An international group of researchers has characterized the proteome of the human cornea. In doing so, they have identified 141 distinct proteins, 99 of which had not been previously recognized in mammalian corneas. The details of their findings appear in the August/September issue of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.
The cornea is the transparent, dome-shaped window that covers the front of the eye. Although i
Inhibitors of cellular enzymes could be developed for SARS treatment
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that inhibitors of an enzyme called cathepsin L prevent the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus from entering target cells. SARS is caused by an emergent coronavirus. There is no effective treatment at this time.
This study also demonstrates a new mechanism for how viral proteins are activated within host cells, sta
Dr. Norbert Perrimon and colleagues at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA) have used a genome-wide RNAi screen in cultured Drosophila cells to identify novel regulators of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.
In a stunning example of the utility of cell-based RNAi analysis in a genetically tractable system, like fruit flies, the researchers identified 121 genes involved in the JAK/STAT pathway, including a key, and previously unidentified, negative regulator of the pathway. PTP61F emerged fr
Discovery may lead to new therapies for leukemia, other blood disorders
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that a protein called NF-Ya activates several genes known to regulate the development of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), or blood-producing stem cells, in bone marrow. Knowing the details of this pathway may one day lead to new treatments for such blood diseases as leukemia, as well as a better understanding of how HSCs work in the context
Some 25% of genes code for membrane proteins. Yet membrane organization remains a mystery. Membranes envelop all the cells in our bodies, forming a natural barrier, the membrane proteins within these can also recognize certain cells and direct a drug to them.
Using atomic force microscopy, Simon Scheuring (Inserm), in a CNRS unit at the Institut Curie, and James N. Sturgis, professor at the Université de la Méditerranée (CNRS unit), have studied the organization of a bacteria
The natural ability of viruses to infect and destroy cells is being used by scientists to kill cancerous tumours, according to an article in the August 2005 issue of Microbiology Today, the quarterly magazine of the Society for General Microbiology.
Professor Moira Brown of Southern General Hospital in Glasgow explains how viruses that cause common diseases, such as cold sores and ‘flu, have been modified so that they are no longer harmful, but can target and kill only cancerous cells
From birth until death, our cells migrate: nerve cells make their vital connections, embryonic cells move to the proper places to form organs, immune cells zero in to destroy pathogenic organisms, and cancer cells metastasize, spreading deadly disease through the body. Scientists studying these migrations didn’t know how cells determined where to go. Until now.
A Burnham Institute study has identified a fragment of a protein that senses chemicals that induce a cell to move in
A defect in the mechanics of motors that build tiny cellular hairs is the basis of a serious genetic disorder, according to researchers at UC Davis and Simon Fraser University, Canada. Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), affecting about one in 100,000 births, includes progressive blindness, extra or fused fingers and toes, kidney disease and learning difficulties, among other problems.
Products of genes linked to the syndrome coordinate mobile, cargo-carrying motor proteins within the cilia, ti
Brown University biologists have solved the structure of a critical piece of synapse-associated protein 97 (SAP97) found in abundance in the heart and head, where it is believed to play a role in everything from cardiac contractions to memory creation. Results are published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Dale Mierke, associate professor of medical science at Brown, said that knowing how a piece of SAP97 is built is an important step. Now that part of the protein’s structure is
While the human body has plenty of specialized molecular motors and machines powering the mechanical work necessary for cells to function properly, scientists themselves face many hurdles as they try to create their own molecular machines in the laboratory.
The downsides of conventional molecular machines are that they are driven as an ensemble, by external light or chemistry, for example, and they are big — made up of many molecules. These factors make these machines diffi
Independent papers in the August 1 issue of G&D investigate the asymmetric localization of beta-catenin (WRM-1) during polarized cell divisions during C. elegans development.
Dr. Craig Mello and colleagues used conditional mutants that disrupt Wnt signaling to analyze the moleculaes involved in Wnt-dependent differential nuclear localization of beta-catenin during endoderm development.
Drs. Hitoshi Sawa & Hisako Takeshita observed that in C. elegans larval development, beta
A new technique aimed at directly controlling the expression of genes by turning them on or off at the DNA level could lead to drugs for the treatment or cure of many diseases, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
“Virtually every disease starts at the level of malfunctioning gene expression, or viral or bacterial gene expression,” said Dr. David Corey, professor of pharmacology and biochemistry. “This is an approach that could theoretically produce a drug for the
For about a decade, scientists have recognized that many cases of hereditary breast cancer result from a mutation of a specific gene called BRCA1, which, in its normal state, helps keep tumor formation in check. About five to 10 percent of breast cancer cases are linked to genetic miscues, about half of which are linked to BRCA1.
But now scientists have discovered that a protein called cyclin D1, grossly overproduced in about half of all cases of breast cancer, can also disrupt
The results of an international clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center researchers has shown that a new drug is not a suitable replacement for protamine, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years after coronary artery bypass surgery to return thinned blood to its normal state.
While protamine is effective in reversing the blood-thinning properties of heparin, recent studies have shown that its use can cause changes in blood pressure which have been link
Scientists have identified some of the very earliest genetic changes involved in the development of lung cancer and have incorporated them into a new strain of mouse that develops the disease in much the same way that humans do.
The discoveries, reported in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research, open the door to the possibility of new, targeted treatments that could be offered at the very first signs of lung cancer, when the possibility of a cure is most likely.
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The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) is encouraged to see that all of its member companies have scored well, if not better than last year, in the Environment Agency’s “Spotlight” report on Business’ Environmental Performance, published today.
Using the environmental protection (OPRA) methodology the Environment Agency assessed how well industry manages its regulated sites in terms of waste production, releases to air and discharges to water. In 2004, the chemical industry pro
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