Tag Archives: proteins

The Compound in the Mediterranean Diet that Makes Cancer Cells ‘Mortal’

By Guest PostJune 1, 2013Healthalper yilmaz, andrea doseff, apigenin, benefits of nutrients, cancer cell behavior, cancer cells, caps, chemotherapeutic drugs, compound, daniel arango, erich grotewold, flavonoids, hnrnpa2, kengo morohashi, mediterranean diet, mortal, mrna, nutraceuticals, ohio state university, plant-based foods, proteins, rna, single molecule, superpower, technique to fishing

Scientists Design ‘Fishing’ Technique to Show How Foods Improve Health

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells’ “superpower” to escape death.

By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer cells into normal cells that die as scheduled.

One way that cancer cells thrive is by inhibiting a process that would cause them to die on a regular cycle that is subject to strict programming. This study in cells, led by researchers at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that a compound in certain plant-based foods, called apigenin, could stop breast cancer cells from inhibiting their own death. (more…)

Cannibal Tadpoles Key to Understanding Digestive Evolution

By Guest PostMay 25, 2013Scienceafrican clawed frog, anne everly, budgetts frog, cannibal tadpoles, carlos infante, carnivorous, cris ledon rettig, digestive evolution, function, human birth defects, intestinal birth defects, james hanken, lepidobatrachus laevis, molecules, nanette nascone yoder, north Carolina, proteins, state university, tadpole, xenopus, xenopus embryos, xenopus laevis

A carnivorous, cannibalistic tadpole may play a role in understanding the evolution and development of digestive organs, according to research from North Carolina State University. These findings may also shed light on universal rules of organ development that could lead to better diagnosis and prevention of intestinal birth defects.

NC State developmental biologist Nanette Nascone-Yoder, graduate student Stephanie Bloom and postdoc Cris Ledon-Rettig looked at Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog) and Lepidobatrachus laevis (Budgett’s frog) tadpoles. These frog species differ in diet and last shared a common ancestor about 110 million years ago. Like most tadpoles, Xenopus exist primarily on a diet of algae, and their long, simple digestive tracts are not able to process insects or proteins until they become adult frogs. Budgett’s is an aggressive species of frog which is carnivorous – and cannibalistic – in the tadpole stage. (more…)

Scientists Reveal Quirky Feature of Lyme Disease Bacteria

By Guest PostApril 15, 2013Environmentantioxidant enzyme, bloodstream, borrelia burgdorferi, borrelia enzymes, cape cod, catalyze, christine vazquez, cobalt, defense mechanism, enzyme, frank gherardini, hillary clark, hormone, immune system, j daphne aguirre, james posey, jhu, johns hopkins university, liver produces hepcidin, lyme disease bacteria, mak saito, manganese, metal trafficking, metalloproteins, oceanographic institution, pathogen, pathogens of iron, proteins, shaina palmere, superoxide dismutase, university of georgia, university of texas, valeria culotta, vitamin supplements, whoi, woods hole, zinc

Unlike most organisms, they don’t need iron, but they crave manganese

Scientists have confirmed that the pathogen that causes Lyme Disease—unlike any other known organism—can exist without iron, a metal that all other life needs to make proteins and enzymes. Instead of iron, the bacteria substitute manganese to make an essential enzyme, thus eluding immune system defenses that protect the body by starving pathogens of iron.

To cause disease, Borrelia burgdorferi requires unusually high levels of manganese, scientists at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the University of Texas reported. Their study, published March 22, 2013, in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, may explain some mysteries about why Lyme Disease is slow-growing and hard to detect and treat. The findings also open the door to search for new therapies to thwart the bacterium by targeting manganese. (more…)

Misregulated genes may have big autism role

By Guest PostApril 1, 2013Healthautism, autism cerebral cortex, bank, biochemical exchanges, brain tissue, brains of children, brown university, christianson syndrome, daniel geschwind, endosomes of cells, epilepsy, eric morrow, genetic pathway, human behavior, irinia voineagu, karoly mirnics, key molecular player, krassimira garbett, los angeles, messenger rna, misregulated genes, mutations, nhe6, nhe9, proteins, raw data, statistical analysis, university of california, vanderbilt university

A genetic pathway involving proteins in the endosomes of cells appears to be misregulated in the brains of children with autism, according to a newly published statistical analysis in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Previously the genes were shown to cause rare forms of the disease but the new study suggests they have a wider role.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study finds that two genes individually associated with rare autism-related disorders are also jointly linked to more general forms of autism. The finding suggests a new genetic pathway to investigate in general autism research. (more…)

Bio for nano

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2013Scienceautomotive engineers, bio for nano, bio inspired ideas, biomolecules, darrin pochan, dirt simple, electronic devices, fabrication, functionality, inorganic nanoparticles, integration of theory, jeffrey saven, kristi kiick, non biological materials, peptides, photovoltaics, polypeptides, protein molecules, proteins, prototypes, solar cells, synthesize, thousands of molecules, university of pennsylvania

Engineers work to create new biomaterials with energy technology applications

When automotive engineers want to create a new car, they don’t build thousands of prototypes. Instead, they create computer models and run simulations for performance, efficiency and desirability before a model is selected for fabrication.

University of Delaware materials science professors Darrin Pochan and Kristi Kiick are taking a similar approach to building new nanomaterials from biomolecules — namely peptides and proteins — that could increase the efficiency of photovoltaics, also known as solar cells, and other electronic devices. (more…)

A Dual Look at Photosystem II Using the World’s Most Powerful X-Ray Laser

By Guest PostFebruary 27, 2013Sciencealgae, berkeley lab, carbon dioxide, catalytic activities, cryogenic temperatures, cyanobacteria, data, earth, energy, free electron laser, green plants, jan kern, junko yano, laser pulses, lcls, light source, linac coherent, living cells, manganese calcium, metal ion, metalloenzyme crystal, metalloenzymes, mn4ca, molecular oxygen, most powerful, natural photosynthesis, nicholas sauter, nitrogen fixation, oxidation states, photo reduction, photon step cycle, photon steps, photosystem, protein complex, proteins, radiation damage, roberto alonso mori, s1 to s4, sensitive to radiation, simulate solar photons, slac, software tools, sunlight, uwe bergmann, vital to life, vittal yachandra, water, water molecules, world, xes, xfel, xray beams, xray diffraction, xray emission spectroscopy, xray laser, xrd

Berkeley Lab and SLAC Researchers Demonstrate Room Temperature Simultaneous Diffraction/Spectroscopy of Metalloenzymes

From providing living cells with energy, to nitrogen fixation, to the splitting of water molecules, the catalytic activities of metalloenzymes – proteins that contain a metal ion – are vital to life on Earth. A better understanding of the chemistry behind these catalytic activities could pave the way for exciting new technologies, most prominently artificial photosynthesis systems that would provide clean, green and renewable energy. Now, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have taken a major step towards achieving this goal.

Using ultrafast, intensely bright pulses of X-rays from SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s most powerful X-ray laser, the researchers were able to simultaneously image at room temperature the atomic and electronic structures of photosystem II, a metalloenzyme critical to photosynthesis. (more…)

Tiny Capsule Effectively Kills Cancer Cells

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2013Healthbiliang hu, cancer cells, cancer treatment, cancerous cells, chapel hill, chemotherapy, functional form, gene therapies, genetic mutation, growth of tumors, healthy cells, human breast cancer, kills, laboratory mice, muxun zhao, nano today, non cancerous cells, north Carolina, nucleus, pin wang, polymer shells, protein complex, proteins, reversible polymer encapsulation, risk, self destruction, signals, strategy, tiny capsule, university, water soluble polymer, yi tang, zhen gu

Scientists create nanoscale vehicle to battle cancer without harming healthy cells

A tiny capsule invented at a UCLA lab could go a long way toward improving cancer treatment.
Devising a method for more precise and less invasive treatment of cancer tumors, a team led by researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed a degradable nanoscale shell to carry proteins to cancer cells and stunt the growth of tumors without damaging healthy cells.

In a new study, published online Feb. 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Nano Today, a group led by Yi Tang, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, reports developing tiny shells composed of a water-soluble polymer that safely deliver a protein complex to the nucleus of cancer cells to induce their death. The shells, which at about 100 nanometers are roughly half the size of the smallest bacterium, degrade harmlessly in non-cancerous cells. (more…)

A Boost for Analyzing Biological Sequences

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2013Scienceanalyzing sequence data, best parameters, biological molecules, biologists, computational biologists, computational model, dan deblasio, detect, DNA, evolutionary past, guessing game, improved software, john kececioglu, model, parameter advising, parameter values, parameters, phenomena, predict missing data, proteins, run alignment software, software tools, species, ua computer scientists, university of arizona

UA computer scientists John Kececioglu and Dan DeBlasio are developing improved software that provides biologists with much more accurate results when analyzing sequence data.

Imagine trying to construct a brick building with fewer than the requisite number of bricks and without a detailed blueprint.

Welcome to the world of computational biologists.

When biologists study proteins, DNA, or other biological molecules that are represented in the computer as sequences, they rely on known information but also must predict missing data. Given that reality, major challenges exist to having accurate results. (more…)