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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

The p53 transcription factor plays a vital role in preventing cancer onset

Researchers at the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered that the transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) is a novel regulator of the tumor suppressor p53, which is inactivated in at least half of all human cancers.

2 Aug 2004

Important step in understanding the genetic mechanisms of aging

Scientists have rendered the first gene and protein networks of human aging, an important step in understanding the genetic mechanisms of aging. The work led by Joao Pedro de Magalhaes from Harvard Medical School is detailed in the July 30 issue of FEBS Letters.

29 Jul 2004

Research to develop ways to inhibit head and neck cancers, the fifth most common cancer worldwide

A University of Queensland researcher has been awarded $850,000 by one of Australia’s largest private, charitable, medical foundations to develop ways to inhibit head and neck cancers, the fifth most common cancer worldwide.

29 Jul 2004

New method for detecting premature birth

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a method for detecting intra-amniotic infections in pregnant women using state-of-the-art methods.

29 Jul 2004

Misfiring proteins linked to sick feeling of type 2 diabetics

After a series of studies in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Freund, a clearer picture is emerging: A disruption of signaling proteins in the immune system may be responsible for the inflammation that makes someone with type 2 diabetes feel sick and increases the risk of serious complications.

29 Jul 2004

Federal agencies should assess the safety of genetically altered foods, whether produced by genetic engineering or by other techniques

Federal agencies should assess the safety of genetically altered foods -- whether produced by genetic engineering or by other techniques, such as conventional breeding for desirable traits -- on a case-by-case basis to determine whether unintended changes in their composition could adversely affect human health, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.

29 Jul 2004

Proof of principle that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the muscles of an adult animal

MDA-supported researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle have delivered the gene for the dystrophin protein to all voluntary muscles with a single intravenous injection in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

29 Jul 2004

Further evidence about how estrogen helps activate breast cancer

A UC Irvine researcher has found a novel tumor- suppressor function for a gene that, when mutated, often triggers breast cancer in women.

29 Jul 2004

First tool to study image brain function at the cellular level

Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Alison Barth has developed the first tool to identify and study individual neurons activated in a living animal.

29 Jul 2004

New process that simplifies the production of proteins

F. William Studier, a biophysicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has won a 2004 R&D 100 award for developing a new process that simplifies the production of proteins in the widely used T7 gene expression system.

29 Jul 2004

Leptin's fat-burning role in humans

For nearly a decade, scientists have known that leptin plays an important fat-burning role in humans. But the map of leptin's path through the body – the key to understanding how and why the hormone works – is still incomplete.

27 Jul 2004

Overcoming the problems associated with adding omega-3s to food

As the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids reach the awareness of consumers eager to improve the functions of their body -- from the cardiovascular system to the brain -- food makers are scurrying to enrich and fortify products with omega-3s and get them to market. But one major obstacle tempers progress -- flavor.

26 Jul 2004

How ulcer bugs stick to stomach

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the primary cause of ulcers and a contributor to stomach cancers, have uncovered new intricacies in the way the bacterium sticks to the lining of the human stomach.

26 Jul 2004

Finding helps explain how nerves connect to their targets and stop growing once there

Johns Hopkins researchers report that once a growing nerve "tastes" a certain protein, it loses its "appetite" for other proteins and follows the tasty crumbs to reach its final destination.

26 Jul 2004

Gene responsible for infertility

A paper describing discoveries about the role of a gene that is important in all animals, plants, and fungi is published in the 20 July 2004 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Jul 2004

$1.6 million to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal, childhood-onset disease

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has announced it has awarded $1.6 million to Asklepios, a biotechnology company closely allied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal, childhood-onset disease.

23 Jul 2004

New precautionary measures against the possible risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease

The UK Department of Health (DOH) has said today that recipients of blood transfusions are to be excluded from donating blood in the future as a further precautionary measure against the possible risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD), Health Secretary John Reid announced today.

23 Jul 2004

Autism antibodies are not genetically determined, as parents do not exhibit them

Autism produces a widespread range of antibodies that act against brain tissue and one protein in particular seems to be the major target of these antibodies claim a group of scientists in the July issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.

23 Jul 2004

Effects of Huntington's disease mutation more complex than originally thought

Competing theories about why brain cells die in Huntington's disease may not be competitors after all, according to a report published July 21, 2004, in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology.

22 Jul 2004

Several key findings from clinical trial of an investigational Alzheimer's disease treatment

Elan Corporation and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals have announced several key findings from their Phase IIa clinical trial of an investigational Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment, AN-1792, which were presented in Philadelphia at the 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders.

22 Jul 2004

Protein News and Research

Further Reading

The p53 transcription factor plays a vital role in preventing cancer onset

Important step in understanding the genetic mechanisms of aging

Research to develop ways to inhibit head and neck cancers, the fifth most common cancer worldwide

New method for detecting premature birth

Misfiring proteins linked to sick feeling of type 2 diabetics

Federal agencies should assess the safety of genetically altered foods, whether produced by genetic engineering or by other techniques

Proof of principle that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the muscles of an adult animal

Further evidence about how estrogen helps activate breast cancer

First tool to study image brain function at the cellular level

New process that simplifies the production of proteins

Leptin's fat-burning role in humans

Overcoming the problems associated with adding omega-3s to food

How ulcer bugs stick to stomach

Finding helps explain how nerves connect to their targets and stop growing once there

Gene responsible for infertility

$1.6 million to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal, childhood-onset disease

New precautionary measures against the possible risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease

Autism antibodies are not genetically determined, as parents do not exhibit them

Effects of Huntington's disease mutation more complex than originally thought

Several key findings from clinical trial of an investigational Alzheimer's disease treatment

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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