Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
Toxic proteins in black widow spider venom and some sea a...wn little about how such membrane-piercing proteins work. Now, using an innovative technique, NIH-funded researchers at New York City'...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...into the cell's nucleus," said Pendergast. The Abi proteins may be a previously unknown mechanism for producing cancer, said Pendergast, not by direct damage to a cancer gene, but by damage to a "safety key" that is its partner....Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...d that these "triplet repeat" diseasegenes produce proteins that errantly stick to an enzyme crucial to the pr...ay. "This is the first explanation of what these proteins produced by tripletrepeat genes may be doing in nerve cells," said neurologist and principalinvestig...Researchers Pinpoint Site For Petit Mal Seizures In Brain
...lled a GABAb receptor in the brain. These receptor proteins are found in cells throughout the body, and respond to a neurotransmitter signal called gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA, which is one of a dozen or so known neurotransmitter molecules. GABAb receptors are thought to act as a brake on nerve cell acti...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
... of the cellular digestive system that breaks down proteins into simpler compounds. Because the receptor is involved both in switching on a growth inhibitor and inactivating a growth factor, the researchers hypothesized that losing it might well predispose a cell to cancerous growth. Their past studies showi...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
..."to biochemists attempting to design and construct proteins for use as medicinesand chemical probes. The researchers' next step will be to pinpoint the LpxA enzyme's "activesite," which is the part of the protein that actually catalyzes thechemical reaction. Any successful antibiotic must plug into th...Florida Researchers Discover Gene For Fatal Childhood Disease
...i syndrome, the gene functions abnormally and many proteins failto be delivered to their correct destinations within cells. Scientists also believe this gene plays a role in regulating thespread and development of cancers in general, and in protecting againstcertain autoimmune disorders. "This is si...Photosystem I -- An Intermediate Step -- May Not Be Necessary For Plants
...h carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids -- the fundamental components of life. But Owens and researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee found that in some cases photosynthesis can occur in the absence of PSI, they report in the journal Science (July 1...Protein Glitch May Be Early Problem In Inherited Alzheimer's
...cells seen in FAD, but it may interfere with other proteins that could. Like dominoes falling, a change in presenilin sets off a chain reaction. "Think of it as a cascade," says Sisodia. "We don't know how many steps there are in this cascade, but we have a theory about where the cascade is headed." Accordin...Surprising Protein Movement Seen In Cells
Biologists have discovered that certain proteins vital to lifeand long thought to be immobilized wi...t transported out of the organelle, as othermobile proteins are. Usually, proteins moving within the organelle are eventuallypackaged in vesicles -- small sacks...Nitric Oxide May Hold Key To First Treatment For Deadly Form Of Malaria, Duke Scientists Report
... researchers theorize that the process of flagging proteins with NOto activate them may prove to be as fundamental a biological process asflagging proteins with phosphate, a process now understood to be the primaryon-off switch for thousands of proteins th...Nitric Oxide Found To Control Cells By Turning On Genes; Suggests New Role In Health And Disease
... researchers theorize that the process of flagging proteins with NOto activate them may prove to be as fundamental a biological process asflagging proteins with phosphate, a process now understood to be the primaryon-off switch for thousands of proteins th...Harvard, Duke Researchers Discover 'Off-switch' Inside Human Cells
...t seems to turn off, or desensitize,G proteins. G proteins are important "signal transducer" molecules inside..., triggering a vast array of cellular processes. G proteins areswitched on by receptors on the cell's surface, which themselves are activatedby hormones, neurot...Discovery Could Help Understand Breast-Cancer Therapies
...of estrogen and anti-estrogen hormones to receptor proteins in the femalereproductive system. The findings could prove to be crucial in efforts to understand how thereceptors respond to drug therapies and how they become resistant to tamoxifen,which, for 20 years, has been the anti-estrogen agent most common...Green Glow: Not Only For Halloween
...tool to track the location in a living cell of two proteins simultaneously, and to determine whether two genes are "turned on" at the same time. The researchers hope to make more colors, including orange and red, by introducing other mutations into the protein. The uses for GFP are almost unlimited, ...New Software Provides Quick Analysis of ion-Channel Activity
... Sachs explained that better information on these proteins could make a tremendous difference in drug design,...it is possible to see kinetic details that in most proteins are invisible. An ion channel can pass more than 1 million ions per second,' Sachs said. That's a b...Cholesterol Anchor Helps Signaling Proteins Direct Development
...report that hedgehog proteins, an unusual group of proteins that help shape many features of a developing embr...at many of the patterning events directed by these proteins take place before most women know they're pregnant. Hedgehog and other similar proteins act like c...Northwestern Scientists Discover How Herpes Simplex Virus Infects Cells
...y is directed toward identifying other cellsurface proteins that can mediate entry of herpes simplex virus into othercell types, including nerve cells, and defining the relevant mechanisms ofentry into different human cells....Bacterial Protein Structure Hints At Mechanism Of A Class Of Premature Aging Diseases
...human disease because RTPinteracts with a class of proteins known as helicases, which have been shownto be inv...the helicase. "Identifying the corresponding proteins from a human system andthen finding a mutant protein will lead to understanding of the diseaseproces......th genes turned out to be "transcription factors," proteins that control how and when other genes are turned o...enes. "Many transcription factors respond to other proteins that trigger increased activity," said Bell. "The identification of this biochemical signal could le...