mice, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The drug acts indirectly by drawing certain immune cells, in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) bacteria thrive, to the lungs. The findings may have potential implications for the care of people infected with TB, the authors note. The research is reported in the May 3 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation, now available online.

13 Apr 2010

Researchers may be one step closer to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers may be one step closer to slowing the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. An animal study supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, shows that by targeting the blood-brain barrier, researchers are able to slow the accumulation of a protein associated with the progression of the illness.

13 Apr 2010

Stem cell scientists receive stimulus grants to study lung and blood disorders

Stem cell scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were awarded stimulus grants totaling almost $2 million to research experimental treatments for blood disorders and inherited lung diseases affecting children.

13 Apr 2010

Stress hormones may suppress tumor growth: Study

Chronic stress triggers a chain of molecular events that protects breakaway ovarian cancer cells from destruction, a team of researchers led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports April 12 in the early online publication of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

13 Apr 2010

Compound that kills specific lymphoma cells discovered

An international research team co-led by the Ontario Cancer Institute has discovered a compound that kills specific lymphoma cells - a discovery that will accelerate developing targeted drugs to fight the most common form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

13 Apr 2010

Gene mutations may predispose individuals to schizophrenia, says new study

An international study led by Universit- de Montr-al scientists suggests that gene mutations may predispose some individuals to schizophrenia and provides new clues about the causes of this ambiguous disorder.

13 Apr 2010

Overcoming resistance - new options for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Research on the development of a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of particularly aggressive ovarian cancer has produced some very promising initial findings. In laboratory tests, scientists have succeeded in reducing the resistance of the tumour cells to a natural resistance mechanism with the help of a monoclonal antibody. The results of this project, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, have just been published. The project also succeeded in establishing a hitherto unknown connection between so-called "natural killer cells" and the regulated death of cancer cells.

12 Apr 2010

Results of research study on the expression of KIF6 in mouse model

Celera Corporation and its collaborators at The University of Washington, WA, and Indiana University, IN, today announced the presentation of data from a research study that investigated the expression of KIF6 in a mouse Celera Corporation model. A key finding was that KIF6 was specifically expressed in macrophages and chondrocytes in mouse atherosclerotic lesions, but not in normal arteries.

12 Apr 2010

MIF molecule plays crucial role in neurogenesis

There has been little progress in the way we treat depression and anxiety for over thirty years, but a recent study at EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) may open the door to new strategies. In an article published online February 23, 2010, in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from two laboratories at the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) explain how understanding the functioning of a molecule called MIF, or macrophage migration inhibitory factor, may change the way we treat depression.

12 Apr 2010

UCCS, Texas A&M Health Science Center announce collaboration in bioenergetics, immunology and cell life

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will work collaboratively with the Texas A&M Health Science Center in the areas of bioenergetics, immunology and cell life, according to a memorandum of understanding between the two schools announced Monday, April 10.

12 Apr 2010

Gene playing crucial role in immune system balance identified

A team led by St. Jude researchers identified a gene pivotal for immune system balance. Ultimately, the discovery may aid efforts to tame allergies and asthma.

12 Apr 2010

Researchers report major step forward in effort to understand and engineer protein structure

Researchers in Singapore are reporting this week that they have gleaned key insights into the architecture of a protein that controls iron levels in almost all organisms. Their study culminated in one of the first successful attempts to take apart a complex biological nanostructure and isolate the rules that govern its natural formation.

12 Apr 2010

Accumulation of mutated protein may explain damaging cellular behavior in Huntington's disease

In a step towards a possible treatment for Huntington's disease, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown for the first time that the accumulation of a mutated protein may explain damaging cellular behavior in Huntington's disease. Their research is described in the April 11 online edition of Nature Neuroscience.

12 Apr 2010

Study shows promising basis for development of effective liver-cancer screening test

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world and one of the deadliest cancers since it is rarely diagnosed until late in its development.

12 Apr 2010