Two University of Miami researchers have uncovered a novel treatment that could stop COVID-19 in its tracks and help those suffering from the disease to recover. A therapeutic called Spikenet, created by Miller School of Medicine obstetrician gynecologist Dr. Michael Paidas and assistant research professor Arumugam Jayakumar, works by blocking the novel coronavirus from entering...
by American Physiological Society Credit: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images The findings of a new study indicate erectile dysfunction and inflammation could be prevented by blocking the effect of endothelin-1, which is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide and regulator of blood flow. A research team from Aarhus University in Denmark will present its findings virtually October 4–7...
by Rush University Medical Center Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Wikipedia Potential new treatments for Parkinson’s disease developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center have shown success in slowing progression of the disease in mice. In a study published in Nature Communications, Rush researchers found that...
KYOTO UNIVERSITY IMAGE: HIS NEW COMPOUND CAN FIND AND HELP REMOVE MUTANT MITOCHONDRIA DNA FROM CELLS. CREDIT: MINDY TAKAMIYA/KYOTO UNIVERSITY ICEMS Mutant DNA sequences inside cellular mitochondria can be eliminated using a bespoke chemical compound. The approach, developed by scientists at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Science (iCeMS) in Japan, could lead to better...
In a randomized control study of 10 healthy young men, researchers compared how consuming the single amino acid leucine or its two-molecule equivalent, dileucine, influenced muscle-building and breakdown. They found that dileucine boosts the metabolic processes that drive muscle growth 42% more than free leucine does. They reported their findings in the Journal of Applied...
Tsukuba, Japan –Incretins are hormones secreted by intestinal cells that regulate pancreatic insulin and glucagon to control sugar metabolism in mammals. Although counterparts of insulin and glucagon have been identified in invertebrates, no hormone equivalent to incretin has been described. Now, researchers at the University of Tsukuba demonstrate that Neuropeptide F (NPF), a hormone produced by the...
MIT researchers employ machine learning to find powerful peptides that could improve a gene therapy drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare genetic disease usually diagnosed in young boys, gradually weakens muscles across the body until the heart or lungs fail. Symptoms often show up by age 5; as the disease progresses, patients...
by Autonomous University of Barcelona Schematic representation of the human peptide LL37 binding the toxic oligomers of α-synuclein, blocking its propagation and preventing its neurotoxicity. Credit: Irantzu Pallarès, IBB-UAB Researchers at the UAB and the UniZar have identified a human peptide found in the brain that blocks the α-synuclein aggregates involved in Parkinson’s disease and prevents their...
Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have determined how certain short protein fragments, called peptides, can protect neuronal cells found in the light-sensing retina layer at the back of the eye. The peptides might someday be used to treat degenerative retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The study published in the Journal of...
by Vanderbilt University Medical Center From left, Taylor Smith, MS, Jacek Hawiger, MD, Ph.D., Jozef Zienkiewicz, Ph.D., and Yan Liu, MD, and colleagues developed a peptide that may protect against life-threatening microbial inflammation with underlying metabolic syndrome. Credit: Hawiger lab A cell-penetrating peptide developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center can prevent, in an animal model, the...
