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How a Shape-shifting DNA-repair Machine Fights Cancer

By Guest PostMarch 2, 2014Scienceals beamline, berkeley lab, broken dna, cancer, cancer cells, dna repair functions, dna repair machine, fight, fix, john tainer, mre11 rad50, mutation, protein complex, shape shifting, sybils, tanya paull, university of texas

Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source reveals inner-workings of essential protein found throughout life.

Maybe you’ve seen the movies or played with toy Transformers, those shape-shifting machines that morph in response to whatever challenge they face. It turns out that DNA-repair machines in your cells use a similar approach to fight cancer and other diseases, according to research led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

As reported in a pair of new studies, the scientists gained new insights into how a protein complex called Mre11-Rad50 reshapes itself to take on different DNA-repair tasks. (more…)

Bold Move Forward in Molecular Analyses

By Guest PostMay 21, 2013Scienceabsolute scale, berkeley lab, cell biology, concentration, control, data collection, dataset, john tainer, macromolecules, molecular analyses, molecular machines, nanoparticle, neutrons, protein, robert rambo, sans, sas, sas analysis, sas based statistic, saxs, small angle scattering, solution, structural state, volume of correlation

Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop New Metrics for X-ray and Neutron Analysis of Flexible Macromolecules

A dramatic leap forward in the ability of scientists to study the structural states of macromolecules such as proteins and nanoparticles in solution has been achieved by a pair of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The researchers have developed a new set of metrics for analyzing data acquired via small angle scattering (SAS) experiments with X-rays (SAXS) or neutrons (SANS). Among other advantages, this will reduce the time required to collect data by up to 20 times.

“SAS is the only technique that provides a complete snapshot of the thermodynamic state of macromolecules in a single image,” says Robert Rambo, a scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, who developed the new SAS metrics along with John Tainer of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division and the Scripps Research Institute. (more…)

Revealing the Secrets of Motility in Archaea

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2013Scienceabrahjyoti ghosh, adenosine triphosphate, archaea, assembling archaella, atomic resolution, atp, atp in solution, atpase, bacterial flagellum, bacterial type, berkeley lab, c terminal domain, crystallography, ctd, domain of life, dynamic play, e coli, energy, enzyme, established model systems, filamentary grappling hook, flab filament, flah eye, flai, flai genes, flai protein structure, gareth williams, generate energy, Germany, glue, human cells, human gut, hyper flagellated, hyper motile mutants, iv pilus, john tainer, max planck institute, microbiota, microorganisms, motility, motor, mpi, n terminal domain, ntd, phosphate, protein structure, release, saxs, secretion of proteins, sonja verena albers, sulfolobus acidocaldarius, terrestrial microbiology, xray diffraction

Scientists from Berkeley Lab and the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology analyze a unique microbial motor

The protein structure of the motor that propels archaea has been characterized for the first time by a team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Germany’s Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Terrestrial Microbiology.

The motility structure of this third domain of life has long been called a flagellum, a whip-like filament that, like the well-studied bacterial flagellum, rotates like a propeller. But although the archaeal structure has a similar function, it is so profoundly different in structure, genetics, and evolution that the researchers argue it deserves its own name: archaellum. (more…)

Tag Archives: john tainer

How a Shape-shifting DNA-repair Machine Fights Cancer

Bold Move Forward in Molecular Analyses

Revealing the Secrets of Motility in Archaea