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.

Two-drug combination destroys precancerous colon polyps

A two-drug combination destroys precancerous colon polyps with no effect on normal tissue, opening a new potential avenue for chemoprevention of colon cancer, a team of scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the advance online edition of the journal Nature.

29 Mar 2010

Diagnostic test for alcohol consumption: Measuring protein changes in blood

Measuring a set of protein changes in the blood linked to alcohol use may potentially lead to a more accurate diagnostic test than those currently available, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

29 Mar 2010

ER stress response is major driver of insulin resistance, say researchers

Biologists have long known that an enzyme called the PI 3-kinase is a crucial actor in the main molecular pathway for insulin signaling in cells. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center now have uncovered startling evidence that one of the proteins in this enzyme also drives a pathway with an opposite result-triggering a stress response that leads to insulin resistance.

29 Mar 2010

New approach may circumvent lost response in insulin due to obesity

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have identified a new strategy for treating type 2 diabetes, identifying a cellular pathway that fails when people become obese. By activating this pathway artificially, they were able to normalize blood glucose levels in severely obese and diabetic mice. Their findings will be published online by Nature Medicine on March 28.

29 Mar 2010

Presence of PARP protein in tumours can help predict their response to chemotherapy

The presence of the protein poly polymerase in tumours can help predict their response to chemotherapy, a German scientist will tell the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona tomorrow (Saturday 27 March).

27 Mar 2010

Fundamental step in immune system development discovered

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered a fundamental step in the development of the immune system, one that allows B cells to mature and fight disease by producing effective antibodies. Immunologist Roberta Pelanda, PhD, and her colleagues have demonstrated that immature B cells in the bone marrow must receive a positive signal before they can migrate to the spleen where they mature and are activated. In the March 15, 2010 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, the researchers also reported that a protein known as Erk helps deliver that positive signal.

26 Mar 2010

Inflamed tissues linked to increased production of protein involved in pain signaling

Using a novel animal model to study craniofacial pain, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's School of Dentistry have discovered that when tissues are inflamed, the nerve cells carrying pain information from the head to the brain produce in large quantities a protein involved in pain signaling.

26 Mar 2010

Genetic instability in people with Fanconi anemia: New proteins in FA DNA repair pathway may help explain

Identification of two new proteins in the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway may help explain genetic instability in people with Fanconi anemia and how otherwise healthy people are susceptible to cancer from environmentally triggered DNA damage.

26 Mar 2010

Presence of protein PARP in tumours may help predict response to chemotherapy

The presence of the protein poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in tumours can help predict their response to chemotherapy, a German scientist will tell the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona tomorrow (Saturday 27 March). Professor Gunter von Minckwitz, from the German Breast Group Forschungs GmBH, Neu-Isenburg, says that, contrary to current belief that PARP is associated with a limited number of tumours, he and his team found for the first time that PARP expression exists across all breast cancer subtypes, and that such tumours were highly sensitive to chemotherapy.

26 Mar 2010

Pravastatin benefits elderly carriers of KIF6 gene variant with prior vascular disease

Celera Corporation today announced the publication of data reporting that elderly (over age 70) carriers of the KIF6 gene variant with prior vascular disease received significant benefit from pravastatin (Pravachol®) therapy. Previous research has shown that a variant of the KIF6 gene, a member of the molecular motor protein kinesin family, is associated with up to a 55% increased risk of primary and recurrent coronary heart disease (CHD) events in the placebo arms of the clinical trials, and that this increased risk is virtually eliminated with statin therapy.

26 Mar 2010

Researchers made vital discovery in the development of new drug to cure TB

This World TB Day (March 24), researchers at Sydney's Centenary Institute announce they have made an exciting discovery that could lead to the first new drug for Tuberculosis (TB) in almost fifty years.

26 Mar 2010

Pregnant breast cancer patients can receive chemotherapy without endangering baby health

Women who discover they have breast cancer while they are pregnant can be treated with chemotherapy without endangering the health of their unborn baby, according to research to be presented at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona today (Friday).

26 Mar 2010

Tumors mimic lymphoid tissue and alter host's immune response

A new mechanism explaining how tumors escape the body's natural immune surveillance has recently been discovered at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland. The study shows how tumors can create a tolerant microenviroment and avoid attack by the immune system by mimicking key features of lymph nodes.

26 Mar 2010

Working of master regulator protein phosphatase 1

Protein phosphorylation is a process by which proteins are flipped from one activation state to another. It is a crucial function for most living beings, since phosphorylation controls nearly every cellular process, including metabolism, gene transcription, cell-cycle progression, cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell movement.

26 Mar 2010

Muscular dystrophy: $1M grant for study of erectile dysfunction drugs in improving muscle blood flow

A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist has been awarded a three-year, nearly $1 million grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to study whether drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction could also be used to improve muscle blood flow and reduce fatigue in muscular dystrophy patients.

26 Mar 2010

Modified protein plays a key role in memory processes

How do we process thoughts and store memories? A team of researchers headed by Dr. Nahum Sonenberg of McGill's Department of Biochemistry and Goodman Cancer Centre has discovered that brains in mammals modify a particular protein in a unique way, which alters the protein's normal function.

26 Mar 2010