http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at UC Davis have shown how the innate immune system distinguishes between dangerous pathogens and friendly microbes. Like burglars entering a house, hostile bacteria give themselves away by breaking into cells. However, sensing proteins instantly detect the invasion, triggering an alarm that mobilizes the innate immune response. This new understanding of immunity could ultimately help researchers find new targets to treat inflammatory disorders. The paper was published in Nature on March 31. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-team-cells-distinguish-friend-foe.html Immunology Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:28:09 EST news284030879 Some cellular proteins have multiple, and occasionally opposing, functions. Professor Adrian Krainer [link: Faculty profile] and colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory demonstrate in a paper published online today in Molecular Cell [link: to paper via doi #] that the oncogenic protein SRSF1 can also trigger a stop in cell growth and prevent cancerous proliferation by stabilizing p53, the powerful tumor-suppressor protein. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cancer-promoting-protein-suppress-cell-growth.html Medical research Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:09:42 EST news281884151 Two proteins that scientists once thought carried out the same functions are actually antagonists of each other, and keeping them in balance is key to preventing diseases such as cancer, according to new findings published in the February 25 issue of Developmental Cell by scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center. The results suggest that new compounds could fight cancer by targeting the pathways responsible for maintaining the proper balance between the proteins. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-antagonistic-proteins-leukemia-bay-potential.html Cancer Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:24:06 EST news281204639 (Medical Xpress)—For the first time, researchers from the Laboratoire biotechnologie et signalisation cellulaire at the Strasbourg-based Ecole supérieure de biotechnologie (CNRS/Université de Strasbourg) and Institut de génétique et de biologie moléculaire et cellulaire (CNRS/Université de Strasbourg/Inserm) have solved the three-dimensional structure of an important oncoprotein involved in cell proliferation and in the development of the human papilloma virus (HPV). Type 16 (HPV 16), which causes cervical cancer, is the most dangerous of human papilloma viruses. This work, published in Science on 8 February 2013, should make it possible to identify and improve medication to block the protein and prevent it from causing tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-cervical-cancer-d-image-hpv.html Cancer Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:40:02 EST news280142866 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people worldwide. The findings suggest that blocking this pathway in lupus-triggering cells could be a potent weapon against the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-key-element-lupus-drug.html Medical research Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:43:05 EST news279222177 The innate immune system detects invasive pathogens and activates defense mechanisms to eliminate them. Pathogens, however, employ a variety of tricks to block this process. A new study shows how the measles virus thwarts the system, by means of a simple hairpin-like structure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-immune-foiled-hairpin.html Immunology Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:58:00 EST news278056670 The enormous complexity of biological processes requires the use of high­performance technologies —also known as '­omics'—, that are capable of carrying out complete integrated analyses of the thousands of molecules that cells are made up of, and of studying their role in illnesses. In the post-genomic age we find ourselves in, the comprehensive study of cellular proteins —prote-omics— acquires a new dimension, as proteins are the molecular executors of genes and, therefore, the most important pieces of the puzzle if we wish to understand more completely how cells work. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-age-proteomics-vision-cellular-world.html Genetics Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:06:50 EST news277650404 Cholesterol plays a key role in regulating proteins involved in cell signaling and may be important to many other cell processes, an international team of researchers has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cholesterol-key-proteins-cell.html Medical research Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:04:56 EST news275141089 A new study about Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a leading cause of birth defects, reveals how the virus co-opts cells' abilities to repair themselves. In the paper published on November 29 in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, O'Dowd et al. describe their utilization of a novel technique for the simultaneous evaluation of both the viral and host genomes in an infected cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hcmv-techniques-preferential-viral-genome.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:39:20 EST news273433147 (Medical Xpress)—Biologists at UC San Diego have unraveled the anti-viral mechanism of a human gene that may explain why some people infected with HIV have much higher amounts of virus in their bloodstreams than others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-discovery-hiv-positive-patients-virus.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 24 Sep 2012 07:10:48 EST news267689428 By identifying a key protein that tells certain breast cancer cells when and how to move, researchers at Michigan State University hope to better understand the process by which breast cancer spreads, or metastasizes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-potential-cancer-roadblock.html Cancer Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:20:01 EST news263048767 (Medical Xpress) -- Two cellular proteins team up to provide a steady supply of red blood cells (RBCs), according to a study by Lizhao Wu, PhD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, and colleagues. The findings have been published in the journal Blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-demand-red-blood-cells.html Medical research Mon, 16 Jul 2012 04:45:05 EST news261632698 Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a cell-permeable peptide that inhibits a hepatitis C virus protein and blocks viral replication, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-indentify-cell-permeable-peptide-inhibits-hepatitis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:56:53 EST news247226203 Interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15), a ubiquitin like protein, is highly elevated in a variety of cancers including breast cancer. How the elevated ISG15 pathway contributes to tumorigenic phenotypes remains unclear and is the subject of a study published in the January 2012 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-isg15-therapeutic-breast-cancer-cell.html Cancer Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:26:47 EST news245521503 A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-recipient-immune-stem-cell-regeneration.html Medical research Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:00:22 EST news241013089