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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Regrowing Hair: UCLA-VA Researchers May Have Accidentally Discovered a Solution

It has been long known that stress plays a part not just in the graying of hair but in hair loss as well. Over the years, numerous hair-restoration remedies have emerged, ranging from hucksters’ “miracle solvents” to legitimate medications such as minoxidil. But even the best of these have shown limited effectiveness. 

Now, a team led by researchers from UCLA and the Veterans Administration that was investigating how stress affects gastrointestinal function may have found a chemical compound that induces hair growth by blocking a stress-related hormone associated with hair loss — entirely by accident.  (more…)

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U of T Researcher Discovers Way to Zip Away Chronic Pain

*Peptide inhibitor called ZIP may be instrumental* 

Research from the University of Toronto suggests that a peptide inhibitor called ZIP could be crucial in zipping away some kinds of chronic pain. 

The new research, led by Professor Min Zhuo of the University of Toronto’s Department of Physiology and published in the current edition of the journal Science, explores the role that the protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ) plays in storing “memories” of pain and therefore enhancing the sensation of pain. Blocking the effect of PKMζ through the use of a selective inhibitor called ζ-pseudosubstrate inhibitory peptide – or ZIP — blocked behavioral sensitization and nerve injury related to chronic pain.  (more…)

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Nicotine May Play Key Role in Promising Alzheimer’s Therapy

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A team of neuroscientists has discovered important new information in the search for an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, the debilitating neurological disorder that afflicts more than 5.3 million Americans and is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Hey-Kyoung Lee , associate professor in the University of Maryland Department of Biology, and her research team have shown that they may be able to eliminate debilitating side effects caused by a promising Alzheimer’s drug by stimulating the brain’s nicotine receptors. (more…)

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