A researcher at Iowa State University has discovered how a group of proteins from plant pathogenic bacteria interact with DNA in the plant cell, opening up the possibility for what the scientist calls a "cascade of advances." Adam Bogdanove, associate professor in plant pathology, was researching the molecular basis of bacterial diseases of rice when he and Matthew Moscou, a student in t...

While too much amyloid beta protein in the brain is linked to the development of Alzheimer`s disease, not enough of the protein in healthy brains can cause learning problems and forgetfulness, Saint Louis University scientists have found. The finding could lead to better medications to treat Alzheimer`s disease, said John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatrics at Saint Louis Universi...

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress. The researchers have found that the fungal protein TmpL is critical for the infection of host tissue and helps these pathogens regulate oxid...

Researchers report that a single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), once thought to be a static player among the many molecules that interact with DNA, actually moves back and forth along single-stranded DNA, gradually allowing other proteins to repair, recombine or replicate the strands. Their study, of SSB in the bacterium Escherichia coli, appears today in the journal Nature. Whenever the doub...

One of the many reasons to pick a low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish is that a host of epidemiological studies have suggested that such a diet may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer`s disease (AD). Now a study published in BioMed Central`s open access journal Molecular Neurodegeneration tests the effects of several diets, head-to-head, for their effect...

People with high levels of a protein called C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation in the blood, may be at higher risk for heart attack and death but not stroke, according to a study published in the October 20, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 2,240 people from the Northern Manhattan Study who were 40 ye...

Even as research on the ribosome, one of the cell`s most basic machines, is recognized with a Nobel Prize, scientists continue to achieve new insights on the way ribosomes work. Ribosomes are factories inside cells where messages coming from genes are decoded and new proteins pieced together on an assembly line. For the first time, scientists have a detailed picture of the ribosome trapped togethe...

Which comes first, depression or inflammation? To help solve this long standing chicken and egg conundrum, researchers led by Jesse Stewart, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis asked two critical questions. Does depression lead to elevated inflammatory proteins in the human body? Or does an increase in these proteins lead to depression? The...

A Purdue University researcher has discovered that the absence of certain proteins needed for proper cell duplication can lead to cancer. Xiaoqi Liu, an assistant professor of biochemistry, found that cytoplasmic linker protein-170, or CLIP-170, plays a major role in proper cell duplication and DNA distribution. When the protein is removed, cell duplicates lack entire copies of DNA and can become ...

Flies fed an "anti-Atkins" low protein diet live longer because their mitochondria function better. The research, done at the Buck Institute for Age Research, shows that the molecular mechanisms responsible for the lifespan extension in the flies have important implications for human aging and diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer. The findings, which appear in the October 2 edit...