X-Message-Number: 25352
From: "The NanoAging Institute" <>
Subject: SURPRISE! CELLS HAVE SECOND SOURCE OF PHOSPHATE
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:56:29 -0500

For 50 years, thousands of labs around the world have studied cells' 
critical internal communications, and scientists had assumed the speakers 
were known. But now, in the Dec. 17 issue of Science, Johns Hopkins 
researchers report finding not just a new participant, but a brand new 
conversation that has implications for treating disease and understanding 
biology.

Much of cells' internal communication revolves around two very important 
words -- "stop" and "go" -- elicited when a small bit, called phosphate, is 
added onto proteins. This addition turns protein activities up or down and 
fine tunes cells' responses to what's happening outside their borders. This 
communication can go awry in diseases, including cancer, and be corrected by 
various drugs.

The source of these phosphate bits has been known -- a molecule called 
adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. But in their new report, the Johns Hopkins 
scientists describe a brand new source of phosphate that seems to work with 
as many proteins as targeted by ATP, but in a completely different way.

http://www.nanoaging.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=781 

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