All articles tagged with #microproteins
Scientists at the Salk Institute have developed a new AI tool called ShortStop that identifies and predicts the biological relevance of microproteins hidden in the dark, noncoding regions of the human genome, leading to discoveries such as a microprotein associated with lung cancer, which could serve as a future therapeutic target.
Scientists have discovered over 4,200 previously unknown microproteins across various organisms, including viruses and humans, revealing a vast, hidden universe of proteins that could be crucial for understanding biology and developing new treatments. Advances in ribosome profiling and a new method for testing viral genomes have accelerated this discovery, opening possibilities for rapid vaccine development and targeted therapies.
A new study has shown that microproteins, previously deemed unimportant, play a key role in human cellular functions and evolutionary development. The research also unveiled the smallest human proteins known, with potential implications for diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer. The young proteins might also be heavily involved in evolutionary development thanks to comparatively rapid “innovations and adaptations.” The researchers aim to expand the experiments to include many more of the 7,000 recently cataloged microproteins – in the hope that this will reveal many as-yet-undiscovered functions.