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(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have known that two seemingly distant human maladies—a devastating set of hereditary disorders called Walker-Warburg syndrome and infection with the virus that causes hemorrhagic Lassa fever—both involve a cellular protein involving sugar. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-lassa-virus-gene-mutations-result.html Medical research Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:50:01 EST news283163356 Researchers have discovered how oxidative stress can turn to the dark side a cellular protein that's usually benign, and make it become a powerful, unwanted accomplice in neuronal death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-discovery-door-drug-options-diseases.html Medical research Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:14 EST news281615911 A new discovery from researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a "180-degree change in focus" for researchers who study how gene packaging regulates gene activity, including genes that cause cancer and other diseases. The discovery, by Bradley R. Cairns, PhD, Senior Director of Basic Science at HCI and a professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences, is reported in this week's online issue of the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-dna-packaging-discovery-reveals-principles.html Genetics Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:35:15 EST news272316905 Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated in experimental models that blocking the Sigma-1 receptor, a cellular protein, reduced binge eating and caused binge eaters to eat more slowly. The research, which is published online in Neuropsychopharmacology, was led by Pietro Cottone, PhD, and Valentina Sabino, PhD, both assistant professors in the pharmacology and psychiatry departments at BUSM. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-role-cellular-protein-binge.html Neuroscience Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:36:47 EST news259425400 Four years after they discovered the viral roots of a rare skin cancer, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the School of Medicine have now identified a molecule activated by this virus that, in animal studies, could be targeted to selectively kill the tumor cells. The treatment will soon be tested in patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genomics-molecular-based-treatment-viral-skin.html Cancer Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:05 EST news255782721 A cellular protein called HDAC6, newly characterized as a gatekeeper of steroid biology in the brain, may provide a novel target for treating and preventing stress-linked disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-gatekeeper-brain-steroid-boosts-emotional.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:28:20 EST news254420761 A collaborative study by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University, and published March 20 in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology, has discovered that mutations in the same gene that encodes part of the vital machinery of the mitochondrion can cause neurodegenerative disorders in both fruit flies and humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-collaboration-rapidly-gene-discovery-human.html Genetics Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:00:09 EST news251481050 Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a cellular protein that plays a central role in the formation of new blood vessels. The molecule is the protein Shc (pronounced SHIK), and new blood vessel formation, or angiogenesis, is seriously impaired without it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-cell-molecule-central-player-formation.html Medical research Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:53:25 EST news241710764 Effects of a particularly devastating human kidney disease may be blunted by making a certain cellular protein receptor much less receptive, according to new research by scientists from North Carolina State University and a number of French universities and hospitals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-rogue-receptor-door-rare-kidney.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:24:44 EST news236175839 Dietary salt intake and obesity are two important risk factors in the development of high blood pressure. Each packs its own punch, but when combined, they deliver more damage to the heart and kidneys than the sum of their individual contributions. Discovering the molecular mechanisms behind this lethal synergy has presented a challenge to scientists, but research led by Toshiro Fujita, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine and chief of the Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology at the University of Tokyo, suggests that high dietary salt intake and obesity work together to trigger an abnormal activation of a cellular protein called Rac1. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-abnormal-protein-deadly-link-high.html Medical research Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:40:01 EST news235650317 Despite the fact that hepatitis C virus (HCV) persists chronically in about 80 percent of those infected, some liver cells remain free of the virus even after many years. Now Sung Key Jang of Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, et al. explain that paradox. During chronic HCV infection, a cellular protein, HMGB1, helps restrain viral reproduction. That prevents HCV from sweeping the liver, and results in a lower blood burden of virus than in the case of hepatitis B. This first description of HMGB1-related responses triggered by HCV infection is published in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of Virology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-danger-limits-hepatitis-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:42:04 EST news235644064 Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have helped identify a cellular protein that is critical for infection by the deadly Ebola virus. The findings, published in today's online edition of Nature, suggest a possible strategy for blocking infection due to Ebola virus, one of the world's most lethal viruses and a potential bioterrorism agent. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-key-ebola-virus-cells-deadly.html Medical research Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:21:13 EST news233410810 According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in four Canadians will die of cancer. This year alone, the disease will kill an estimated 75,000 people. With incidence rates on the rise, more cancer patients are facing grave prognoses. Fortunately, Lawson Health Research Institute's Dr. John Lewis, Dr. Ann Chambers, and colleagues have found new hope for survival. Their new study released today in Laboratory Investigation shows that maspin, a cellular protein, can reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells - but only when it is in the nucleus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-lawson-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:40:03 EST news231070280 National Institutes of Health researchers have identified a new pathway that sets the clock for programmed aging in normal cells. The study provides insights about the interaction between a toxic protein called progerin and telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes like aglets, the plastic tips that bind the ends of shoelaces. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-nih-clues-aging.html Medical research Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:57:35 EST news227188620 A team of researchers has identified a cellular protein that acts as a receptor for Ebola virus and Marburg virus. Furthermore, the team showed that an antibody, which binds to the receptor protein, is able to block infection by both viruses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-team-receptor-ebola-virus.html Medical research Mon, 02 May 2011 15:00:08 EST news223567060