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.

Discovery of protein function could be important for future chemotherapy treatment

Chemotherapy attacks all cells in our body and not just cancer cells, which is why patients undergoing the treatment often experience side effects such as physical weakness, hair loss and nausea.

17 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 Nsp3 protease activity and nanobody inhibitor development

A new study published in the pre-print server bioRxiv* explores the viral enzyme PLpro, encoded in the nonstructural protein nsp3, and its inhibitors. T

14 Dec 2020

Research illuminates regulatory mechanism of ubiquitin-proteasome system in DNA damage repair

An international research team has clarified the regulatory mechanism of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in recognizing and repairing DNA that has been damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light.

8 Dec 2020

Researchers use novel technology to prevent destruction of specific proteins inside cells

Columbia researchers have created a new technology using synthetic llama antibodies to prevent specific proteins from being destroyed inside cells.

8 Dec 2020

Are SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitors effective antivirals in treating COVID-19?

Many antiviral development studies have focused on the possibility of inhibiting the main viral protease (Mpro), and papain-like protease (PLpro), given their central role in viral replication. A new study draws attention to the high odds that these may not have anti-infective activity because of the redundant pathways present in human host cells.

30 Nov 2020

Alzheimer's study shows tau protein changes according to dementia stage

Research into Alzheimer's disease has long focused on understanding the role of two key proteins, beta amyloid and the tau protein. Found in tangles in patients' brain tissue, a pathological form of the tau protein contributes to propagating the disease in the brain.

19 Nov 2020

Researchers discover a mechanism that cells use to degrade microRNAs

UT Southwestern researchers have discovered a mechanism that cells use to degrade microRNAs (miRNAs), genetic molecules that regulate the amounts of proteins in cells.

12 Nov 2020

Researchers identify new mechanism that modulates cell division

Collaborative work of research groups at the University of Würzburg and the TU Dresden has provided important new insights for cancer research.

22 Oct 2020

Scientists lay out a novel rationale for COVID-19 drug design

American and Polish scientists, reporting Oct. 16 in the journal Science Advances, laid out a novel rationale for COVID-19 drug design - blocking a molecular "scissor" that the virus uses for virus production and to disable human proteins crucial to the immune response.

19 Oct 2020

Enzyme SSH1 impairs the disposal of damaged tau and neurotoxic mitochondria

In a healthy brain, the multistep waste clearance process known as autophagy routinely removes and degrades damaged cell components - including malformed proteins like tau and toxic mitochondria.

12 Oct 2020

Researchers investigate molecular mechanism responsible for hypnotic effects of thalidomide

Thalidomide is a medication with several different effects, one of which is promoting sleep in the context of insomnia.

24 Sep 2020

Cellular recyclers could be used to eliminate the driver of cancer's aggressiveness

"Do not erase." "Recycle me." "Free to a good home." Humans post these signs to indicate whether something has value or not, whether it should be disposed of or not.

18 Sep 2020

Study implicates new gene as driver of motor neuron diseases

Failures in a quality control system that protects protein-building fidelity in cells can lead to motor neuron degeneration and related diseases, according to a new study from an international team co-directed by Scripps Research molecular biologist Claudio Joazeiro, PhD.

16 Sep 2020

Important research on SARS-CoV-2 proteins using proximity labeling

A team of Canadian scientists has recently discovered a wide-range interaction between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and host proteins using proximity-dependent biotinylation approaches.

7 Sep 2020

Improved type of PROTAC enhances intracellular accumulation and protein knockdown

Cancer therapies sometimes involve drugs that mediate the breakdown of specific intracellular proteins that participate in cancer formation and proliferation.

27 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 ORF9c responsible for immune evasion and efficient infection of host

A recent study by researchers at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the University of California San Francisco and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 shows that a protein encoded by the subgenomic sequence ORF9c of SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the low antiviral response in infected humans, enabling the successful replication of the virus in the host.

21 Aug 2020

Researchers develop scalable strategy to find novel molecular glue degraders

Despite enormous efforts to advance traditional pharmacology approaches, more than three quarters of all human proteins remain beyond the reach of therapeutic development.

4 Aug 2020

Erectile dysfunction drugs lower the accumulation of toxic proteins in zebrafish models

The aberrant buildup of misfolded proteins is a hallmark of a host of disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

22 Jul 2020

Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome via visual tools

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in July 2020 shows how this can be advanced at a greater speed by combining experimental results with homology models obtained by high-throughput pipelines. This will help produce new hypotheses that will show novel druggable targets for effective drug development.

21 Jul 2020

Massive proteomics investigation of COVID-19 infection

Researchers from Germany and Switzerland revealed functional effects of individual severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proteins on cellular level after infection. They placed the findings into the context of host signaling pathways in order to identify vulnerable parts of the virus amenable to treatment. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

21 Jun 2020