LA JOLLA, CA January 8, 2013 - Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found an easier way to perform one of the most fundamental tasks in molecular biology. Their new method allows scientists to add a marker to certain cells, so that these cells may be easily located and/or selected out from a larger cell population.
The technique, which is described in a recent issue of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, makes use of the tight binding of two proteins that are cheaply obtainable but are not found in human or other mammalian cells. As such, it has advantages over existing cell-marking techniques.
"This new technique is cheap, easy and sensitive," said TSRI Institute Professor Richard A. Lerner, who is the senior author of the new report. "The method should be useful in a variety of applications that require separating out certain types of cells."
Looking for a Better Way
The best-known cell marker in use today is GFP (green fluorescent protein), a jellyfish protein that emits a distinctive green light when illuminated by certain other light wavelengths. When scientists want to add a new gene to cells, for example to produce a therapeutic protein, they often construct a genetic sequence that also includes the GFP gene. Thus the cells that successfully produce the new protein will also produce GFP, whose fluorescence allows these cells to be identified and even sorted out from a larger population.
But fluorescence-based cell sorting is relatively expensive and cumbersome. Alternative cell-marking techniques use marker molecules to which antibodies or metals will bind tightly, but these are apt to have unwanted side effects on the cells that they mark. Lerner's team, led by first author Yingjie Peng, a postdoctoral fellow, set out to invent a better method.
The new method exploits a special property of chitinase enzymes, which evolved to break down chi
'/>"/>
| Contact: Mika Ono mikaono@scripps.edu 858-784-2052 Scripps Research Institute Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. UC Berkeley chemists installing first carbon dioxide sensor network in Oakland
2. UMass Amherst biochemists developing tools to stop plague and other bacterial threats
3. Chemists advance clear conductive thin films
4. Chemists develop reversible method of tagging proteins
5. Inexpensive, abundant starch fibers could lead to ouchless bandages
6. New 3-D stem cell culture method published in JoVE
7. New methods for better purification of wastewater
8. More effective method of imaging proteins
9. New method for estimating parameters may boost biological models
10. New paper by Notre Dame researchers describes method for cleaning up nuclear waste
11. Scientists discover new method of proton transfer
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |