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News Archive Search
Gene required for nerve regeneration identified
A gene that is associated with regeneration of injured nerve cells has been identified by scientists at Penn State University and Duke University. The team, led by Melissa Rolls, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, has found that a mutation in a single gene can entirely shut down the process by which axons -- the parts of the nerve cell that are responsible
Neuroscience
Source: Penn State
Posted on: Friday, Nov 02, 2012, 11:45am
Rating: | Views: 2131 | Comments: 0
Structure discovered for promising tuberculosis drug target
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have figured out the three-dimensional shape of the protein responsible for creating unique bonds within the cell wall of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. The bonds make the bacteria resistant to currently available drug therapies, contributing to the alarming rise of these super-bacteria throughout the world.
Biochemistry
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Posted on: Friday, Oct 26, 2012, 1:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1363 | Comments: 0
Cholera discovery could improve antibiotic delivery
Three Simon Fraser University scientists are among six researchers who've made a discovery that could help improve antibiotic treatment of deadly bacteria. Lisa Craig, Christopher Ford and Subramaniapillai Kolappan, SFU researchers in molecular biology and biochemistry, have explained how Vibrio cholerae became a deadly pathogen thousands of years ago.
Agriculture
Source: Simon Fraser University
Posted on: Monday, Oct 22, 2012, 10:30am
Rating: | Views: 1251 | Comments: 0
Rutgers researchers unveil 3-D structure of 'molecular machine' that initiates DNA transcription
An team of Rutgers University scientists led by Richard H. Ebright and Eddy Arnold has determined the three-dimensional structure of the transcription initiation complex, the key intermediate in the process by which cells read out genetic information in DNA.
Biochemistry
Source: Rutgers University
Posted on: Friday, Oct 19, 2012, 2:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1542 | Comments: 0
Caltech modeling feat sheds light on protein channel's function
Chemists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have managed, for the first time, to simulate the biological function of a channel called the Sec translocon, which allows specific proteins to pass through membranes. The feat required bridging timescales from the realm of nanoseconds all the way up to full minutes, exceeding the scope of earlier simulation efforts by m
Biochemistry
Source: California Institute of Technology
Posted on: Friday, Oct 19, 2012, 12:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1153 | Comments: 0
Rethinking toxic proteins on the cellular level
Histones are proteins needed to assemble DNA molecules into chromosomes. They have long represented a classic balancing act in biology; too few histone molecules result in DNA damage, while too many histones are toxic to the cell. New research at the University of Rochester is causing a fundamental shift in the concept of histone balance and the mechanism behind it.
Biochemistry
Source: University of Rochester
Posted on: Friday, Oct 19, 2012, 11:00am
Rating: | Views: 1275 | Comments: 0
Physics explains how sickling cells make people sick
Researchers at Drexel University have identified the physical forces in red blood cells and blood vessels underlying the painful symptoms of sickle cell disease. Their experiment, the first to answer a scientific question about sickle cell disease using microfluidics engineering methods, may help future researchers better determine who is at greatest risk of harm from the disease. They report thei
Biochemistry
Source: Drexel University
Posted on: Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012, 1:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1187 | Comments: 0
Cell growth protein Ras forms a 'pair' on the cell membrane
Bochum biophysicists in collaboration with the MPI Dortmund have for the first time measured the orientation of the Ras protein bound to the cell membrane. The RUB team combined the use of three biophysical methods - infrared spectroscopy, computer simulations and fluorescence measurements - and came to the surprising conclusion that two Ras molecules form a pair to take an upright position on the
Biochemistry
Source: Ruhr-University Bochum
Posted on: Monday, Oct 15, 2012, 1:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1667 | Comments: 0
IspH -- a protein free to choose its partners
The iron-sulfur protein IspH plays a central role in the terpene metabolism of several pathogens. The mechanism of the reaction provides an approach for developing new antibiotics, particularly against malaria and tuberculosis. While researching this enzyme, biochemists at the Technische Universitat Munchen discovered a previously unknown reaction: IspH accepts two completely different classes of
Biochemistry
Source: Technische Universitaet Muenchen
Posted on: Wednesday, Oct 10, 2012, 12:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1340 | Comments: 0
A molecular scissor related to Alzheimer's disease
An international research team led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and researchers from Kiel University revealed the atomic‐level structure of the human peptidase enzyme meprin β (beta). The study was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Biochemistry
Source: Spanish National Research Council
Posted on: Friday, Oct 05, 2012, 1:00pm
Rating: | Views: 2328 | Comments: 0
Clot-busting enzymes are working 2 jobs
The body's blood clot-busting enzymes are much busier than previously imagined, with new research showing that they also dispose of every cell that dies prematurely from disease or trauma.
Biochemistry
Source: Monash University
Posted on: Friday, Oct 05, 2012, 12:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1288 | Comments: 0
Researchers uncover biochemical events needed to maintain erection
For two decades, scientists have known the biochemical factors that trigger penile erection, but not what's needed to maintain one. Now an article by Johns Hopkins researchers, scheduled to be published this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), uncovers the biochemical chain of events involved in that process. The information, they say, may lead to new
Biochemistry
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Posted on: Thursday, Sep 27, 2012, 8:45am
Rating: | Views: 2187 | Comments: 0
Lab encodes collagen
The human body is proficient at making collagen. And human laboratories are getting better at it all the time.
Biochemistry
Source: Rice University
Posted on: Wednesday, Sep 26, 2012, 1:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1557 | Comments: 0
New findings on protein misfolding
Misfolded proteins can cause various neurodegenerative diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) or Huntington's disease, which are characterized by a progressive loss of neurons in the brain. Researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, together with their colleagues of the Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France, have now identified 21 proteins
Biochemistry
Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Posted on: Wednesday, Sep 19, 2012, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1185 | Comments: 0
Scientists create first 3-D model of a protein critical to embryo development
The first detailed and complete picture of a protein complex that is tied to human birth defects as well as the progression of many forms of cancer has been obtained by an international team of researchers led by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Knowing the architecture of this protein, PRC2, for Polycomb Repressive Complex
Biochemistry
Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Posted on: Monday, Sep 17, 2012, 1:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1360 | Comments: 0
Chemists develop reversible method of tagging proteins
Chemists at UC San Diego have developed a method that for the first time provides scientists the ability to attach chemical probes onto proteins and subsequently remove them in a repeatable cycle.
Biochemistry
Source: University of California - San Diego
Posted on: Monday, Sep 17, 2012, 12:00pm
Rating: | Views: 1287 | Comments: 0
X-rays reveal the self-defence mechanisms of bacteria
Many pathogenic bacteria are able to go into a dormant state by producing persister cells that are not susceptible to conventional antibiotics. This causes serious problems in the treatment of life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis, where the presence of persister cells often leads to a resurgence of infection following medical treatment.
Biochemistry
Source: Aarhus University
Posted on: Monday, Sep 17, 2012, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1554 | Comments: 0
Charting the SH2 pool
New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Cell Communication and Signaling describes a large set of interactions (interactome) which maps the range of phosphotyrosine (pTyr)-dependent interactions with SH2 domains underlying insulin (Ins), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling pathways.
Biochemistry
Source: BioMed Central
Posted on: Saturday, Sep 15, 2012, 8:00am
Rating: | Views: 1258 | Comments: 0
Birth-defect mechanism found by biochemists
The cellular cause of birth defects like cleft palates, missing teeth and problems with fingers and toes has been a tricky puzzle for scientists.
Biochemistry
Source: Brigham Young University
Posted on: Thursday, Sep 13, 2012, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1164 | Comments: 0
Chain reaction in the human immune system trapped in crystals
The complement system is part of the innate immune system and is composed of about 40 different proteins that work together to defend the body against disease-causing microorganisms. The complement system perceives danger signals in the body by recognising characteristic molecular patterns presented by pathogenic microorganisms or some of our own sick or dying cells that must be eliminated.
Biochemistry
Source: Aarhus University
Posted on: Wednesday, Sep 12, 2012, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1286 | Comments: 0
Binding sites for LIN28 protein found in thousands of human genes
A study led by researchers at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Research program and funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) looks at an important RNA binding protein called LIN28, which is implicated in pluripotency and reprogramming as well as in cancer and other diseases. According to the researchers, their study – published in the September 6 online issue of Molecular
Biochemistry
Source: University of California - San Diego
Posted on: Wednesday, Sep 05, 2012, 10:30am
Rating: | Views: 1195 | Comments: 0
Science study shows 'promiscuous' enzymes still prevalent in metabolism
Open an undergraduate biochemistry textbook and you will learn that enzymes are highly efficient and specific in catalyzing chemical reactions in living organisms, and that they evolved to this state from their “sloppy” and “promiscuous” ancestors to allow cells to grow more efficiently.
Biochemistry
Source: University of California - San Diego
Posted on: Friday, Aug 31, 2012, 2:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1456 | Comments: 0
Researchers discover how cancer cells 'hijack' a mechanism to grow
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida have discovered a mechanism that explains how some cancer cells "hijack" a biological process to potentially activate cell growth and the survival of cancer gene expression.
Biochemistry
Source: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Posted on: Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012, 8:15am
Rating: | Views: 1289 | Comments: 0
New substances 15,000 times more effective in destroying chemical warfare agents
In an advance that could be used in masks to protect against nerve gas, scientists are reporting development of proteins that are up to 15,000 times more effective than their natural counterpart in destroying chemical warfare agents. Their report appears in ACS' journal Biochemistry.
Biochemistry
Source: American Chemical Society
Posted on: Friday, Aug 10, 2012, 10:30am
Rating: | Views: 1177 | Comments: 0
Catching the cap-snatcher
Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble, France, have determined the detailed 3-dimensional structure of part of the flu virus' RNA polymerase, an enzyme that is crucial for influenza virus replication. This important finding is published today in PLoS Pathogens. The research was done on the 2009 pandemic influenza strain but it will help scientists to de
Biochemistry
Source: European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Posted on: Friday, Aug 03, 2012, 2:45pm
Rating: | Views: 1295 | Comments: 0
Is it a rock, or is it Jell-O? Defining the architecture of rhomboid enzymes
Johns Hopkins scientists have decoded for the first time the "stability blueprint" of an enzyme that resides in a cell's membrane, mapping which parts of the enzyme are important for its shape and function. These studies, published in advance online on June 14 in Structure and on July 15 in Nature Chemical Biology, could eventually lead to the development of drugs to treat malaria an
Biochemistry
Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Posted on: Friday, Aug 03, 2012, 8:30am
Rating: | Views: 1269 | Comments: 0
The modeling of new enzymes helps develop therapies for cocaine abuse
Researchers from the University of Kentucky have designed and discovered a series of highly efficient enzymes that effectively metabolize cocaine. These high-activity cocaine-metabolizing enzymes could potentially prevent cocaine from producing physiological effects, and could aid in the treatment of drug dependency. The results of this study by Chang-Guo Zhan et al are published in the journal
Biochemistry
Source: Public Library of Science
Posted on: Friday, Jul 27, 2012, 2:30pm
Rating: | Views: 1461 | Comments: 0
Viruses' copying mechanism demystified, opening the door to new vaccine strategies
Certain kinds of viruses such as those that cause the common cold, SARS, hepatitis, and encephalitis, copy themselves using a unique mechanism, according to a team of Penn State University scientists that includes David Boehr, an assistant professor of chemistry and a co-leader of the research team. The discovery sheds light on a previously identified, but never-before-understood region of an enzy
Biochemistry
Source: Penn State
Posted on: Friday, Jul 20, 2012, 12:15pm
Rating: | Views: 1198 | Comments: 0
Like a transformer? Protein unfolds and refolds for new function
New research has shown that a protein does something that scientists once thought impossible: It unfolds itself and refolds into a completely new shape.
Biochemistry
Source: Ohio State University
Posted on: Friday, Jul 20, 2012, 11:15am
Rating: | Views: 1338 | Comments: 0
Crystals, Information And The Origin of Life
The combination of information theory and crystallography should lead to a better understanding of DNA molecules, cells and perhaps even complex living things like humans
Biochemistry
Source: Technology Review
Posted on: Friday, Jul 20, 2012, 7:51am
Rating: | Views: 1087 | Comments: 0
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