Tarantula venom and chili peppers target same pain sensor
...e researchers identified three protein subunits or peptides in the venom that targeted the receptor to cause p...r activated TRPV1, but they did not pinpoint which peptides were responsible. The fact that a second spider venom triggered a capsaicin receptor suggests that ......tide-like building blocks. Amino acids, from which peptides are made, were already present in the "primordial soup". However, the bases may also have looked different in their primitive form. To find the right track in searching for the origins of life, the team is trying to put together groups of potential ...FSU chemist Brschweiler awarded prestigious honor
...ns interact with other molecules such as proteins, peptides and small ligands. Such an understanding is important for researchers as they attempt to develop new treatments for a variety of diseases. Proteins are highly complex molecules that perform a wide range of biological functions in every organism, Bru...Burnham Institute for Medical Research announces affiliation with UC Santa Barbara
... therapies and decrease side effects. Targeting peptides discovered in Ruoslahti's laboratory are providing the platform for integrating nanotechnologies into the design of new therapies for cancer and heart disease. Ruoslahti and others at Burnham contribute a key component to the Center of Cancer Nanote...Worms produce surprise insight into human fever
...lsis, low gut pH, lytic enzymes, and antimicrobial peptides to prevent microbial colonization of the intestine. In dissecting two conserved pathways required for C. elegans immunity to bacteria, Aballay found a wealth of data on innate immunity plus a surprising insight into another classic metazoan respon...MIT creates 3-D scaffold for growing stem cells
...ny fragments of amino acids called self-assembling peptides to organize themselves into useful structures. Working with visiting graduate student Fabrizio Gelain from Milan, Zhang created a designer scaffold from a network of protein nanofibers, each 5,000 times thinner than a human hair and containing pores ......uced by all organisms. Because these antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are positively charged, they are attracted ...enough, they managed to design these new synthetic peptides (protein fragments) to contain only four amino acids, as opposed to the 12 50 found in their natura...New gene uncovered for late-onset Alzheimer's
...ases the production of the toxic amyloid beta (A]) peptides in the brain resulting in Alzheimer's. When the SORL1 gene works properly, it sends APP along recycling pathways -- preventing it from being cut into toxic A] forms. People with these genetic variants may not produce normal amounts of SORL1, sugges...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...et al. examined mice that overexpressed A40 or A42 peptides but not amyloid precursor protein. The authors crossed hemizygous BRI-A40 mice, which express A40 but not A42, with hemizygous APPswe (Tg2576) mice. BRI A40 mice did not develop pathology, even at 20 months of age. Unexpectedly, the BRI-A40/Tg2576 mi...NIH gives PITT $13 million grant for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease research
... possible linkages among cellular organisms called peptides and microbial populations and other antigens that trigger immune response leading to BALT formation and progressive airway damage. Concurrent studies will look at how genetic factors and other molecular mediators affect lung tissue injury by focusing...Buckyballs used as 'passkey' into cancer cells
... with pheylalanine as a link in their chain, these peptides did not pass through the cell walls. Barron's gr...dren's Cancer Center, and found the Baa-containing peptides could mimick viral proteins and pass through the walls of cancer cells. The peptides were found effe...New test predicts blood cancer's sensitivity to experimental cancer drug
...ells; then they exposed them to protein fragments peptides that were known to interact with survival molecules like Bcl-2. "If they interact, then the cell is primed to die, and the test will identify which of the survival molecules is keeping the cells alive," he added. "Then you know that to kill the cell......alcium-calpain feedback loop, treatment with decoy peptides might save some cells, Baudry said. His group plans to test the treatment in a stroke model in mice....Yale chemists show that nature could have used different protein building blocks
...nt building block beta-amino acids and show that peptides assembled from beta-amino acids can fold into stru...eptides are not processed in the cell like natural peptides or proteins, it may be possible in the future to design beta-peptides that perform better or in more...Man-made proteins could be more useful than real ones
...hepartz said. For example, when helices of natural peptides nestle against one another, often their "side chai...he -peptide Zwit1-F structurally resembles natural peptides raises a thorny biological question: Why don't -peptide proteins exist in nature? "Certain -amino ac...JCI table of contents -- February 8, 2006
...onse that includes the production of antimicrobial peptides and the upregulation of receptors that recognize microbial components. However, the factors that trigger this immune response have not been well defined. In a study appearing online on February 8 in advance of publication in the March print issue o...Vitamin D3 provides the skin with protection from harmful microbes
...onse that includes the production of antimicrobial peptides and the upregulation of receptors that recognize microbial components. However, the factors that trigger this immune response have not been well defined. In a study appearing online on February 8 in advance of publication in the March print issue o...NIH funds innovative alzheimer's research initiated at UCSB
...sure the oligomer distribution and shapes of these peptides for the first time. Three years of preliminary..., a method of spraying the solution containing the peptides of interest into fine droplets and then letting the droplets evaporate. Following evaporation, mass...Other highlights in the Feb. 21 JNCI
...hen it is secreted and then processed into smaller peptides called kisspeptins, which in turn bind to a receptor known as GPR54. Kevin Nash, Ph.D., in the laboratory of Danny R. Welch, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and their colleagues wondered if the GPR54 receptor was also involved in m......aid. The new generation of trimeric amino acids peptides discovered by Katti in 1999 (referred to by Amijii as 'Katti Peptides') have provided a solid chemical platform and have become sources of a number of other discoveries. Their applications in the development of drugs for Wilscons' disease; their util...