proteins 2 9

Tag: "proteins" at biology news

Lead with a poisonous electron shield

...que, Université Paris 6) took a closer look at two proteins to which lead likes to bind. Calmodulin, a calcium-binding protein, plays an important role in regulating and transporting the calcium cation in the human body. A calcium ion binds to seven ligands at the active centers of the enzyme. If one of the f...

Parasite infection may benefit MS patients

...sociated with the production of certain regulatory proteins known as cytokines, the number of cells producing cytokine suppressants was measured and found to be significantly higher in infected patients. The authors suggest that their findings provide evidence to support that an autoimmune response as a re...

Scientists uncover new target in cancer mutation puzzle

... when cells were activated with Ras alone, the Rho proteins relocated to the cell membrane, their place of act... also had a p53 loss-of-function mutation, the Rho proteins became activated by Ras and promoted cell movement. The experiments showed that when p53 is funct...

Statin plus cancer drug deliver combo punch to brain cancer cells

...rade name Mevacor, is known to curb destruction of proteins that put the brakes on cell growth, causing cancer cells to self-destruct through a process called apoptosis. The effects of the statin already is being studied in people at high risk for the deadly skin cancer, melanoma. First extracted from cor...

Buckyballs used as 'passkey' into cancer cells

...und the Baa-containing peptides could mimick viral proteins and pass through the walls of cancer cells. The peptides were found effective at penetrating the defenses of both liver cancer cells and neuroblastoma cells. "Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children, and it is respons...

Primitive yeast yields secrets of human cholesterol and drug metabolism

...ap1’s counterpart in humans by looking for similar proteins in a computer database and repeated their experiments in human kidney cells engineered to lack the human version of Dap1. As in yeast, the altered human cells accumulated cholesterol precursors and died because cholesterol is essential for cell survi...

Speeding 'fingertip' discovery -- 20 years of protein info in 1 place

...antage of a new technique that reads the makeup of proteins to identify nearly all chemical changes nature makes by adding phosphate to proteins manufactured in human cells. The Hopkins team then added its list of these so-called phosphorylati...

Inhibiting blood to save the brain

...ssue of Journal of Experimental Medicine. "Blood proteins have been neglected as a therapeutic target, but this research shows that a blood clotting factor is an important player in MS." MS is an inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system, causing symptoms such as loss of balance and...

A healthier start to a pig's life

...tained from the red kidney bean plant. Lectins are proteins with the ability to bind cells together; typically red blood cells. The EUREKA Healthy Weaning project coordinator, Professor Stefan Pierzynowski of Lund University, Sweden, explains: "Giving this factor, which we call Suilektin®, for a short, specif...

Cells use 'noise' to make cell-fate decisions

... be slight variations in the amount of the various proteins those genes produce, some fluctuation in the amoun...ocess." Typically, scientists examine genes and proteins individually to try to determine their functions within a cell. However, Dr. Süel said that's like e...

Microfluidic chip helps solve cellular mating puzzle

...llular merger. This mating process is regulated by proteins inside the cell called mitogen-activated protein k...aveling the role of multiple, apparently redundant proteins that are often activated by the same message passing through a cell. They also address why cells do ...

Moonlighting enzyme linked to neurodegenerative disease

...ing down frataxin, its second job. Moonlighting proteins and enzymes are molecules that perform two or more different functions. These proteins are thought to have evolved because they can provide cells with significant advantages, namely, the ...

Motor protein plays key role in connecting neurons

...Dr. Xiong. Different versions of the myosin family proteins are critical to essentially every cell including muscle cells and those that turnover and divide rapidly, such as skin and intestinal cells, and eggs or oocytes. The rapidly moving protein is easily degraded and needs tight regulation. "If ...

Scientists unravel clue in cortisol production

... how this protein binding creates CYP 17, or which proteins are important. So, graduate students Eric Dammer a...n of cyclic AMP (cAMP), a chemical that encourages proteins to interact. So they began by causing the cells to make more cAMP. Then as the proteins assembled on...

Scripps Research study reveals new activation mechanism for pain sensing channel

...ing is long-lasting." TRPA1 is not unique among proteins to be activated by cysteine modifying agents, the study noted. Another signaling protein known as Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) is activated by many of the same compounds that activate TRPA1; KEAP1 is a sensor for oxidative damage from ...

Viral protein is an effective preventative against infection

...b has done extensive research on lysins, which are proteins derived from viruses that normally infect bacteria. After a virus has infected the bacteria and replicated, it uses lysins to punch holes in the bacteria’s cell wall, killing the bacteria, in order to escape. Fischetti’s lab has studied many differen...

Baby fish 'smell their way home'

...n unique chemical signature, a rich mixture of the proteins and amino acids emitted by corals, all the plankton and mucus from its life. We think baby fish can pick this up and distinguish it from other reefs. "We think some fishes then choose currents that smell like 'home' and swim up them. The ones th...

How stem cells are regulated

...rsity of Copenhagen have identified a new group of proteins that regulate the function of stem cells. The resu...hed an article in Nature on how a group of Jumonji proteins regulate the growth of cancer cells and are involved in the development of specific cancer types. ...

Protein may hold key to decreasing organ dysfunction rates in heart transplants

...nated heart, which then releases enzymes and other proteins that attack the transplanted tissue, and can seriously impair the viability of replacement organs and jeopardize the health of the patient. The identification of Lcn-2 could be a first step towards reducing this inflammatory response and increasing t...

Brown team finds crucial protein role in deadly prion spread

... may also play a role in the accumulation of toxic proteins in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's," s...arch showed that prions ?strange, self-replicating proteins that cause fatal brain diseases ?convert healthy protein into abnormal protein through an ultrafast ...

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