Category Health/Medical

CRY1, cryptochrome circadian clock 1

New research describes a protein created by the body’s “biological clock” that actively represses inflammatory pathways within the affected limbs during the night. This protein, called CRYPTOCHROME, has proven anti-inflammatory effects in cultured cells and presents new opportunities for the development of drugs that may be used to treat inflammatory diseases and conditions, such as arthritis.

“By understanding how the biological clock regulates inflammation, we can begin to develop new treatments, which might exploit this knowledge,” said Julie Gibbs, Ph.D, University of Manchester, UK. “Furthermore, by adapting the time of day at which current drug therapies are administered, we may be able to make them more effective.”

To make this discovery, Gibbs a...

BMI1

Researchers found that inhibiting protein BMI1 was able to impair tumour growth in lung cancer. The study was led by Professor Daniel Tenen, Director of CSI Singapore et al. Lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world, accounting for 30% of tumour-related deaths. Like many solid tumours, lung cancer is very heterogeneous (consisting of cancer cells which behave and respond differently) and hence there is currently no single efficient drug which is able to treat all patients.

Prof Tenen has worked on the differentiation factor C/ EBPa for several decades, demonstrating that it is an important tumour suppressor, first in acute myelogenous leukemia, and subsequently, in studies in collaboration with Dr Levantini, in lung cancer...

Auriel Willette used data from brain scans and memory tests to track the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Photo by Blake Lanser

Iowa State University researchers have identified a protein essential for building memories that appears to predict the progression of memory loss and brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients. The findings also suggest there is a link between brain activity and the presence of the protein neuronal pentraxin-2, or NPTX2. The research, published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, found a correlation between higher levels of NPTX2 and better memory and more brain volume. Lower levels of the protein were associated with diminished memory and less volume.

“NPTX2 seems to exert a protective effect,” Swanson said...

A model for cooperative control of the p53 pathway by Mdm2 and Mdmx. In the absence of stress signals, the primary function of Mdm2 is to maintain p53 at low levels, whereas Mdmx contributes to the overall inhibition of p53 independently of Mdm2. Mdmx inhibits p53 transcriptional activity, whereas the contribution of Mdm2 to the regulation of p53 transcriptional activity per se is still unclear and a matter of debate

Proteins that bind DNA or RNA are usually put in different categories, but researchers at Umeå University in Sweden and Inserm in France recently showed how p53 protein has the capacity to bind both and how this controls gene expression on the levels of both transcription (RNA synthesis) and mRNA translation (protein synthesis).

The p53 tumour suppressor protein is best known...