Tag Archives: enzyme

Pesticides and Parkinson’s: UCLA Researchers Uncover Further Proof of a Link

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2013Environment, Healthaaron lulla, aldehyde dehydrogenase, aldh, aldh activity, arthur g fitzmaurice, benomyl, benomyl exposure, brain malformations, california, carcinogenesis, case, cellular event, central valley, common chemical, culprit, damage, degeneration of neurons, disease, dopal, dopaminergic neurons, drifting particles, environmental protection agency, enzyme, genetic variations, hoa a lam, jeff bronstein, link, lisa barnhill, liver tumors, maneb, mid brain, molecular tweezers, neurologist, neuron, neurotransmitter, nigel t maidment, paraquat, parkinson's, parkinsons symptoms, pesticide, progression of disease, protein, reproductive effect, rigidity, slowed movement, speech, spray, substantia nigra, therapeutic drugs, toxicological effect, toxin, tremor, ucla, ziram, α synuclein

Study suggests potential new target in fight against debilitating disease

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram — common chemicals sprayed in California’s Central Valley and elsewhere — have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

Now, UCLA researchers have discovered a link between Parkinson’s and another pesticide, benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger some 10 years after the chemical was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (more…)

Boosting Galactan Sugars Could Boost Biofuel Production

By Guest PostDecember 23, 2012Environmentai oikawa, april liwanag, arabidopsis thaliana, atmosphere, berit ebert, berkeley lab, bioenergy fuel crops, biofuels, carbon neutral, carsten rautengarten, cellulosic biomass, denmark, diesel, emilie rennie, enzyme, ethanol, ferment, fuels, galactan, galactan synthase, galactose, gals1, gals2, gals3, gasoline, gt92 enzyme, gt92 proteins, henrik scheller, jet fuels, mads clausen, mathias andersen, mechanical stress, miscanthus, overexpressors, pentoses, plant cell walls, polymer, six carbon sugar, snowfall, switchgrass, technical university, wind, yeast, yves verhertbruggen, β galactan synthase

Collaboration at JBEI Identifies the First Enzyme Linked to Galactan Synthesis

Galactan is a polymer of galactose, a six-carbon sugar that can be readily fermented by yeast into ethanol and is a target of interest for researchers in advanced biofuels produced from cellulosic biomass. Now an international collaboration led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has identified the first enzyme capable of substantially boosting the amount of galactan in plant cell walls.

Unlike ethanol, advanced biofuels synthesized from the sugars in plant cells walls could replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels on a gallon-for-gallon basis and be dropped into today’s engines and infrastructures with no modifications required. Also, adanced biofuels have the potential to be carbon-neutral, meaning they could be burned without adding excess carbon to the atmosphere. Among the key challenges to making advanced biofuels cost competitive is finding ways to maximize the amount of plant cell wall sugars that can be fermented into fuels. (more…)

University of Toronto Study Demonstrates Impact of Adversity on Early Life Development

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2012Sciencebehavioural geneticist, biology, british columbia, childhood adversity, chris reaume, cifar, dna sequence, drosophila melanogaster, ebbd, Environment, enzyme, evidence, evolutionary biology, food, for, foraging gene, fruit fly, gene, gene robinson, human development, illinois, interaction, james burns, kindergartener, larvae, marla sokolowski, molecular genetics, Nature, neuroscience, pkg, pnas, pre programmed, protein, reproductive fitness, rna, rovers, sitters, tom boyce, toronto, transgenic manipulation, university

Study part of growing body of knowledge surrounding gene-environment interplay

TORONTO, ON – It is time to put the nature versus nurture debate to rest and embrace growing evidence that it is the interaction between biology and environment in early life that influences human development, according to a series of studies recently published in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“Biologists used to think that our differences are pre-programmed in our genes, while psychologists argued that babies are born with a blank slate and their experience writes on it to shape them into the adults they become. Instead, the important question to be asking is, ‘How is our experience in early life getting embedded in our biology?’” says University of Toronto behavioural geneticist Marla Sokolowski. She is co-editor of the PNAS special edition titled “Biological Embedding of Early Social Adversity: From Fruit Flies to Kindergarteners” along with professors Tom Boyce (University of British Columbia) and Gene Robinson (University of Illinois). (more…)

The Best of Both Catalytic Worlds

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2012ScienceBerkeley, berkeley lab, biochemistry, biomolecule, california, cancer, catalysis program, catalyst, catalytic reactivity, chemical reaction, cholesterol medicine, complex reaction, cyclopropanation reaction, cyclopropane, dean toste, dendrimers, elad gross, enzyme, gabor somorjai, gold nanocluster, heterogeneous, homogeneous, industrial catalyst, metal catalysts, metal nanocluster, molecule, palladium, pamam, platinum, product selectivity, property, protein, recyclability, rhodium, substance, university

Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop New Technique for Heterogenizing Homogenous Nano Catalysts

Catalysts are substances that speed up the rates of chemical reactions without themselves being chemically changed. Industrial catalysts come in two main types – heterogeneous, in which the catalyst is in a different phase from the reactants; and homogeneous, in which catalyst and the reactants are in the same phase. Heterogeneous catalysts are valued for their sustainability because they can be recycled. Homogeneous catalysts are valued for their product selectivity as their properties can be easily tuned through relatively simple chemistry.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have combined the best properties of both types of industrial catalysts by encapsulating nanoclusters of a metallic heterogeneous catalyst within the branched arms of the molecules known as dendrimers. (more…)

Immune Systems of ‘Bubble Babies’ Restored by Gene Therapy, UCLA Researchers Find

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2012Healthada deficient, adenosine deaminase, bone marrow, bubble boy, chemotherapy, chronic diarrhea, denise carbonaro sarracino, disease, donald kohn, ear infections, enzyme, gene therapy, immune system, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, oral candidiasis, recurrent pneumonia, researcher, scid, stem cell, sterile environment, treatment, ucla, virus

UCLA stem cell researchers have found that a gene therapy regimen can safely restore immune systems to children with so-called “bubble boy” disease, a life-threatening condition that if left untreated can be fatal within one to two years.

In the 11-year study, researchers were able to test two therapy regimens for 10 children with ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which has come to be known as “bubble boy” disease because some of its victims have been forced to live in sterile environments. (more…)

Scientists Dramatically Reduce Plaque-Forming Substances in Mice with Alzheimer’s Disease

By Guest PostSeptember 8, 2012Sciencea beta peptides, ajaya kunwar, alzheimer's disease, amp kinase, ampk, amyloid beta, amyloid precursor protein, app, chemical reaction, chhavy tep, cognitive decline, compound, cycle, dong ju park, endoplasmic reticulum, enzyme, er, fat, genetic manipulation, glucose, jae cheon ryu, jnk3, metabolism, mice, mouse brain, mtor pathway, ohio state university, proteins, reduction, rna expression, sung ok yoon, symptom, tae hee lim, type 2 diabetes, yong jae shin

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have found that eliminating an enzyme from mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease leads to a 90 percent reduction in the compounds responsible for formation of the plaques linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

That is the most dramatic reduction in this compound reported to date in published research.

The compounds are amyloid beta, or A-beta peptides; peptides are proteins, but are shorter in length. When A-beta peptides accumulate in excessive amounts in the brain, they can form plaques, which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)

Newly Found Protein Helps Cells Build Tissues

By Guest PostApril 2, 2012Scienceantibody, bmps, bone morphogenic proteins, brown university, enzyme, fruit flies, gbb, gbb38, glass bottom boat, guillermo marques, kristi wharton, molecule, protein, signaling molecule, takuya akiyama, wing tissue

University biologists have found a new molecule in fruit flies that is key to the information exchange needed to build wings properly. They have also uncovered evidence that an analogous protein may exist in people and may be associated with problems such as cleft lip, or premature ovarian failure.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As they work together to form body parts, cells in developing organisms communicate like workers at a construction site. The discovery of a new signaling molecule in flies by Brown University biologists not only helps explain how cells send many long-haul messages, but also provides new clues for researchers who study how human development goes awry, for instance in cases of cleft lip and palate. (more…)

Tiny Reader Makes Fast, Cheap DNA Sequencing Feasible

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2012Scienceaddiction, adenine, andrew laszlo, cancer, cytosine, diabetes, dna molecule, dna sequencing, elizabeth manrao, enzyme, guanine, ian derrington, jens gundlach, kyle langford, matthew hopper, millisecond, molecular motor, mycobacterium, nanopore, nanoscale sensor, nathaniel gillgren, nucleotide, protein, thymine

Researchers have devised a nanoscale sensor to electronically read the sequence of a single DNA molecule, a technique that is fast and inexpensive and could make DNA sequencing widely available.

The technique could lead to affordable personalized medicine, potentially revealing predispositions for afflictions such as cancer, diabetes or addiction. (more…)