Archive for the 'Proteomics' Category
April 28th, 2011 by admin
Researchers at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have come a step closer to treating, and maybe even preventing, muscle damage which is caused by neurodegenerative disorders and other forms of disease. In a newly published study, the researching team has disclosed that they have found that the gene polymerase I and transcript release factor, or PTRF, are a crucial constituent of the cell process that repairs damaged muscle tissue.
Continue reading ‘Scientists Identify Gene Required for Repairing Damaged Muscle’
April 14th, 2011 by admin
Researchers worldwide are hailing a new discovery as being a possible breakthrough in the treatment for AIDS. Scientists have developed a new protein that stops the AIDS the virus from entering cells. This protein has a basic make-up of naturally occurring proteins in the body that protects cells from viruses, except the human-made version does not cause inflammation and other side effects at the dosages needed to inhibit AIDS.
Continue reading ‘Possible Breakthrough in Battle against AIDS: Protein Fragment Blocks AIDS Virus Entry into Cells’
March 29th, 2011 by admin
In a latest discovery which is causing ripples of hope in the medical fraternity, cancer researchers have discovered an important protein that seems to be capable of suppressing the growth of prostate cancer cells. The protein is produced naturally inside cells and this new discovery has raised hopes of new treatments for prostate cancer.
Continue reading ‘Protein Found for Suppressing Prostate Cancer – Researchers Hope for Best’
March 28th, 2011 by admin
New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine has revealed that if a group of your brain cells suddenly went rogue and decided to become fat cells, it could cloud your decision-making capacity a bit.
Continue reading ‘Cells with an Identity of their Own’
March 21st, 2011 by admin
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e., increase the rates of) chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and they are converted into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.
Continue reading ‘Biotech for Enzymes: Protein Engineering’
February 7th, 2011 by admin
In a new study, scientists at the University of Maryland and the Institut Pasteur show that bacteria evolve new abilities, such as antibiotic resistance, predominantly by acquiring genes from other bacteria. The researchers new insights into the evolution of bacteria partly contradict the widely accepted theory that new biological functions in bacteria and other microbes arise primarily through the process of gene duplication within the same organism. Their just released study will be published in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.
Continue reading ‘Gene ‘Relocation’ Key to Most Evolutionary Change in Bacteria’
November 22nd, 2010 by admin
A protein known to exist in the brain for more than 30 years, called 5-lipoxygenase, has been found to play a regulatory role in the formation of the amyloid beta in the brain, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at Temple University’s School of Medicine.
Continue reading ‘Modulating Protein Could Help Control Alzheimer’s Disease’
July 29th, 2010 by admin
Milestone payments are becoming an increasingly familiar aspect of many biotech deals, as buyers try to mitigate the risks inherent with big purchases. Take Celgene’s $2.9 billion buyout of Abraxis; the biotech giant set aside $650 million in milestone payments if Abraxis’ key drug Abraxane hit certain goals. “These structures are a great way for buyer and seller to share the risk that’s related to drug development,” says analyst Brett Skolnik. Milestones also encourage buyer and seller to look beyond the merger, making it more likely the deal will be beneficial to both sides in the long term.
Continue reading ‘Milestones Mitigate Risk in Biotech Deals’
July 23rd, 2010 by admin
A group of scientists have demonstrated that specially engineered stem cells could be used to fights off AIDS, successfully testing the approach in mice engineered to develop immune systems similar to humans. The investigators started with the observation that a small group of people who are virtually immune to HIV have disabled CCR5 receptors on their immune cells–a door the virus uses to infect the cells. The scientists engineered stem cells with the ‘door’ essentially locked, then inserted them into the mice, where they developed into immune cells that were able to guard the mice against HIV.
Continue reading ‘Specially Engineered Immune Cells Ward off AIDS’
July 14th, 2010 by admin
Chang Lu and his chemical engineering research group at Virginia Tech have discovered how to “greatly enhance” the delivery of DNA payloads into cells. The description of their work will be featured on the cover of Lab on a Chip, the premier journal for researchers in microfluidics. Lu’s ultimate goal is to apply this technique to create genetically modified cells for cancer immunotherapy, stem cell therapy and tissue regeneration.
Continue reading ‘New Spin on DNA Delivery: Enhanced Delivery Method of DNA Payloads into Cells’
