Proteomics Portal

In today’s day and age, technological advances have made data generation easy but processing, analysis and interpretation just as big a challenge.  A researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine has led the effort to compile to date the largest free resource of experimental information about human proteins. Reporting in the February issue […]

A genetic defect that causes a severe immune deficiency in humans may also produce balance disorders, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  The team studied the effect of elimination of the p22phox gene in mice models.  Disruption of this protein causes a […]

A new test that examines large sections of the sentinel lymph node- the first place breast cancer typically spreads- for genes that re expressed only by breast cancer could reduce the risk of recurrence and multiple surgeries.  The sentinel node, located in the armpit, filters lymphatic fluid from the breast.  The new assay is being […]

The gene presenilin (PS) in mammals provides the catalytic activity for an enzyme called gamma secretase, which cleaves, or cuts, important proteins Notch, Erb4 and the amyloid precursor protein (APP), all key components of communication channels that cells use to arbitrate functions during development. At the present time mutations in two mammalian genes are known […]

Data processing, validation, standardizations, and protein quantification are few of the brewing issues surrounding the field of human genome and proteomics.  There is a dire need for standardized analysis methods and a workflow focus.  Various types of software warehousing and analysis methods should help address the different issues in a flexible manner.  Creating a central […]

Scientists at have uncovered important new information about a key protein that allows viruses such as smallpox to replicate, wreak havoc on the immune system and work to subvert our immune system.  The research explores the interferon-gamma binding protein found in the mousepox virus – one of the family of viruses that also includes smallpox, […]

A new concept these days in experimental drug development is ‘Phase 0.’  Simply put it means a small trial in a limited number of subjects or patients who are highly controlled to get an assessment of the pharmacological activity for compounds.  The hope is to created innovative ways to establish proof-of –concept for new mechanisms […]

A single microRNA - tiny RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes, microRNA-223, in mice controls the production and activation of granulocytes, a type of white blood cells essential for host defense against invading pathogens.  This is the first microRNA shown to play an essential role in the innate immune response, the results published […]

Over a single decade, the incidence of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) increased from 1.8 to 2.5 per 100,000 patients, in large part due to a rise in the spread of hepatitis C virus.  A study appearing in the January 15, 2008 issue of Clinical Cancer Research demonstrates that a novel mass-spectrometry based form of proteomic […]

A newly published study in the February 2008 issue of the Lancet throws light on how investigators from University of Cambridge report finding a novel gene locus associated with levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood.   The two main types of cholesterols are, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) both of which carry cholesterol from […]

A team of researchers at Duke University in conjunction with the Center for  HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), a seven year project funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institute of Health has identified three new gene variants in the DNA of 486 people infected with HIV that appear […]

This dreadful Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is small in size. The genome of this virus is a partial double stranded circle. When made fully double stranded, this genome carries about 3000 base pairs, compared to 200 kilo base pairs of the genome of the smallpox virus. These 3000 base pairs encode an envelope protein, a […]

Cytotoxin-associated gene A protein (CagA) from type I H.pylori has been proved by epidemiological and experimental studies to be closely associated with the H.pylori induced gastric diseases, particularly gastric cancer. However, the precise role of CagA in cell function after H. pylori infection remains unclear and no study on exploring the global protein expression pattern […]

The first large-scale, high-resolution study of human genetic recombination has found remarkably high levels of individual variation in genetic recombination, the process by which parents pass on a mosaic-like mixture of their genes.  In an article appearing February 1, 2008, in Science Express about 25,000 recombination events were identified to have occurred in the transmission […]

In the cell’s nucleus, neighborhoods matter. According to a new study from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers corralling certain genes at the edge of the nucleus, developing immune cells can control a gene’s activity and keep it switched off.  The finding comes as the result of researchers’ efforts to understand how blood stem cells […]

It is estimated that about twenty percent Colorectal Cancer patients have a genetic component, and HNPCC is the most common autosomal dominant hereditary syndrome. A few Chinese HNPCC pedigrees were recently reported in the January 2008 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology because of their great significance for hereditary Colorectal Cancer. The article describes […]

The February issue of Nature Biotechnology talks about the newly developed “fluorogen activating proteins” (FAPs) that will become a key component of novel molecular biosensor technology being created at Carnegie Mellon.  The FAP is a specialized single chain antibody (scFv), a recombinant fragment of full-size antibody proteins that the human immune system uses to identify […]

Next year’s flu vaccine is getting a complete overhaul to provide protection against three new and different influenza strains for better protection than this year’s version.   Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously supported the change last week, echoing an earlier decision by the World Health Organization. It’s a highly unusual move: Seldom are […]

Literally meaning “above the genome,” the epigenome refers to differences in gene expression that are inherited without changing the sequence of DNA.  New research on environmental influences on health and disease has begun to shed light on why genetically identical individuals demonstrate different characteristics, such as susceptibility to disease.  Scientists have found that environmental exposure […]

In the recent times biotech and pharmas often screen libraries of small molecules to discover novel drugs.  Such libraries often tend to be enormous in size – some including more than one million compounds.  In fact, both the libraries and the molecules seem way too big or too complicated when it comes to the developmental […]

A novel technique that particularly “tags” tumors responding to chemotherapy may offer a new strategy for determining a cancer treatment’s effectiveness within days of starting treatment, this is according to a new study done at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and was published in Nature Medicine.   This new improved monitoring of tumor response could help customize patient […]

Today using tests based on histopathology or other devices most of tumors can be detected.  Armed with the latest generation of genomic and proteomic tools though, researchers are now on a quest to discover new and better biomarkers.  The recent surge of interest in biomarkers is being driven by the increasing pressure to shorten drug […]

Researchers at Tokyo Medical University used tissue microproteomics technologies to identified protein biomarkers associated with lung cancer metastasis, which were then further studied for correlation to clinical outcomes. The researchers used laser microdissection slides to analyze formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples by mass spectrometry. A novel combination of technologies has helped in proteomic discovery and […]

Even when HIV-infected patients have profound immunosuppression and extensive viral resistance, combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) still provides benefits over therapy interruption, according to a report in Clinical Infectious Diseases.  Dr. Kousignian and colleagues in the Clinical Epidemiology Group of the French Hospital Database on HIV compared the rate of clinical progression in patients with a […]

Scientists in Paris have solved the structure of the proteins that allow bacteria to gain resistance to multiple antibiotics.  The growing resistance to multiple bacteria –ranging from TB to MRSA – has sprung an enormous amount of attention in the healthcare community and the general public.  A team of scientists from the University Paris Descartes […]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing this notice in order to update an earlier correspondence and revise our previous advice regarding the safety of albumin administration in critically ill patients. This action is being taken following FDA’s review of recent studies on the safety of albumin, and is consistent with recommendations made on […]

Albumin is a simple molecule but takes part in various important biochemical and physiologic processes occurring daily in the human body.  It is one of the key components of the blood transport system and regulates the transport of fatty acid molecules, bilirubin, tryptophan, calcium, steroid hormones and other physiologic compounds. […]