Michael Irving There are several techniques used to kill cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but the really tricky part is doing so without harming the rest of the body. Cytokines are small proteins that could play a part in immunotherapy, but they’ve so far not been approved for use, given their toxicity to healthy...
Category: <span>Proteomics</span>
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Inflammation-driven deterioration of structural proteins contributes to aging
Posted YesterdayThis news or article is intended for readers with certain scientific or professional knowledge in the field. Aging-related inflammation can drive the decline of a critical structural protein called lamin-B1, which contributes to diminished immune function in the thymus, according to research from Carnegie’s Sibiao Yue, Xiaobin Zheng, and Yixian Zheng published in Aging Cell. Each of our cells is undergirded by...
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Signalling protein discovery may lead to drug-based therapies to treat hyperparathyroidism
DUKE-NUS MEDICAL SCHOOL SINGAPORE, 28 May 2019 – Overactive parathyroid glands,which control the body’s blood calcium levels, can lead to kidney stones, neuropsychiatric disorders and bone abnormalities, particularly among elderly women. Researchers led by Duke-NUS Medical School have discovered a signalling protein that appears to protect these glands from excessive activity, providing insights for drug development to treat hyperparathyroidism – a condition currently treatable only through surgery....
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Scientists discover ‘switch’ that helps breast cancer spread around the body
Researchers have unveiled clues into how breast cancer cells spread around the body IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON The early-stage research, led by scientists from Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, identified a genetic ‘switch’ in breast cancer cells that boosts the production of a type of internal scaffolding. This scaffolding is a...
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How proteins help influenza A bind and slice its way to cells
New study adds to our understanding of how influenza A effectively overcomes the first line of our defence against infection ELIFE Researchers have provided new insight on how two proteins help influenza A virus particles fight their way to human cells. The findings, published today in the open-access journal eLife, further explain how influenza A is able to penetrate defensive...
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Shaped like a tennis ball, this cancer protein was thought ‘undruggable.’ Amgen found a way to target it
By ADAM FEUERSTEIN @adamfeuerstein Scientists have long known that a mutant form of the cell-signaling protein called KRAS causes cancer, but discovering drugs capable of blocking KRAS has proven difficult. The protein is spherical and nearly featureless — its structure has been compared to a tennisball — leaving potential drugs with few, if any, effective attachment points....
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Surface protein editing in bacteria
Posted Today This news or article is intended for readers with certain scientific or professional knowledge in the field. Researchers studied how oral bacteria adhere to and develop biofilms (plaque) in the oral cavity. The team wanted to learn whether and how the bacterial cells might adjust their adhesive surface proteins. They discovered a previously unknown circuit that is embedded in the...
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Preventing triple negative breast cancer from spreading
A breast cancer cell is like a house with three locks on the front door. Keys, or receptors, allow drugs to unlock the door and kill the cell. However, in triple-negative breast cancer, these keys are absent, thereby resulting in few options for drug therapy, until now. A protein called p53 suppresses and kills cancer in people. However, a defective, mutant form of...
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Blood cancer’s Achilles’ heel opens door for new treatments
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH New findings about a fatal form of blood cancer could aid the development of new drugs with significantly less harmful side effects than existing chemotherapy. The discovery could lead to novel treatments that efficiently eliminate blood cancer cells in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), without harming healthy blood cells. Researchers have discovered how a protein in the body plays a key role in AML...
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Studies identify mechanism key to removal of protein aggregates from cells
Mass. General team’s findings may have application to treatment of cancer, neurodegenerative disorders MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have discovered the mechanism by which cells sense dysfunction of the proteasome – a cellular component that degrades unneeded or defective proteins – and respond in a previously undescribed manner, by editing the amino acid sequence of a key sensing protein....