Structural Protein News and Research

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Scientists find smooth muscle cells as major contributing factor to vascular stiffness

Increased vascular stiffness has been identified as an important part of hypertension in aging adults. Previous studies of aortic stiffness have focused on changes in structural proteins that alter the properties of vascular walls causing them to become rigid.

11 May 2015

Researchers discover potential mechanism to combat haemorrhagic diseases

A potential mechanism to combat diseases caused by haemorrhagic fever viruses has been discovered by researchers at the University of Montreal's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. These diseases present a dramatic risk to human health as they often spread quickly and kill a high percentage of infected individuals, as demonstrated by the recent Ebola outbreaks.

11 May 2015

UAB scientists create alternative to the use of viruses in gene therapy

A team of scientists from the Institute for Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the UAB has produced an alternative to the use of viruses in gene therapy. The researchers synthesised nanoparticles which act as artificial viruses, capable of surrounding DNA fragments and releasing them as therapeutic agents, with no biological risk, into the interior of the cells.

9 Apr 2015

Joslin study could lead to improved anti-aging drugs

In a study published today by Nature, researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center used a microscopic worm (C. elegans) to identify a new path that could lead to drugs to slow aging and the chronic diseases that often accompany it--and might even lead to better cosmetics.

16 Dec 2014

New study pinpoints complex genetic origins for autoimmune diseases

Scores of autoimmune diseases afflicting one in 12 Americans — ranging from type 1 diabetes, to multiple sclerosis (MS), to rheumatoid arthritis, to asthma — mysteriously cause the immune system to harm tissues within our own bodies. Now, a new study pinpoints the complex genetic origins for many of these diseases, a discovery that may lead to better diagnosis and ultimately to improved treatments.

30 Oct 2014

New material advances tissue engineering, drug delivery

Researchers at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale—a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers.

27 Oct 2014

UMass Amherst cell biologists propose new detailed cytokinesis model

Along with copying and splitting DNA during division, cells must have a way to break safely into two viable daughter cells, a process called cytokinesis. But the molecular basis of how plant cells accomplish this without mistakes has been unclear for many years.

26 Sep 2014

Research sheds light on how collagen grows and helps form diverse set of structures in body

Research by a biomedical engineer at Texas A&M University is shedding light on how collagen grows at the molecular level and helps form a diverse set of structures in the body, ranging from bone, tendon, blood vessels, skin, heart and even corneas.

10 Sep 2014

Protein once seen as promising anti-cancer compound helps to stabilize neural circuits

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered that endostatin, a protein that once aroused intense interest as a possible cancer treatment, plays a key role in the stable functioning of the nervous system.

25 Jul 2014

Study reveals novel epilepsy pathway linked to neurodegenerative diseases

A recent scientific discovery showed that mutations in prickle genes cause epilepsy, which in humans is a brain disorder characterized by repeated seizures over time. However, the mechanism responsible for generating prickle-associated seizures was unknown.

23 Jul 2014

NEI researchers describe functions of gene responsible for anchoring cilia

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have described the functions of a gene responsible for anchoring cilia - sensory hair-like extensions present on almost every cell of the body.

2 Jul 2014

Researchers identify heart-specific form of protein that protects against irregular heartbeats

Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have identified a heart-specific form of a protein, BIN1, responsible for sculpting tiny folds in pockets that are present on the surface of heart muscle cells.

19 May 2014

New research reveals that eczema may lower skin cancer risk

Eczema caused by defects in the skin could reduce the risk of developing skin cancer, according to new research by King's College London. The immune response triggered by eczema could help prevent tumour formation by shedding potentially cancerous cells from the skin.

6 May 2014

Scientists develop new mechanism that helps decode amyloid plaque formation in brains of Alzheimer's patients

University of Michigan researchers have learned how to fix a cellular structure called the Golgi that mysteriously becomes fragmented in all Alzheimer's patients and appears to be a major cause of the disease.

18 Mar 2014

Research provides new insight into the effect of misfolded proteins in neurodegenerative disorders

Research by the University of Southampton has provided new insight into the consequence of accumulated 'misfolded proteins' in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Prion and Alzheimer's disease.

16 Feb 2014

Engineers turn cells common in scar tissue into colonies of beating heart cells

Poets and physicians know that a scarred heart cannot beat the way it used to, but the science of reprogramming cells offers hope--for the physical heart, at least.

13 Feb 2014

Extracts from birch tree helps damaged skin around wounds to regenerate more quickly

Extracts from the birch tree have served for centuries as a traditional means of helping the damaged skin around wounds to regenerate more quickly. Prof. Dr. Irmgard Merfort from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Freiburg and her team have now explained the molecular mechanism behind the wound-healing effect of an extract from the outer white layer of the tree's bark.

24 Jan 2014

Skin cells can migrate over regions devoid of support from extracellular matrix

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore have discovered that outer skin cells are able to unite to form suspended "bridges" during wound healing. The new findings will pave the way for tissue engineering, such as the design of artificial skin, and better wound treatment.

13 Dec 2013

Study: Structural defect in skin cells can contribute to allergy development

In a new study published in Nature Genetics, Northwestern Medicine and Tel Aviv University scientists have found that a structural defect in skin cells can contribute to allergy development, including skin and food allergies, traditionally thought primarily to be a dysfunction of the immune system.

27 Aug 2013

Cancer-linked mitosis: an interview with Professor Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mitosis is the process by which a cell gives rise to two daughter cells. It’s the basis behind the growth of the human body, the renewal of the human body as it ages, and unfortunately, the growth of cancers.

7 Aug 2013