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This work will most likely result in new medications! Source: Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...d=1097217813667 "Their discovery of the ubiquitin system caused a profound change in the scientific comprehension of how cells destroy unwanted proteins, starting with a chemical "kiss of death." Eliminating these proteins is a fundamental process that influences vital cellular functions, including the cell life cycle, possible malignant transformation, and responses to inflammation and immunity." * * * * Source: CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004...ain647658.shtml "Each human cell contains about 100,000 different proteins, busy bees that carry out jobs like speeding up chemical reactions and acting as signals. At least five Nobel prizes have been given for research into how cells control the creation of proteins, but the question of how they destroy proteins has received much less attention, the assembly said. The three scientists uncovered a process that starts when a doomed protein is grabbed by a particular molecule, marking it for destruction. Such marked proteins are then chopped to pieces. The process governs such key processes as cell division, DNA repair and quality control of newly produced proteins, as well as important parts of the body's immune defenses against disease, the academy said in its citation. Scientists are trying to use the process to create medicines, either to prevent the breakdown of proteins or make the cell destroy disease-causing ones. One example is the cancer drug Velcade, approved last year in the United States, which interferes with the cell's protein-chopping machine. Many other drugs that harness the protein-destroying process are in development, said Ciechanover, who is director of the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in Medical Sciences at the Technion, in Haifa, Israel. Hershko, originally from Hungary, is a professor there." Peggy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn