Protein News and Research

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Proteins are complex molecules that are made up of amino acids. They can be found in every cell in the body, and carry out vital processes that keep human beings alive. Mutations in proteins can lead to a multitude of diseases, the most common being cancer.

Researchers Find Enzyme That Controls Fat Production, Offering New Drug Target

Obesity is a global epidemic and a major cause of morbidity and mortality because it increases the risk for comorbidities, including heart disease and fatty liver disease (MASLD). Rates of these disorders have risen as the world increasingly adopts energy-dense diets and sedentary lifestyles.

24 Dec 2025

Genetic Factor "Fru" Influences Bees' Cooperative Food-Seeking Behavior

A team of biologists from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), along with researchers from Bochum and Paris, has uncovered a genetic component underlying intricate social behaviors in bees.

24 Dec 2025

UT Southwestern Researchers Design Tau Protein to Combat Neurodegenerative Diseases

A designer version of the tau protein, developed by a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, maintains its biological function while resisting aggregation, a pathological trait linked to neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies. These findings, reported in Structure, could lead to new treatments for conditions including Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and progressive supranuclear palsy.

24 Dec 2025

Kinetic Traps Explain Differences in GPCR Drug Efficacy

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are proteins triggered by ligands (protein-binding chemicals) from outside cells to transmit signals inside the cell.

23 Dec 2025

Passive Adaptation Balances Protein Synthesis and Degradation in Cells

Every cell depends on proteins to function and stay healthy. These proteins are made inside the cell from amino acids but cannot simply accumulate inside the cell forever.

23 Dec 2025

Protein MCL1 Emerges as a Central Regulator of Cancer Metabolism

The researchers have succeeded in tracing two classic hallmarks of cancer – the evasion of apoptosis (a form of programmed cell death) and the dysregulation of energy metabolism – back to a common molecular mechanism.

23 Dec 2025

Study Identifies Protein Target to Overcome Drug Resistance in NSCLC

Lung cancer is the second-most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in the United States.

22 Dec 2025

Condensates Introduce a New Paradigm in Cellular Bioelectricity

Many biological processes are regulated by electricity-from nerve impulses to heartbeats to the movement of molecules in and out of cells.

19 Dec 2025

Elusive Kinase State Explains How Cells Achieve Efficient Signaling

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have characterized a hidden intermediate state at the center of Src kinase function. This hidden state allows the kinase to repeatedly modify its target, without needing to release

19 Dec 2025

Genetic Differences Can Undermine Antibody-Based Therapies

The genome differs from person to person in thousands of positions. In some cases, this means that proteins have a different building block in certain regions, rendering some antibody-based therapies ineffective, report researchers from the University of Basel, Switzerland.

18 Dec 2025

Kefir-Derived Bacteria Show Potential to Reverse Age-Related Immune Decline

The process of aging is associated with a decline in immune functions and persistent low-level inflammation.

18 Dec 2025

Long Non-Coding RNA Found to Directly Control Cell Size

What keeps our cells the right size? Scientists have long puzzled over this fundamental question, since cells that are too large or too small are linked to many diseases.

18 Dec 2025

A Molecular Tug-of-War Shapes Gene Regulation and Disease

A newly revealed molecular tug-of-war may have implications for better understanding how a multitude of diseases and disorders - including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and immune disorders - originate, as well as how to potentially treat them, according to researchers at Penn State.

18 Dec 2025

Essential Proteins May Have Evolved to Allow Misfolding Repair

Proteins need to fold into specific shapes to perform their functions in cells, but they occasionally misfold, which can prevent them from properly functioning and even lead to disease.

18 Dec 2025

Understanding the Collaborative Role of Metabolic Proteins

A protein that is crucial for the human body in managing energy and regulating appetite depends on a partner protein, as indicated by recent research, and these findings may assist researchers in gaining a deeper understanding of genetic obesity.

17 Dec 2025

SIGLEC12 Identified as Key Driver Of Necroptosis in Humans

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that causes human cell membranes to break open in a form of inflammatory programmed cell death called necroptosis.

12 Dec 2025

CRISPR Reveals Dark Genome Regions That Sense Cellular Mechanics

Researchers at Duke University used CRISPR technologies to discover previously unannotated stretches of DNA in the 'dark genome' that are responsible for controlling how cells sense and respond to the mechanical properties of their local environment.

12 Dec 2025

New Insights Into LARP6-RNA Binding Could Lead to Fibrosis Therapies

A research team at the Institute of Molecular Biophysics and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University has made a significant discovery regarding the interaction between a protein present in the human body and RNA, which may pave the way for innovative treatments for tissue scarring, commonly referred to as fibrosis.

12 Dec 2025

Mitochondrial Supercomplex Protein COX7RP Extends Lifespan and Healthspan

As life expectancy continues to climb globally, the focus of many people has moved from longevity alone to living in good health.

11 Dec 2025

Changes in the Activity of KCC2 Protein Influence Reward Learning

A new finding from researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center shows that the learning process of associating cues with rewards can be altered by increased or decreased activity of a specific protein in the brain.

11 Dec 2025