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.

Using nanoparticles to carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier

Brain tumors are notoriously hard to treat. One reason is the challenge posed by the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue with closely spaced cells.

3 Mar 2023

Researchers uncover how DNA double-stranded breaks are repaired

A team of researchers from Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine has made a discovery that may have implications for therapeutic gene editing strategies, cancer diagnostics and therapies and other advancements in biotechnology.

3 Mar 2023

Uncovering the complete 3D structure of p53 protein

By inducing cell repair or self-destruction, the tumor suppressor protein p53, often known as “the guardian of the genome,” shields the body’s DNA from daily stress or long-term damage.

2 Mar 2023

Novel way to block the death of nerve cells in MND

Scientists have found a novel way to block the transportation of mutant RNA and subsequent production of toxic repeat proteins which lead to the death of nerve cells in the most common subtypes of motor neurone disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

2 Mar 2023

Researchers find methods to awaken and revive neural stem cells

Some areas of the adult brain contain quiescent, or dormant, neural stem cells that can potentially be reactivated to form new neurons. However, the transition from quiescence to proliferation is still poorly understood. A team led by scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL) has discovered the importance of cell metabolism in this process and identified how to wake up these neural stem cells and reactivate them. Biologists succeeded in increasing the number of new neurons in the brain of adult and even elderly mice. These results, promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, are to be discovered in the journal Science Advances.

2 Mar 2023

New technique may offer a pathway to treat undruggable diseases

Certain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are currently considered "undruggable" because traditional small molecule drugs can't interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses.

2 Mar 2023

Ants play a key role in forest regeneration, finds study

Ants play a key role in forest regeneration, according to a new paper from Binghamton University, State University of New York.

1 Mar 2023

Novel framework provides solutions to evade detoxification networks

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have demonstrated how drug makers can avoid two key problems: toxicity and resistance. The researchers made slight changes to a small molecule to reduce its metabolism and elimination by the cellular detoxification network regulated by the pregnane X receptor (PXR). This research provides a framework to develop solutions to the long-standing issue of how to evade detoxification networks using medicinal chemistry. The findings were published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Mar 2023

New model, C. elegans, helps pursue research on Parkinson's disease

A tiny worm called the C. elegans is enabling scientists to explore the emerging theory that Parkinson's disease starts in the gut.

1 Mar 2023

Elaborating how amino acids shaped the genetic code of ancient microbes

Researchers discovered that without specific amino acids, ancient proteins would not have identified how to evolve into anything alive on the planet today, including plants, animals, and humans, by mimicking early Earth conditions in the lab.

28 Feb 2023

RNA modification plays a vital role in TDP-43-related neurodegeneration in ALS

Nearly 100% of cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-the progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease known as ALS or Lou Gherig's disease-involve the buildup of a protein called TDP-43.

28 Feb 2023

Nanosatellite paves the way for developing RNA-based medicines

Researchers from Aarhus University and Berkeley Laboratory have designed RNA molecules, that folds into nanoscale rectangles, cylinders, and satellites, and have studied their 3D structure and dynamics with advanced nanotechnological methods.

28 Feb 2023

Researchers show how the production of different macromolecules peaks at different times

Textbooks will tell you that in dividing cells, the production of new DNA peaks during the S-phase, while production of other macromolecules, such as proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides, continues at more or less the same level.

28 Feb 2023

Experts reveal the link between necrosis, circulating tumor cells, and cancer metastasis

A tumor's necrotic core contains factors that appear to promote metastasis, or the seeding of tumors cells throughout the body, according to a new study in rats by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

28 Feb 2023

Study reveals why the FMO5 gene produces an enzyme with a different activity

Our body produces lots of enzymes that break down toxic substances. One class of such enzymes are the flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs), which are present in all tetrapods. Humans have five different FMO genes, of which the first four display the same activity. However, the fifth FMO gene triggers a different breakdown reaction. University of Groningen biochemists have succeeded in resurrecting the ancestral genes of all tetrapod FMOs to show how this divergence has occurred. Their results appear on 24 February in Nature Communications.

28 Feb 2023

New center offers electron microscope services to the scientific community

The Joint Electron Microscopy Center at ALBA (JEMCA) was established through the collaboration of various research agencies to open a new center within the ALBA Synchrotron building that provides electron microscope assistance to the scientific community.

27 Feb 2023

Artificial BBB model can help determine how well antibody-based therapies can enter the brain

A research group at Uppsala University has developed a simple and effective artificial blood-brain barrier model that can be used to determine how well antibody-based therapies can enter the brain.

27 Feb 2023

Study shows why a specific gene mutation has opposite effects on mice and human cancers

A small but significant metabolic difference between human and mouse lung tumor cells, has been discovered by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, explaining a discrepancy in previous study results, and pointing toward new strategies for developing cancer treatments.

27 Feb 2023

Insilico Medicine: IND application for first generative AI-designed drug for COVID-19 approved

Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage biotech company powered by generative AI, today announces that China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ISM3312, an orally available 3CLpro inhibitor generated and designed with the support of Insilico's proprietary generative chemistry platform Chemistry42 for the treatment of COVID-19.

24 Feb 2023

Researchers tease apart the molecular components involved in abdominal aneurysms

When the artery that supplies the stomach and the liver forms a bulge that ruptures, this medical emergency results in the deaths of 50 percent of patients before they reach the hospital.

24 Feb 2023