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Researchers Find New Way to Create ‘Gradients’ for Understanding Molecular Interactions

By Guest PostAugust 16, 2013Sciencealbena ivanisevic, amino acid, biological systems, biomolecular gradients, cell receptors, gradients, human body, indium gallium nitride, indium rich end, ingan, l arginine, lauren bain, ligands, molecular behavior, molecules, new technique, north Carolina, oxide accumulation, peptides, ph level, proteins, salah bedair, semiconductor material, state university, substrate, tania paskova

Scientists use tools called gradients to understand how molecules interact in biological systems. Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating biomolecular gradients that is both simpler than existing techniques and that creates additional surface characteristics that allow scientists to monitor other aspects of molecular behavior.

A gradient is a material that has a specific molecule on its surface, with the concentration of the molecule sloping from a high concentration on one end to a low concentration at the other end. The gradient is used not only to determine whether other molecules interact with the molecules on the gradient, but to determine the threshold level at which any interactions take place. (more…)

How a Microbial Biorefinery Regulates Genes

By Guest PostMarch 1, 2013Sciencealternatives to petroleum, amino acid, aromatic compounds, biomass, biorefinery, breann brown, brown university, consumption of lignin, depolymerize, digesting lignin, DNA, dna binding activity, enzyme, gene expression, genes, high value chemicals, jason sello, jennifer davis, kind of protein, lignin, marr family, microbial biorefinery, microorganisms, pcav, pcav dna complex, phenomenon, plant biomass, protein crystallography, protocatechuate, rebecca page, streptomyces bacteria, technique, Technology, transcription factor, variety of biofuels

Digesting lignin, a highly stable polymer that accounts for up to a third of biomass, is a limiting step to producing a variety of biofuels. Researchers at Brown have figured out the microscopic chemical switch that allows Streptomyces bacteria to get to work, breaking lignin down into its constituent parts.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Microorganisms that can break down plant biomass into the precursors of biodiesel or other commodity chemicals might one day be used to produce alternatives to petroleum. But the potential of this “biorefinery” technology is limited by the fact that most microorganisms cannot break down lignin, a highly stable polymer that makes up as much as a third of plant biomass.

Streptomyces bacteria are among few microorganisms known to degrade and consume lignin. Now a group of researchers at Brown University has unlocked the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind a key part of that process. The results are published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. (more…)

Countering Brain Chemical Could Prevent Suicides

By Guest PostDecember 14, 2012Healthamino acid, anesthetic ketamine, anti glutamate drugs, anti inflammatory drugs, brain, causes of depression, chemical, glutamate, glutamate activity, glutamate signaling, grand rapids, immune response, inflammation, inhibit, lena brundin, mechanism of disease, michigan state university, nerve cells, neurotransmitter, preventing suicide, quinolinic acid, risk factor, serotonin, signals, spinal fluid, suicidal behavior

Researchers have found the first proof that a chemical in the brain called glutamate is linked to suicidal behavior, offering new hope for efforts to prevent people from taking their own lives.

Writing in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, Michigan State University’s Lena Brundin and an international team of co-investigators present the first evidence that glutamate is more active in the brains of people who attempt suicide. Glutamate is an amino acid that sends signals between nerve cells and has long been a suspect in the search for chemical causes of depression. (more…)

Form, Function and Folding: In Collaboration with Berkeley Lab, a Team of Scientists Move Toward Rational Design of Artificial Proteins

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2012Scienceamino acid, barney yoo, berkeley lab, bioinspired nanomaterial, blind structure, function, glenn butterfoss, ilya chorny, jonathan jaworski, ken dill, kent kirshenbaum, modeling, molecular foundry, n alkyl, natural selection, new york university, peptoid molecule, peptoid trimers, prediction, protein, protein sequence, qm, qm calculation, remd, richard bonneau, ronald zuckermann, stony brook university, structure, synthetic cousin, temple university, vincent voelz, xray crystallography

In the world of proteins, form defines function. Based on interactions between their constituent amino acids, proteins form specific conformations, folding and twisting into distinct, chemically directed shapes. The resulting structure dictates the proteins’ actions; thus accurate modeling of structure is vital to understanding functionality.

Peptoids, the synthetic cousins of proteins, follow similar design rules. Less vulnerable to chemical or metabolic breakdown than proteins, peptoids are promising for diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and as a platform to build bioinspired nanomaterials, as scientists can build and manipulate peptoids with great precision. But to design peptoids for a specific function, scientists need to first untangle the complex relationship between a peptoid’s composition and its function-defining folded structure. (more…)

Scientists Find Possible Cause of Movement Defects in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

By Guest PostApril 15, 2012Healthamino acid, childhood disorder, christine beattie, emily caldwell, function, gene, genetic link, genetic manipulation, le hao, levels of protein, marc wolman, michael granato, motor neuron, muscle weakness, nerve cell, plastin 3, protein, sma, smn, spinal cord, spinal muscular atrophy, zebrafish

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An abnormally low level of a protein in certain nerve cells is linked to movement problems that characterize the deadly childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research in animals suggests.

Spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, is caused when a child’s motor neurons – nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles – produce insufficient amounts of what is called survival motor neuron protein, or SMN. This causes motor neurons to die, leading to muscle weakness and the inability to move. (more…)

Curcumin Shows Promise in Attacking Parkinson’s Disease

By Guest PostApril 1, 2012Healthalpha synuclein protein, amino acid, basir ahmad, body temperature, clumping, curcumin, disease, folding, lisa lapidus, parkinson's, protein, spice, technique, turmeric

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Curcumin, a compound found in the spice turmeric, is proving effective at preventing clumping of a protein involved in Parkinson’s disease, says a Michigan State University researcher.

A team of researchers led by Basir Ahmad, an MSU postdoctoral researcher, demonstrated earlier this year that slow-wriggling alpha-synuclein proteins are the cause of clumping, or aggregation, which is the first step of diseases such as Parkinson’s. A new study led by Ahmad, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, shows that curcumin can help prevent clumping. (more…)

Salmonella Stays Deadly With a ‘Beta Version’ of Cell Behavior

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2011Scienceabdominal, alpha form, alpha forms of amino acids, amino acid, antibiotics, bacteria, benjamin wolfe, beta lysine, betty zou, cell, common pathogen, diarrhea, ef p, fever, genes, genetically encoded amino acids, hervé roy, michael ibba, ohio state university, poxa, protein synthesis, proteins, salmonella, salmonella infection, typical cell behavior, yjek

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Salmonella cells have hijacked the protein-building process to maintain their ability to cause illness, new research suggests.

Scientists say that these bacteria have modified what has long been considered typical cell behavior by using a beta form of an amino acid – as opposed to an alpha form – during the act of making proteins. (more…)

Scorpion Venom – Bad for Bugs, Good for Pesticides

By Guest PostMay 1, 2011Scienceamino acid, bugs, dong, fables, hapless turtles, insecticides, israeli desert scorpion, ke dong, michigan state university, nervous and muscular systems, neurobiologist, protect plants, protein, rapid electrical signaling, scorpion toxin, scorpion venom, scorpions, sodium channels, toxicologist, venom, voltage gated sodium channel

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fables have long cast scorpions as bad-natured killers of hapless turtles that naively agree to ferry them across rivers. Michigan State University scientists, however, see them in a different light.

Ke Dong, MSU insect toxicologist and neurobiologist, studied the effects of scorpion venom with the hopes of finding new ways to protect plants from bugs. The results, which are published in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, have revealed new ways in which the venom works. (more…)

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