Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have discovered how a protein long known to be an essential activator of DNA replication actually triggers this process in cells.
The protein, called DDK (for Ddf4-dependent protein kinase), is an enzyme that attaches phosphate molecules to other proteins to modify their activity. The CSHL team has found that [...]

Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by researchers with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

MIT and Boston University researchers have discovered that the drug hydroxyurea kills bacteria by inducing them to produce molecules toxic to themselves -a conclusion that raises the possibility of finding new antibiotics that use similar mechanisms.

Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen’s protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow.

A study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a key player in a molecular process essential for DNA replication within cells.
The new findings highlight a protein called FLASH, already shown to play a role in initiating apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Apoptosis is a normal biochemical response that occurs when [...]