Sex hormones hold key to higher rates of abdominal aortic aneurysms in males
...ed research method, giving hyperlipidemic mice the peptide hormone angiotensin II results in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Not surprisingly, considering the gender differences in humans, male mice have a three-fold higher susceptibility to developing the angiotensin-induced aneurysms than ag...Onion compound may help fight osteoporosis
...ound responsible for the decreased bone loss was a peptide called GPCS. The researchers then obtained a group of isolated bone cells from newborn rats and exposed the cells to parathyroid hormone to stimulate bone loss, then exposed some of the treated cells to GPCS. Treatment with GPCS significantly inhibit...Blood test can accurately diagnose heart failure in emergency patients
...udy. In 2002, the newest generation of natriuretic peptide assays became available, and soon thereafter the c...lly well and confirms the value of the natriuretic peptide class of cardiac biomarkers as a whole. We believe NT-proBNP testing should now become a routine co...Chemical library aids in developing drug system for nerve damage
...eating this process numerous times, she identified peptide sequences that have low, medium or high affinity for the heparin drug. Sakiyama-Elbert and her colleagues are looking for protein sequences that bind to drugs to help a drug delivery vehicle provide timed release of a drug. Such drug delive...Exercise slows development of Alzheimer's-like brain changes in mice, new study finds
...hroughout the body and from which the beta-amyloid peptide is derived. In AD, beta-amyloid fragments clump together to form plaques in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, the brain regions used in memory, thinking, and decision making. Compared to the sedentary animals, mice that had exercised for 5 months ...Innovative study finds way to 'bio-synthesize' an anti-cancer compound
...e biosynthetic mechanism involved a "non-ribosomal peptide synthetase," a large multimodular enzyme that incorporates amino acids residue into a peptide. When scientists did not find such a chemical system related to patellamides in the microbe's draft genome sequence, they examined alternative biosynthetic ...Baseball food and drink: Healthy chemistry scores a surprise hit
...s at the University of Bern in Switzerland found a peptide compound in onions that appears to decrease bone loss. Although more studies are needed, the study suggests that eating onions might help people prevent bone loss and osteoporosis, a disease which predominately affects older women. Hot dogs: Low-fa...K-State researchers designing better drug to treat cystic fibrosis
...ions to modulate the activity of a channel forming peptide derived from the second transmembrane segment of t...he channel structures. Residue replacements in the peptide involving the 13th and 17th positions were designed to correlate hydrogen-bonding strength with sele...Cancer vaccine under development using synthetic protein
...rom Circadian Technologies Ltd to further test the peptide and develop a cancer vaccine. The technology, which has been tested in mice, will soon be tested in laboratories on peptides designed to target immune responses to human melanoma cancer cells. During infection, or the transformation of cells into tum...Research offers new approach to developing treatments for cocaine and amphetamine addiction
...terestingly, appetite suppression produced by CART peptide injections is similar to that seen with cocaine and amphetamine use. The precise mechanism by which cocaine and amphetamine decrease weight remains unknown, but CART peptides may have a role here as well. Future studies are needed to investigate the ...Other highlights in the October 5 JNCI
...his treatment limitation could be overcome using a peptide vaccine, Pierpaolo Correale, M.D., Ph.D., and Mari...y, and colleagues evaluated mice vaccinated with a peptide (TS/PP) designed to target the enzyme TS. They report that, in mice vaccinated with TS/PP and subseq...New model shows gender differences in high blood pressure, Jefferson scientists find
...ike epinephrine and norepineprhine. They also bind peptide hormones such as angiotensin, which is implicated in high blood pressure. Dr. Eckhart and her co-workers don't think that GRK5 is necessarily the sole cause of hypertension. But because it is correlated with some types, they wanted to look at the mo...A molecular basis for selective therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer's disease
... These senile plaques are rich in a toxic amyloid peptide termed A. The mechanisms underlying the production of A are complex, but it is known that this peptide is derived from a larger precursor known as the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Interestingly, and...New rheumatoid arthritis drug developed at UCSD promises improved treatment options
...alifornia in September. The new drug, dnaJP1, is a peptide derived from a naturally occurring protein, dnaJ, which generates inflammation in RA patients, whose inflammatory-control mechanisms are impaired. The impairment causes the body's T cells which trigger inflammation to kill and clear foreign pathoge......ll facilitate the clinical development of its p144 peptide in the treatment of two symptoms of skin disease: local and systemic scleroderma. The aim of Digna Biotech ( www.dignabiotech.com ) is the development of the intellectual property CIMA at the University of Navarre on pre-clinical, clinical and commer...Study reveals hormone can reduce food intake, body weight
...ght loss. Specifically, the research revealed that peptide YY (PYY) can reduce food consumption in the morning, leading to a mild level of weight loss in the short term. The research is printed in the current edition of the journal Diabetes. Previous studies at ONPRC and OHSU helped demonstrate that PYY can...Biomarkers may provide important information for patients at risk for recurrent ischemic stroke
... 1 (sVCAM-1) and N-terminal pro-B-type natruiretic peptide (NT-proBNP). These biomarkers along with C-reactive protein, homocysteine, renin (an enzyme from the kidneys that affects blood pressure) and lipids and lipoprotein particle concentration and size were measured in 252 participants with cerebrovasc...Timing possible treatments against Alzheimer's disease
... of small peptides (proteins), called amyloid beta peptide (Abeta), that are produced when a larger protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP) is cleaved by the action of two enzymes, beta-APP cleaving enzyme and gamma-secretase. Many scientists are developing inhibitors of these enzymes as possible ther...JCI table of contents: December 1, 2005
...n investigate the role of the appetite-stimulating peptide ghrelin in the regulation of food intake and the maintenance of body weight. Mark Sleeman and colleagues from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., show that male ghrelin-deficient mice exposed to a high-fat diet shortly after weaning are resistant to diet......t it is the accumulation over time of amyloid beta peptide 142 (Abeta42) that triggers changes in the brain that lead to cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. The reduction of amyloid levels is therefore a major therapeutic objective. Todd Golde and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville report...