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Correct Protein Folding:

By Guest PostFebruary 26, 2012Sciencealzheimers, amino acids, atp hydrolysis, atp molecules, biomolecular nanomachines, cancer, chain, chaperonin, corie ralston, crystal structure, diseases, eukaryotes, gold standard, jose pereira, light sources, macromolecules, Nanotechnology, nicholai douglas, nucleotide, parkinson's, paul adams, prokaryotes, protein, ramya kumar, xray beams

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Identify Structure of Key Control Element Behind Protein Misfolding That Can Lead to Disease*

The gold standard for nanotechnology is nature’s own proteins. These biomolecular nanomachines – macromolecules forged from peptide chains of amino acids – are able to fold themselves into a dazzling multitude of shapes and forms that enable them to carry out an equally dazzling multitude of functions fundamental to life. As important as protein folding is to virtually all biological systems, the mechanisms behind this process have remained a mystery. The fog, however, is being lifted.

A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), using the exceptionally bright and powerful x-ray beams of the Advanced Light Source, have determined the crystal structure of a critical control element within chaperonin, the protein complex responsible for the correct folding of other proteins. The incorrect or “misfolding” of proteins has been linked to many diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and some forms of cancer. (more…)

Yale Study: How Mitochondrial DNA Defects Cause Inherited Deafness

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Scienceapoptosis, cascade, cell, cellular power plants, cellular respiration, cellular structure, chemical modification, disease, dna mutation, energy, enzyme, gene, gerald s shadel, hearing loss, helen dodson, inherited deafness, justin cotney, lei song, methylation, mitochondria, mitochondrial dna mutation, mitochondrial ribosomes, molecular pathway, mouse model, overexpression, programmed cell death, protein, rna, sharen e mccay, timothy e shutt, yale scientist

Yale scientists have discovered the molecular pathway by which maternally inherited deafness appears to occur: Mitochondrial DNA mutations trigger a signaling cascade, resulting in programmed cell death. The study is in the Feb. 17 issue of Cell.

Mitochondria are cellular structures that function as “cellular power plants” because they generate most of the cell’s supply of energy. They contain DNA inherited from one’s mother. Mitochondria determine whether a cell lives or dies via the process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. (more…)

Why Bad Immunity Genes Survive

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2012Health, Scienceankylosing spondylitis, antagonistic co evolution, antibiotics, arms race, autoimmune diseases, bacteria, cells, cornelius whitney hyzer, gene, genetics, george gilchrist, germs, immune system, infection, infectious diseases, james ruff, jason kubinak, major histocompatibility complex, mhc, mhc variants, mhcs, mice, national science foundation, parasite, pathogens, patricia slev, people, protein, university of utah, variant, vertebrate animals, virus, wayne potts

*Study implicates “arms race” between genes and germs*

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs–even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

“Major histocompatibility complex” (MHC) proteins are found on the surfaces of most cells in vertebrate animals. They distinguish proteins like themselves from foreign proteins, and trigger an immune response against these foreign invaders. (more…)

UCLA Researchers Identify Peptide That Inhibits Replication of Hepatitis C Virus

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2012Scienceantiviral, block replication, cell permeable peptide, cellular factor, cellular protein, heat shock proteins, hepatitis, hepatitis c therapy, hepatitis c virus, hsps, interferon, mass spectrometry, natural compound, non structural protein 5a, ns5a, peptide, protein, quercetin, ribavirin, samuel french, synthesis, tissue culture, viral replication, viral translation level, virus infection

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…)

Nano-Sized Protein Clusters Address Major Challenge of Drug Delivery

By Guest PostFebruary 2, 2012Sciencearthritis, austin, biopharmaceutical, bloodstream, cancer, cockrell school, dilute concentration, diseases, infectious disease, jennifer maynard, keith p johnston, packard foundation, ph, protein, protein nanocluster, thomas truskett, treatment, universal approach, university of texas, welch foundation

AUSTIN, TX — A new form of proteins discovered by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin could drastically improve treatments for cancer and other diseases, as well as overcome some of the largest challenges in therapeutics: delivering drugs to patients safely, easily and more effectively.

The protein formulation strategy, discovered by chemical engineering faculty members and students in the Cockrell School of Engineering, is unprecedented and offers a new and universal approach to drug delivery — one that could revolutionize treatment of cancer, arthritis and infectious disease. (more…)

Moonlighting Enzyme Works Double Shift 24/7

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2012Nature, Sciencearabidopsis, atp synthase, building block, chloroplast, david Kramer, energy, france, gamma, Germany, michigan state university, moonlighting enzyme, new function, nutrient, photosynthesis, plant enzyme, protein, root, root hair, subunit

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A team of researchers led by Michigan State University has discovered an overachieving plant enzyme that works both the day and night shifts.

The discovery, featured in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, shows that plants evolved a new function for this enzyme by changing merely one of its protein building blocks. (more…)

In Lab, Pannexin1 Restores Tight Binding of Cells Lost in Cancer

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2012Health, Science3d petri dish, 3d system, accelerating effect, actin, biomechanical role, brain tumor, brian bao, brown university, c6, cancerous cell, carbenoxolone, charles lai, christian naus, drug, glioma, gross multicellular behavior, jeffrey morgan, mechanical integrity, molecule atp, pannexin1, probenecid, protein, rat, receptor, scaffold free, Technology, tissue, tumor cell

*By studying tumor cell behavior in a novel “scaffold-free” 3-D system, researchers have determined that the protein Pannexin1 may play an important biomechanical role in binding tissues together, an effect that is lost in cancerous cells.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — First there is the tumor and then there’s the horrible question of whether the cancerous cells will spread. Scientists increasingly believe that the structural properties of the tumor itself, such as how tightly the tumor cells are packed together, play a decisive role in the progression of the disease. In a new study, researchers show that the protein Pannexin1, known to have tumor-suppressive properties, plays an important role in keeping the cells within a tissue closely packed together, an effect that may be lost with cancer.

“In healthy tissues, the recently discovered protein Pannexin1 may be playing an important role in upholding the mechanical integrity of the tissue,” said first author and Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Brian Bao. “When we develop cancer, we lose Pannexin1 and we lose this integrity.” (more…)

They Know The Drool

By Guest PostJanuary 30, 2012Health, Scienceactin, biomarkers, breast, cervical, clinical spit test, disease, epithelial cells, frank ondrey, heart disease, john carlis, life threatening cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, metastatic breast cancer, motions of cells, myosin, nelson rhodus, oral cancer, oral lesions, ovarian cancer, protein, proteomics, saliva, study of proteins, testing spit, timothy griffin, tissue cells, united states, university of minnesota

*The search for biomarkers of disease in spit*

It’s a researcher’s dream: a simple, noninvasive test to detect life-threatening cancer, heart disease, or other maladies while they’re still treatable.

A team of University of Minnesota researchers is in hot pursuit of that goal, using one of the simplest means imaginable: testing spit. They’ve discovered that conditions such as breast and oral cancer leak certain proteins into saliva, and if detected, such proteins can be “biomarkers” for the disease. (more…)

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