KEAP1 Keeps major cancer-promoting protein at bay
A tumor-suppressing protein snatches up an important cancer-promoting enzyme and tags it with molecules that condemn it to destruction, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports this week in the journal Molecular Cell. view more (2009-10-12)
When Proteins Change Partners
Dieter Wolf, M.D., and colleagues at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have illuminated how competition between proteins enhances combinatorial diversity during ubiquitination (the process that marks proteins for destruction). view more (2009-09-14)
Researchers identify new, cancer-causing role for protein
The mainstay immune system protein TRAF6 plays an unexpected, key role activating a cell signaling molecule that in mutant form is associated with cancer growth, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Aug. 28 edition of Science. view more (2009-08-28)
Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips
A protein specialist that opens the genomic door for DNA repair and gene expression also turns out to be a multi-tasking workhorse that protects the tips of chromosomes and dabbles in a protein-destruction complex, a team lead by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 13 edition of Molecular Cell. view more (2009-08-14)
Unraveling how cells respond to low oxygen
Gary Chiang, Ph.D., and colleagues at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have elucidated how the stability of the REDD1 protein is regulated. view more (2009-08-06)
Researchers pinpoint a new enemy for tumor-suppressor p53
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have identified a protein that marks the tumor suppressor p53 for destruction, providing a potential new avenue for restoring p53 in cancer cells. view more (2009-06-29)
Muscle atrophy through thick but not thin
During desperate times, such as fasting, or muscle wasting that afflicts cancer or AIDS patients, the body cannibalizes itself, atrophying and breaking down skeletal muscle proteins to liberate amino acids. view more (2009-06-08)
Penn Medicine, CHOP Researchers Demonstrate First Common Genetic Risk Factors for Autism
Researchers have made an important step forward in understanding the complex genetic structure of autism spectrum disorders. view more (2009-04-29)
SUMO protein guides chromatin remodeler to suppress genes
In an in vitro study, led by Grace Gill, PhD, Tufts University School of Medicine, researchers discovered how a protein called SUMO (Small Ubiquitin-related Modifier) guides an enzyme complex that alters the structure of chromatin to regulate expression of genes. view more (2009-04-28)
Scripps scientists uncover mimicry at the molecular level that protects genome integrity
The new study, which was published on April 12, 2009, in an advanced online edition of the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, draws new parallels between the Rad60 DNA repair factor and SUMO, a small ubiquitin-like modifier, which are both essential for maintaining genome stability during replication. view more (2009-04-14)
Lipid droplets lead a Spartin existence
Spartin, a protein linked to the neuronal disease Troyer syndrome, was thought to function in endocytosis. In the March 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org), Eastman et al. identify an unexpected role for Spartin in regulating the cell's lipid storage depots. view more (2009-03-23)
A paradigm shift in immune response regulation
Over the past decade various pieces of the puzzle how signal transmission controls immunity have been coming together. view more (2009-03-20)
Self-digestion as a means of survival
In times of starvation, cells tighten their belts: they start to digest their own proteins and cellular organs. The process - known as autophagy - takes place in special organelles called autophagosomes. view more (2009-02-27)
Proteasome inhibition affects epigenetic mechanisms
Alcohol consumption causes alteration in several cellular mechanisms, and leads to inflammation, apoptosis, immunoresponse defect, and fibrosis. view more (2009-02-19)
'Birth control' for centrioles
Like DNA, centrioles need to duplicate only once per cell cycle. Rogers et al. uncover a long-sought mechanism that limits centriole copying, showing that it depends on the timely demolition of a protein that spurs the organelles' replication. view more (2009-01-26)
CSHL scientists discover new way in which ubiquitin modifies transcriptional machinery to regulate gene activity
During gene transcription - the process inside the nucleus of cells by which DNA, the genetic material, is copied into RNA - a large, ever-changing multiprotein complex is enlisted to assist the DNA-copying enzyme in its challenging job. view more (2008-12-19)
New research helps explain genetics of Parkinson's disease
A new study by Narendra et al. suggests that Parkin, the product of the Parkinson's disease-related gene Park2, prompts neuronal survival by clearing the cell of its damaged mitochondria. view more (2008-11-24)
Conaway Lab Identifies Novel Mechanism for Regulation of Gene Expression
The Stowers Institute's Conaway Lab has demonstrated that an enzyme called Uch37 is kept in check when it is part of a human chromatin remodeling complex, INO80. The results were published in today's issue of Molecular Cell. view more (2008-09-29)
Researchers discover how rheumatoid arthritis causes bone loss
Researchers have discovered key details of how rheumatoid arthritis (RA) destroys bone, according to a study published in the Aug. 22 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. view more (2008-08-21)
Model for Angelman syndrome developed by University of Texas at Austin biologists
A model for studying the genetics of Angelman syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes mental retardation and other symptoms in one out of 15,000 births, has been developed by biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. view more (2008-08-15)
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