Biologists discover bacterial defense mechanism against aggressive oxygen
Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell. view more (2009-11-23)
Saving the single cysteine: new antioxidant system found
We've all read studies about the health benefits of having a life partner. The same thing is true at the molecular level, where amino acids known as cysteines are much more vulnerable to damage when single than when paired up with other cysteines. view more (2009-11-23)
On the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites. view more (2009-11-20)
Toward explaining why hepatitis B hits men harder than women
Scientists in China are reporting discovery of unusual liver proteins, found only in males, that may help explain the long-standing mystery of why the hepatitis B virus (HBV) sexually discriminates -- hitting men harder than women. view more (2009-11-19)
Saliva proteins change as women age
In a step toward using human saliva to tell whether those stiff joints, memory lapses, and other telltale signs of aging are normal or red flags for disease, scientists are describing how the protein content of women's saliva change with advancing age. view more (2009-11-19)
Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging
If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important-especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging. view more (2009-11-18)
Paradoxical protein might prevent cancer
One difficulty with fighting cancer cells is that they are similar in many respects to the body's stem cells. By focusing on the differences, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a new way of tackling colon cancer. The study is presented in the prestigious journal Cell. view more (2009-11-16)
Largest-ever database for liver proteins may lead to treatments for hepatitis
Scientists at a group of 11 research centers in China are reporting for the first time assembly of the largest-ever collection of data about the proteins produced by genes in a single human organ. view more (2009-11-12)
Iowa State University researcher discovers key to vital DNA, protein interaction
A researcher at Iowa State University has discovered how a group of proteins from plant pathogenic bacteria interact with DNA in the plant cell, opening up the possibility for what the scientist calls a "cascade of advances." view more (2009-11-11)
Study sheds light on evolution of human complexity
A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising from duplicate genes. view more (2009-11-04)
A Potential Anti-cancer Agent
Pateamine A (PatA), a natural product first isolated from marine sponges, has attracted considerable attention as a potential anti-cancer agent, and now a new activity has been found for it, which may reveal yet another anti-cancer mechanism. view more (2009-11-03)
Inhibitor of heat shock protein is a potential anticancer drug, Penn study finds
Like yoga for office drones, cells do have coping strategies for stress. Heat, lack of nutrients, oxygen radicals - all can wreak havoc on the delicate internal components of a cell, potentially damaging it beyond repair. view more (2009-10-30)
Pumpkin skin may scare away germs
The skin of that pumpkin you carve into a Jack-o'-Lantern to scare away ghosts and goblins on Halloween contains a substance that could put a scare into microbes that cause millions of cases of yeast infections in adults and infants each year. view more (2009-10-29)
Cholesterol-lowering medicines may be effective against cancer
Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in our metabolism. view more (2009-10-28)
Chemosensitivity of cancer cells depends on their protein dependency
Two different anti-apoptotic proteins support cancer cell survival via an identical mechanism, yet differ in their sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, report Brunelle et al. The study will be published online October 26, 2009 and in the November 2, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB). view more (2009-10-26)
Boston University scientists first to see RNA network in live bacterial cells
Scientists who study RNA have faced a formidable roadblock: trying to examine RNA's movements in a living cell when they can't see the RNA. Now, a new technology has given scientists the first look ever at RNA in a live bacteria cell-a sight that could offer new information about how the molecule moves and works. view more (2009-10-23)
Biochemical 'on-switch' could solve protein purification challenge
Drugs based on engineered proteins represent a new frontier for pharmaceutical makers. Even after they discover a protein that may form the basis of the next wonder drug, however, they have to confront a long-standing problem: how to produce large quantities of the protein in a highly pure state. view more (2009-10-23)
Single-stranded DNA-binding protein is dynamic, critical to DNA repair
Researchers report that a single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), once thought to be a static player among the many molecules that interact with DNA, actually moves back and forth along single-stranded DNA, gradually allowing other proteins to repair, recombine or replicate the strands. view more (2009-10-22)
Scientists visualize assembly line gears in ribosomes, cell's protein factory
Even as research on the ribosome, one of the cell's most basic machines, is recognized with a Nobel Prize, scientists continue to achieve new insights on the way ribosomes work. view more (2009-10-16)
Protein interaction network can respond Helicobacter pylori infection?
Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is a gram negative bacterium which infects about 50% of the world population. H pylori colonization causes a strong systemic immune response. view more (2009-10-16)
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