Navigation Links
Scientists characterize protein essential to survival of malaria parasite
Date:1/6/2012

nematode, or microscopic roundworm, but many nematodes are parasitic and cause disease in plants, livestock and people.

During this project, Lavanya Palavalli, a summer intern working with Jez, crystallized the C. elegans version of the enzyme. The job of the enzyme, phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase, thankfully abbreviated to PMT, is to add methyl groups to a starting molecule, phosophoethanolamine.

"When Soon Goo Lee later took up the project," says Jez, "the plan was to try to grow better crystals of the C. elegans protein, ones good enough to get readable X-ray diffraction patterns.

Two years later, the crystals were looking better but still not good enough.

So Jez suggested that Lee go after homologous (look-alike) proteins in other organisms. "Even though the proteins are homologous, each has a different amino acid sequence and so will behave differently in the crystallizations," Jez says. "Lee went from working with two C. elegans proteins to three plant proteins, two other nematode proteins and then the Plasmodium protein," Jez says.

"He took all six of those PMT versions into the crystallization trials to maximize his odds," Jez says.

"To crystallize a protein," Jez says, "we put a solution of a salt or something else that might work as a desiccant in the bottom of a small well. And then we put a drop of our liquid protein on a microscope cover slip and flip it over the top of the well, so the drop of protein is hanging upside down in the well."

"What we're trying to do is to slowly withdraw water from the protein. It's exactly like making rock candy, only in that case, the string hanging into the jar of sugar solution helps to withdraw water," he says.

The difference is that sugar wants to form crystals and proteins are reluctant to do so.

"There are 24 wells to a tray, and we usually screen 500 wells per protein at first," Jez says. "Lee ha
'/>"/>

Contact: Diana Lutz
dlutz@wustl.edu
314-935-5272
Washington University in St. Louis
Source:Eurekalert  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Related biology news :

1. University scientists aiding fishermen in butterfish conundrum
2. Salk scientists map the frontiers of vision
3. UGA scientists hijack bacterial immune system
4. Scripps Research scientists discover a brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia
5. Sea snails help scientists explore a possible way to enhance memory
6. Penn scientists pioneer new method for watching proteins fold
7. UC Riverside scientists release natural enemy of Asian citrus psyllid
8. Purdue scientists reveal how bacteria build homes inside healthy cells
9. Scientists identify an innate function of vitamin E
10. Chinese scientists announce the first complete sequencing of Mongolian genome
11. Tool enables scientists to uncover patterns in vast data sets
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Scientists characterize protein essential to survival of malaria parasite
(Date:6/18/2013)... Arlington environmental engineer has been awarded a $394,300 ... ensure water quality and flow in the new ... Andrew Kruzic, UT Arlington associate professor of civil ... to add monochloramine to the water in an ... pump stations and pipelines. Adding monochloramine is widely ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... The National Institutes of Health has awarded $12.7 ... a selection of pharmaceutical industry compounds to explore ... including Alzheimer,s disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and schizophrenia. ... Uses for Existing Molecules, is led by the ... funded by the NIH Common Fund. , The ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... 10% of breast and ovarian cancers are familial in ... attributable to inherited mutations from the parents in genes ... mutations, PARP inhibitors, which are currently in clinical trials, ... option for personalised cancer treatment, an alternative to standard ... of these patients generate resistance to the drug and, ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):UT Arlington research to benefit quality, flow in 150-mile Integrated Pipeline 2NIH to fund collaborations with industry to identify new uses for existing compounds 2NIH to fund collaborations with industry to identify new uses for existing compounds 3NIH to fund collaborations with industry to identify new uses for existing compounds 4An article in 'Cell' reveals a new resistance mechanism to chemotherapy in breast and ovarian cancer 2
... The University of Miami,s Rosenstiel School of Marine and ... E.M. Rickaby, Ph.D., as recipient of the 2009 Rosenstiel ... Fellow of Wolfson College, Rickaby works in the Department ... current research on the interaction between marine phytoplankton and ...
... of years, green plants have employed photosynthesis to capture ... A goal of scientists has been to develop an ... produce liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. Researchers ... Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have now taken a critical step ...
... the sea, and are responsible for providing nearly half of ... However, unlike their counterparts on land, the marine plants ... human sight. Consequently, we are still in a very ... phytoplankton biology and ecology. In a new paper published ...
Cached Biology News:Oxford's Dr. Rosalind Rickaby receives 2009 Rosenstiel Award 2Oxford's Dr. Rosalind Rickaby receives 2009 Rosenstiel Award 3Turning sunlight into liquid fuels 2Turning sunlight into liquid fuels 3A new view of oceanic phytoplankton 2A new view of oceanic phytoplankton 3
(Date:6/19/2013)... (PRWEB) June 19, 2013 India’s ... business can potentially be worth up to a ... opportunity, the Indian government is taking serious action ... the process. , This presentation will examine:, ... regulations ,     Immediate and long term impacts ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... Applied Rigaku Technologies, Inc. is pleased to publish ... sulfur in ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) using the new ... . The analysis detailed in Rigaku Application Note 1272 ... International Standard specifies an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) ... automotive gasoline. , Regulations around the world have limited ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... A new look at “big glass” and visionary ... highlight technical sessions at SPIE Photomask Technology 2013 ... year, the three-day event is the industry’s largest mask ... 100 technical presentations and numerous networking lunches and receptions. ... and photonics , the meeting will be held at ...
(Date:6/19/2013)... Express Diagnostics Int’l, Inc., manufacturer of ... it has received Class III medical device license approval ... DrugCheck® NxStep Onsite Drug Screen Cup in Canada. ... device in near-patient settings, such as physicians’ offices. , ... Canada Class III approval for 24 different drugs and ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Rigaku Publishes New Application Note for Analysis of ULSD Per ISO 13032 2‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 2‘Big Glass’ and Visions for the Future are on the Program for SPIE Photomask Technology 3Express Diagnostics’ DrugCheck® On-site Test Cup Receives Health Canada Class III Medical Device Approval 2Express Diagnostics’ DrugCheck® On-site Test Cup Receives Health Canada Class III Medical Device Approval 3
... -- Huifeng Bio-,Pharmaceutical Technology, Inc (OTC Bulletin Board: ... and pharmaceutical raw materials,for use in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical ... financial results second quarter 2008 which,ended June 30 ... markets close., Huifeng,s earnings release and related ...
... 4 Neurobiological,Technologies, Inc. (NTI(R)) (Nasdaq: ... quarterly royalty payment of approximately $2.1 million ... Memantine for the treatment of,moderate-to-severe Alzheimer,s disease. ... quarterly royalty payments on certain,sales of Memantine ...
... announced partnership, Grid Dynamics and GridGain teamed up to develop the ... ... San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) August 4, 2008 -- Following ... up to develop the largest publicly known grid scalability test for ...
Cached Biology Technology:Grid Dynamics Demonstrates Linear Scalability up to 512 Nodes with GridGain Software on Amazon EC2 Cloud 2Grid Dynamics Demonstrates Linear Scalability up to 512 Nodes with GridGain Software on Amazon EC2 Cloud 3
Rad51, N-terminal...
Rabbit polyclonal to WWOX8 ( Abpromise for all tested applications). entrezGeneID: 51741 SwissProtID: Q9NZC7-8...
Goat polyclonal to T7 tag (Agarose) Immunogen: Goats were immunized with MASMTGGQQMG (T7) conjugated to KLH.After multiple immunizations in Freund's adjuvant, serum was collected....
Rabbit polyclonal to Olfactory Receptor LS189744 ( Abpromise for all tested applications)....
Biology Products: