Tag Archives: peptide

Is this Peptide a Key to Happiness?

UCLA findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders

What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide?

The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad. (more…)

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UCLA Researchers Identify Peptide That Inhibits Replication of Hepatitis C Virus

Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a cell-permeable peptide that inhibits a hepatitis C virus protein and blocks the viral replication that can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

The finding by Dr. Samuel French, a UCLA assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the research, builds on previous work by French’s laboratory that identified two cellular proteins that are important factors in hepatitis C virus infection. (more…)

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