Columbia University scientist wins 2004 Nobel Prize
...gy to problems in neurobiology. He identified the peptide genes responsible for eliciting an innate behavior in a marine snail, and molecular analysis of these genes suggests how diverse behavioral patterns may be encoded in the genetic material and inherited from parent to offspring. ...U-M scientists see ubiquitin-modified proteins in living cells
...alled ubiquitination. In this process, a small peptide called ubiquitin is linked to a protein in ways that can change the protein's function and location within the cell. Originally, scientists thought ubiquitin was simply a universal "destroy me" signal for unneeded or harmful proteins, but it has rece...Sniffing out the culprits of dust allergies
...cific small-molecule inhibitor was isolated from a peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-encoded small-molecule library. As a result of this investigation, Der 1 p was implicated in the cleavage of the CD4+ T cell receptor CD25--the Der 1 p inhibitor has a dose-dependent ability to protect the receptor on whole cells. ...Antibiotic identified as potential anti-cancer candidate
...n humans that is similar to one in bacteria called peptide deformylase (Pdf) and have found that an antibiotic called actinonin, which inhibits the human Pdf, also inhibits tumor growth. Pdf was thought to be important only to bacteria and the bacterially-related organelles of cells of higher organisms. Pd...Trojan-horse therapy blocks buildup of Alzheimer's plaque
... attempts by pharmaceutical companies to develop A peptide inhibitors -- mainly by screening for small molecu...eimer's disease. "Isabella suggested that we try A peptide as a target because it's small enough that a bulky chaperone protein could possibly interfere with a...Tiny exosomes extracted from donor cells may be 'magic bullet' for drug-free transplants
...es. This hybrid MHC-II molecule, now loaded with a peptide of donor MHC, was then expressed on the cell's surface. As one family of MHC molecules, MHC-II serves as a beacon for a specific population of T cells called CD4+ T cells. Such cells are activated during chronic rejection in a process associated with...A new species of amyloid peptide
...secretase results in a soluble ectodomain, a short peptide called p3, and an intracellular C-terminal domain,...o acids long, called Aβ 46 . This Aβ 46 peptide is produced by γ-secretase at a novel cleavage site, the ζ-site. This site also happens to...NIH makes award to UNC for Genome Fingerprint Scanning program
...to greatly improve the program's output to include peptide maps that users can browse overlaid on a genome, expand the list of built-in searchable genomes, provide a multi-genome simultaneous search capability, and automate both updates of the genome databases and distribution of the computing load to ensure...JCI table of contents, December 1 2004
...nalize foreign material processing it into smaller peptide fragments, that are then presented on the cell surface to activate nave T cells to kill the pathogen. Natural killer (NK) cells are among the first cells of the immune response that arrive at the site of infection or inflammation and their major func...Carnegie Mellon scientist develops way to deliver promising genetic tool into living cells
...new way to introduce a gene-like molecule called a peptide nucleic acid (PNA) directly into live mammalian cells, including human embryonic stem (ES) cells. The work, published online December 2 in Chemical Communications, http://www.rsc.org/is/journals/current/chemcomm/ccadvarts.htm , holds considerable pr...Erkki Ruoslahti of The Burnham Institute named recipient of 2005 Japan Prize
...the site at which cells attach to one another, the peptide RGD. Dr. Ruoslahti's discoveries in cancer biology are also relevant to a broad range of cell behaviors, which are involved in managing heart attack, stroke, osteoporosis, and angiogenesis. Dr. Ruoslahti earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from th...EB and IUPS - Where cures of tomorrow can be seen in the science of today
..., and enzymes in the biosynthesis and tailoring of peptide natural products. American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) sessions cover diverse aspects of nutrition, such as dietary bioactive compounds and metabolism; carbohydrate and alcohol metabolism; nutrient-gene interactions; lactation; nutrit...Protein tyrosine phosphatases to be topic of ASBMB-Merck Award lecture
...igonucleotide to identify and clone cDNAs encoding peptide hormones such as somatostatin, cholecystokinin, and neuropeptide Y. He subsequently became a pioneer and intellectual leader in the structure and function of PTPs. The ASBMB-Merck Award consists of a plaque, stipend, and transportation and expenses o...UCLA researchers detail the evolution of quantum dot imaging in the journal Science
...tually seen. Weiss and his team developed a unique peptide coating for the qdots that disguises them with a protein-like costume that allows them to target specific molecules. This coating UCLA's Fabien Pinaud led the team in this advance allows researchers to track individual molecules participating in ce...Melatonin shrinks bird gonads. What does the popular supplement do in humans?
.... In humans, GnRH one of various short protein or peptide hormones referred to as neuropeptides brings on p...een studied very rigorously, and to identify a new peptide in that arena that seems to be playing such an important role is pretty phenomenal at this time," ad...Fritz Lipmann lecture will look at enzyme biosynthesis of peptide natural products
...r. Walsh will discuss his research on nonribosomal peptide synthetases. Dr. Walsh is an outstanding and high...ure, he will focus on his research on nonribosomal peptide synthetases and the building and tailoring of peptide natural products. A large variety of biologica...Research advances quest for HIV-1 vaccine
...f the complex formed by association of 4E10 with a peptide fragment that is identical to the section of gp41 that the antibody recognizes. The researchers identified the specific amino acids on gp41 that 4E10 interacts with and the 3D structure adopted by these amino acids. These study results suggest that ...Neuronal 'traffic jam' marks early Alzheimer's disease
... to form an aberrant form of amyloid beta (A-beta) peptide that makes up the plaques that surround the neuron...red to have an abnormal production of human A-beta peptide that produced Alzheimer's-like plaques and subsequent neural degeneration. The scientists' analyses ...JCI table of contents, April 1, 2005
...tides proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) or agouti-related peptide (Agrp) is controlled by insulin and also by leptin, a hormone made by fat cells that regulates feeding behavior. Leptin can reduce weight and food intake by inhibiting Agrp neurons and stimulating Pomc neurons. The alternate paradigm increases food......d environment acts as a protective factor, keeping peptide levels low before they can aggregate and cause pro...e enriched mice were able to lower their b-amyloid peptide levels. For instance, genes for new blood vessel formation may speed the movement of b-amyloid pepti...