jason sello – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Clever chemistry and a new class of antibiotics

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2014Health, Scienceacyldepsipeptides, adeps, antibacterial drug, antibiotics, attack bacteria, bacterial infection, barrel shaped protein, brown university, cell membrane, clever chemistry, clpp, dangerous bacteria, e faecalis, intramolecular hydrogen bonds, jason sello, karl schmitz, mice, MIT, molecules, new class, potent, rat, resistance to antibiotics, robert sauer, strong bonds, stronger hydrogen bonds

A new class of molecules called acyldepsipeptides — ADEPs — may provide a new way to attack bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics. Researchers at Brown and MIT have discovered a way to increase the potency of ADEPs by up to 1,200 times. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics grow, researchers are racing to find new kinds of drugs to replace ones that are no longer effective. One promising new class of molecules called acyldepsipeptides — ADEPs — kills bacteria in a way that no marketed antibacterial drug does — by altering the pathway through which cells rid themselves of harmful proteins. (more…)

Compound stymies polyomaviruses in lab

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2013Sciencebiologist walter atwood, bk polyomavirus, brown university, chembridge, chemical compound, compound stymies, cyclizing reaction, daniel carney, daniel dimaio, dhq, dihydroquinazolinone, drug, endoplasmic reticulum, er, hours of infection, immune systems, infection, intracellular protein, jason sello, lab cell cultures, pathogen infection, paul williard, people with hiv, polyomavirus, retro, ricin, sv40 polyomavirus, toxins, trafficking mechanisms, transportation hub, treat polyomaviruses, yale university

There is no approved medicine to treat polyomaviruses, which afflict people with weakened immune systems, but scientists have found that a chemical compound called Retro-2 is able to reduce significantly the infectivity and spread of the viruses in lab cell cultures. Now they are working to improve it.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A team of scientists reports that a small-molecule compound showed significant success in controlling the infectivity and spread of three polyomaviruses in human cell cultures. To date there has been no medicine approved to treat such viruses, which prey on transplant recipients, people with HIV, and others whose immune systems have been weakened. (more…)

A new strategy to stop the TB bacterium

By Guest PostSeptember 30, 2013Sciencebacterial cell, brown university, cellular enzyme, clpp, clpp enzyme, corey compton, garbage disposal, jason sello, karl schmitz, lactone 7, mycobacterium tuberculosis, new strategy, tb bacterium, traditional antibiotics, tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis may have an Achilles’ heel: It needs a particular enzyme to survive. Inhibiting that enzyme’s function, researchers have shown, will kill the bacteria, pointing toward a design strategy for new TB drugs.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — To stay ahead in the race against drug-resistant infections, scientists constantly search for and exploit vulnerabilities in deadly bacteria. Now, researchers from Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used a novel compound to exploit an Achilles’ heel in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. (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…)

Tag Archives: jason sello

Clever chemistry and a new class of antibiotics

Compound stymies polyomaviruses in lab

A new strategy to stop the TB bacterium

How a Microbial Biorefinery Regulates Genes