Ubiquitin News and Research

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Ubiquitin is a small regulatory protein that has been found in almost all cells (''ubiquitously'') with nuclei (eukaryotes). It directs proteins to recycling and other functions.

University of Maryland receives grant from NCRR to acquire superconducting NMR spectrometer

The University of Maryland, in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland Baltimore County, has received a $7.9 million federal grant to acquire a superconducting 950 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) magnet that will help researchers unravel the mysteries of molecules and develop new agents to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

12 Aug 2010

Researchers discover enzyme crucial for DNA repair

Researchers have discovered an enzyme crucial to a type of DNA repair that also causes resistance to a class of cancer drugs most commonly used against ovarian cancer.Scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Life Sciences Institute of Zhejiang University in China report the discovery of the enzyme and its role in repairing DNA damage called cross-linking in the Science Express advance online publication of Science.

30 Jul 2010

Progenra receives Official Notice of Allowance for screening platform

Progenra, Inc., announced today their receipt of an Official Notice of Allowance, dated June 15, 2010, of U.S. Patent Application No. 11/156,707, "Diagnostic and Screening Methods and Kits Associated with Proteolytic Activity." IP protection of this technology was also recently granted by the European Union. This technology will enable faster drug discovery by improving the ability to identify more selective drugs that modulate the handling of proteins associated with various disease states.

27 Jul 2010

Elevation of Smurf1 may play a role in molecular basis of PAH: Study

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease, marked by shortness of breath and fatigue which can be fatal if untreated. Increased pressure in the pulmonary artery and its branches is associated with dysfunctional growth control of endothelial and smooth muscle cells leading to excessive thickening of the blood vessel wall, obliteration of the lumen and right heart failure.

22 Jun 2010

An ubiquitin-specific peptidase that potentially promote cancer cell necrosis

"ubiquitin-specific peptidase 21 (USP21) has been identified as another essential player in regulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation by working on receptor-interacting protein 1(RIP1)."

18 Jun 2010

Increasing levels of GGA3 protein prevent accumulation of enzyme linked to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine have zeroed in on a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The team found that increasing levels of the protein (called GGA3) prevented the accumulation of an enzyme linked to Alzheimer's. The strategy may lead to new treatments for the neurodegenerative disease.

26 May 2010

New on-off switches: SUMO protein silences developmental genes, SNP2 snips SUMO to allow gene expression

Deleting a gene in mouse embryos caused cardiac defects and early death, leading researchers to identify a mechanism that turns developmental genes off and on as an embryo matures, a team led by a scientist at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today in Molecular Cell.

23 Apr 2010

Death protein ubiquitin binds to and activates RIG-I: UT Southwestern researchers

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have determined how a protein that normally latches onto molecules inside cells and marks them for destruction also gives life to the body's immune response against viruses.

22 Apr 2010

NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award for Zhihao Zhuang

Zhihao Zhuang, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware, has won the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award.

17 Apr 2010

New production method yields hundredsfold more ubiquitylated proteins critical for cancer research

Scientists at the University of Delaware have developed a new method for producing proteins critical to research on cancer, Alzheimer's, and other diseases.

3 Apr 2010

ITCH gene causes multisystem autoimmune disorder

The gene for a newly recognized disease has been identified thanks to the determination of an Amish father and the clinical skills and persistence of Indiana University and Riley Hospital for Children physicians in collaboration with physicians and researchers at the Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, Penn., which specializes in disorders of the Amish.

9 Mar 2010

HMS study suggests new targets for treating Angelman syndrome

Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism. Over a decade ago, researchers found that AS was caused by mutation in a single gene, but no one had been able to explain how this defect resulted in the debilitating neurological symptoms of the disease.

5 Mar 2010

Peer-reviewed articles elucidate role of clusterin in promoting tumor resistance to cancer treatment

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that two peer-reviewed articles have been published that further elucidate the biological function of clusterin, its role in promoting tumor resistance to cancer treatment, and the role of an inhibitor of clusterin such as custirsen (OGX-011) that is designed to knock down treatment resistance in the cells and enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies.

1 Mar 2010

CellCentric out-licenses development, commercialisation of novel epigenetic discovery programme to Takeda Pharmaceutical

From its broad portfolio of novel targets in epigenetics, CellCentric has out-licensed exclusively the development and commercialisation of an important programme focused on cancer.

24 Feb 2010

Enzyme can allow nerve cells in brain to grow and form complex networks: Study

Brain researcher Hiroshi Kawabe has discovered the workings of a process that had been completely overlooked until now, and that allows nerve cells in the brain to grow and form complex networks. The study shows that an enzyme which usually controls the destruction of protein components has an unexpected function in nerve cells: it controls the structure of the cytoskeleton and thus ensures that nerve cells can form the tree-like extensions that are necessary for signal transmission in the brain.

20 Feb 2010

Autism Speaks: Ten most significant autism research achievements in 2009

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization has released its annual list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year. Every year, Autism Speaks documents the progress made toward its mission to discover the causes and treatment for autism spectrum disorders, and compiles a list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year.

10 Feb 2010

Postdoctoral scientists receive prestigious award; grants totaling $1.54 million will help in funding innovative projects

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 11 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its November 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review.

22 Jan 2010

Researchers explain how HSV dismantles host's defense systems

A viral infection is like an uninvited, tenacious houseguest in the cell, using a range of tricks to prevent its eviction. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified one of the key proteins allowing herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA to fly under the radar of their hosts' involuntary hospitality.

21 Jan 2010

GIND scientists identify major role of TDP-43 in two neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) have identified the reason a key protein plays a major role in two neurodegenerative diseases.

13 Jan 2010

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme promotes chromosome missegregation and tumor formation

A ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that regulates the cell cycle promotes chromosome missegregation and tumor formation, according to van Ree et al. in the January 11 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org).

12 Jan 2010