protein

Fruit fly protein found to aid healing in mamals

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have determined that a protein essential for the normal embryonic development of fruit flies is also used by mammals to assist in the timely healing of cuts and lacerations. Their discovery, detailed in the June 3 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, provides new insight for scientists into the molecular mechanisms responsible for wound healing in humans and may one day lead to the design of new drugs for individuals whose healing is compromised.

Misbehaving molecules in ALS

A new study reveals for the first time how gene mutations lead to the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The study suggests that the two most prominent theories of how familial ALS (FALS) and other related diseases develop are both right in part.

Study shows how key hormone hitches a lift round body

Structural analysis has revealed for the first time how a key messenger in the body’s chemical communication system hooks up with one of the proteins that delivers it to sites of action in the body. Using X-ray crystallography, scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Hawaii have identified the location of four binding sites on human serum albumin (HSA), the principal protein in blood plasma, to which the chemical messenger thyroxine attaches.

Muscle-Repair Defect Underlies Two Muscular Dystrophies

A protein defective in two types of muscular dystrophy also appears to be important in repairing damaged muscle, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. The discovery reveals the first known component of the machinery that repairs the damaged membrane in a muscle fiber. Further studies of this and related proteins could lead to a better understanding of disorders that affect cardiac and skeletal muscles.

Engineered Proteins Will Lead to ‘Synthetic Biology’

Biochemists have developed a computational method to design proteins that can specifically detect a wide array of chemicals from TNT to brain chemicals involved in neurological disorders. In a paper in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature, they demonstrate the breadth of their design method, and also that such sensor proteins can be re-incorporated into cells to activate cellular signaling and genetic pathways.

Smart Virus Eliminates Brain Cancer In Animal Experiments

A research team led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has tested a novel “viral smart bomb” therapy that can completely eradicate brain tumors in mice, while leaving normal brain tissue alone. The therapy, known as Delta-24-RGD, is thought to be the first treatment for malignant glioma, the deadliest form of brain cancer. It is a new-generation “replication-competent oncolytic” adenovirus therapy ?? defined as a therapeutic virus that can spread, wavelike, throughout a tumor, infecting and killing cancer cells. There is no adequate treatment for these deadly brain cancers and, before this study, few experimental therapies tested in animals have shown much improvement.

Staph study could help with treatment for lupus

Researchers have for the first time described a method that Staphylococcus aureus (staph) infection uses to inactivate the body’s immune system. A protein produced by the staph bacteria causes previously healthy B cells — a specialized cell of the immune system — to commit suicide, a process called apoptosis. “By the targeted elimination of disease-causing B cells, properly dosed injections of SpA may have the potential to control the over-activity of the immune system that causes damage in autoimmune diseases like lupus and in certain cancers,” said Gregg Silverman, M.D., UCSD professor of medicine and senior author of the paper.

Researchers Discover Effective Method For Killing Prostate Cancer Cells

By blocking a protein key to prostate cancer cell growth, researchers at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University have discovered a way to trigger extensive prostate cancer cell death. This finding opens a new window for developing targeted treatments aimed at destroying prostate cancer cells before they have the opportunity to grow or spread. The study is published in the April 29 online issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Cell suicide gene also plays role in skeletal muscle development

Investigators have discovered that a protein causing mature cells to commit suicide also helps primitive muscle cells called myoblasts fuse together, allowing them to develop into muscles. The finding of this unexpected new role for the protein, called FKHR, suggests that future research might offer clues to how mutated forms of this molecule cause a form of muscle cancer in children called rhabdomyosarcoma.

Researchers identify possible new culprit in Alzheimer's plaques

A new study from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) and Stanford University suggests that the malfunctioning of brain cells called astrocytes may be behind the accumulation of amyloid protein in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease, most researchers believe, is caused when small peptides called beta-amyloid accumulate in the brain. Everyone makes these peptides at all times during their life, but in people with Alzheimer’s, either too much is made or too little is degraded or both.

Scientists create forgetful mouse

Studying mice, scientists have successfully prevented a molecular event in brain cells that they’ve found is required for storing spatial memories. Unlike regular mice, the engineered rodents quickly forgot where to find a resting place in a pool of water, the researchers report in the March 7 issue of the journal Cell. The experiments are believed to be the first to prove that subtly altering the chemistry of a certain protein can profoundly affect a brain cell’s ability to respond to external stimulation, a process called neuronal plasticity, long thought to underlie learning and memory.

The elusive preeclampsia factor discovered?

Eclampsia, the occurrence of often fatal seizures during pregnancy, is preceded by a condition called preeclampsia. Preeclampsia itself is a serious complication of pregnancy and affects up to 5% of pregnant women. Diagnosed in its early stages by elevated blood pressure and protein levels in the urine, it is the major cause of premature birth and perinatal child death and accounts for approximately 15% of all maternal deaths. Despite decades of intensive research, we still do not know what causes preeclampsia.