Enzymes in Biological News

Marine microbes creating green waves in industry

... based company Ingenza Ltd are searching for new enzymes for use as manufacturing tools in the ... techniques to identify potentially useful enzymes in microbes that are found in the sea. This ... team's search is for industrially relevant enzymes which will reduce waste and increase productivity ...

Scientists sequence genome of the N2-fixing, soil-living bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii

... from the atmosphere into ammonia via bacterial enzymes called nitrogenases. Nitrogen fixation is ... of proteins. For most bacteria, the nitrogenase enzymes involved in nitrogen fixation are very ... as the genes that code for other oxygen-sensitive enzymes such as carbon-monoxide dehydrogenase and a ...

Powe Award supports research on how enzymes enable the pathogenicity of 2 human disease organisms

... Faculty Enhancement Award for his research on enzymes that are essential for infection in two important ... M. tuberculosis and A. fumigatus requires special enzymes (hydroxylase) that are dependent on the cofactor ... adenine dinucleotide (FAD). The function of these enzymes is essential to form the hydroxamate potion of ...

MSU discoveries upend traditional thinking about how plants make certain compounds

... have identified two new genes and two new enzymes in tomato plants; those findings led them to ... pathway is wrong. In the tomato trichome, two enzymes work together to make the monoterpenes in a ... 1 (PHS1), cause the tomato plant to make the new enzymes that produce the monoterpenes. As the team was ...

Are you okay to kiss?

... to help the Gram-negative ones by producing enzymes that chop sugary bits off the proteins that make ... "OkayToKiss will turn blue if a person has enzymes in the mouth produced by the Gram-positive bacteria. The presence of these enzymes means that the mouth is busily producing bacteria ...

New study overturns orthodoxy on how macrophages kill bacteria

... bacterial defense against ROS. There are two such enzymes in the cytoplasm of S. typhimurium , called SodA ... These findings "offer genetic proof" that both enzymes "are involved in the same process," Slauch said. ... a mouse did not prove, however, that the missing enzymes were protecting the bacteria from ROS generated ...

Poison: It's what's for dinner

... genes" because they produce liver enzymes to detoxify the poisons in creosote and the ... diets. There are extra genes for starch-digesting enzymes in people with high-starch diets (potatoes, rice, ... "we could only look at one, two or three enzymes at a time. Much more work has been done on ...

Plant gene mapping may lead to better biofuel production

... of genes that instruct cells to make a variety of enzymes important in a wide range of plant functions," ... strong. "Our long-term interest is to find the enzymes that control the formation of cell-wall-bound ... may carry the genetic instructions for making the enzymes the scientists would like to control. "Our ...

CSHL-led team identifies key decision-point at which cells with broken DNA repair themselves or die

... foci, which allow the cell to summon repair enzymes to the site of broken DNA strands. The team's ... for the cell to send out signals for DNA-repair enzymes to come to the scene." The removal of ... from proteins is accomplished by a family of enzymes called phosphatases the focus of much research ...

Poison: It's what's for dinner

... genes" because they produce liver enzymes to detoxify the poisons in creosote and the ... diets. There are extra genes for starch-digesting enzymes in people with high-starch diets (potatoes, rice, ... "we could only look at one, two or three enzymes at a time. Much more work has been done on ...

Skin cancer study uncovers new tumor suppressor gene

... of a systematic genetic analysis of a group of enzymes implicated in skin cancer and many other types of ... treatment strategies where MMP and other key enzymes play a functional role in tumor growth and spread ... genetic changes within skin cells. MMP enzymes help the body to break down and recycle proteins, ...

New high-throughput screening technique makes probing puzzling proteins possible

... allowed the team to identify inhibitors for two enzymes thought to play significant roles in cancer progression. Most studies of enzymes rely on substrate assays, which allow researchers ... identify molecules that inhibit the activity of enzymes that play critical roles in diseases such as ...

DNA repair mechanisms relocate in response to stress

... Like doctors making house calls, some DNA repair enzymes can relocate to the part of the cell that needs ... image of yeast cells with fluorescent DNA repair enzymes for the cover. "DNA damage and oxidative ... and oxygen. Cells have an extensive set of repair enzymes that comb through DNA, continually excising and ...

New drug agent knocks out multiple enzymes in cancer pathway

... in the cell survival pathway. Inhibiting these enzymes appears to be a more effective strategy for ... to design a compound that would inhibit multiple enzymes in the tumor cell survival pathway, rather than ... crystallographic structures of the target enzymes and drug candidates, allowing the researchers to ...

Duke software dramatically speeds enzyme design

... "It really excites us that we can redesign enzymes on a computer, make them in the laboratory and ... But his group instead predicted mutations to enzymes from an antibiotic-making microbe, using K* to ... it's a great model system for studying how such enzymes work, because we know a lot about its 3-D shape," ...

'Green' plastics could help reduce carbon footprint

... scientists are able to introduce three bacterial enzymes into the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana . When combined with two enzymes from the plant, an organic polymer is produced. ... by bacteria in the soil. "Of the two plant enzymes that supply the chemical precursors for PHBV, one ...

Rot's unique wood degrading machinery to be harnessed for better biofuels production

... a little explored yet bountiful resource for enzymes that can play a central role in the ... us a detailed inventory of the biomass-degrading enzymes that this and other fungi possess." Rubin ... feedstocks is finding just the right mix of enzymes to get the most out of converting biomass into ...

In India: A search for more effective tuberculosis drugs

... they designed the molecule that targets multiple enzymes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the January ... of Nature Chemical Biology. "Targeting several enzymes at the same time is a much more efficient ... Gokhale and his colleagues found a new class of enzymes that are critical for an early phase of the ...

Scripps scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely

... have synthesized for the first time RNA enzymes that can replicate themselves without the help of ... evolution. The goal was to take one of the RNA enzymes already developed in the lab that could perform ... comprise the first enzyme. In this way the two enzymes assemble each other what is termed ...

HWI scientist first in world to unravel structure of key breast cancer target enzyme

... has determined the structures of all three of the enzymes involved in controlling estrogen levels that can ... dehydrogenase type 1 (1996). All three enzymes control the levels of estradiol in different ... Now that we know the structures of all three key enzymes implicated in estrogen-dependant breast cancers, ...

Newly found enzymes may play early role in cancer

... SALT LAKE CITYResearchers have discovered two enzymes that, when combined, could be involved in the earliest stages of cancer. Manipulating these enzymes genetically might lead to targeted therapies ... prevent or slow the onset of tumors." The enzymes appear to control an "onand-off switch" for ...

Modified plants may yield more biofuel

... of heat and caustic chemicals. Moreover, fungal enzymes that attack lignin are not yet widely available, ... but we can break open the lignin polymer by using enzymes that attack proteins rather than enzymes that attack lignin." ...

New bacteria discovered in raw milk

... which can grow at cold temperatures and secretes enzymes that have the potential to spoil milk." New ... of pasteurized milk to very low levels. Most enzymes will be denatured at the high temperatures used ... they will stop working. However, the heat-stable enzymes made by cold-tolerant bacteria will still affect ...

Growing fuel and medicine: Advancing biofuels and plant-produced therapeutics

... and their genes modified to generate enhanced enzymes for improved and cost-effective cellulolytic ... and L-gulono-1,4-lactone oxidase (GLOase), enzymes involved in the MI pathway to AsA. One of our ... our progress on the characterization of two novel enzymes involved in the MI pathway to AsA and well as our ...

Field-hospital-on-a-chip project awarded to nanoengineer from UC San Diego

... Katz and colleagues demonstrated recently that enzymes can not only measure biomarkers, but also provide ... system. Electrodes containing a combination of enzymes will serve as sensors and provide the logic ... injured soldier were to enter a state of shock, enzymes on the electrode would sense rising levels of the ...

Sirtris' review of sirtuin therapeutics for diseases of aging in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

... Drug Discovery . Sirtuins are a family of enzymes which target genes that control aging. There are a total of seven sirtuin enzymes that exist in mammals. SIRT1 is the founding member of this class of enzymes and is currently the most studied of the group. ...

Conaway Lab identifies novel mechanism for regulation of gene expression

... provides new insights into how deubiquitinating enzymes can be regulated the ability to regulate these enzymes is very important because promiscuous removal of ... regulate properly the activities or levels of key enzymes and proteins in cells." ...

Enzyme detectives uncover new reactions, products

... Shanklin, who has been working with modified enzymes for 15 years. "Usually you make changes very ... -- desaturation. This is unlike desaturase enzymes that reside within the cell membrane, which ... form of oxygen. "Since both classes of enzymes produce activated oxygen, in theory the soluble ...

Rattlesnake-type poisons used by superbug bacteria to beat our defenses

... bugs often secrete tissue-damaging poisons and enzymes to break down our cells, contributing to the way ... chemicals. However, the type of tissue-degrading enzymes and toxins made by the biofilm bacteria differ ... created by the biofilm bacteria, the proteins and enzymes may be targeted to develop drugs for a variety of ...

MSU technology that converts plant fibers to biofuel commercialized

... Michigan State University technology that uses enzymes from a microbe in a cow's stomach to create ... can be more efficiently turned into biofuel. enzymes that allow a cow to digest grasses and other ... has been a key challenge for biofuel producers. enzymes must be added to chopped plant material. This ...

Study points to potential new use for Viagra

... a fundamentally new approach to regulating what enzymes do in cells," says Dr. Maurice, a Career ... works should allow us to affect the activity of enzymes in one neighborhood and leave alone their ... she continues. We now know that not all the enzymes in the cell are doing the same job. Just like in ...

Biochemists manipulate fruit flavor enzymes

... coming when scientists will be able to fine tune enzymes responsible for flavors in fruits and vegetables. ... report that they were able to manipulate flavor enzymes found in a popular plant model, Arabidopsis ... by olives. By modifying the activity of enzymes that generate these substances, it may be ...

Novel fungus helps beetles to digest hard wood

... biology. "We suspect that the fungus produces enzymes that help the beetles degrade lignin." Before ... "It is likely that there is an interaction among enzymes produced by the fungus, hundreds of bacteria ... development of cheaper and more efficient enzymes for converting wood into ethanol. ...

Compound that helps rice grow reduces nerve, vascular damage from diabetes

... or ASG, helps normalize blood sugar and enzymes that are out-of-whack in diabetes. "The ... factor works is by increasing levels of good enzymes that are decreased in diabetes." Dr. Usuki is talking about enzymes such as ATPase, which help maintain nerve ...

A green solution to biofuel production

... of alternative fuels from plant material, enzymes which can break down this material into useable ... P2]. Traditional methods of generating enzymes for biofuel production currently operate at over ... of our projects focuses on producing cellulases, enzymes which can break down biomass, in maize seed. By ...

US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute announces new genome sequencing projects

... sugars by using commercially available enzymes developed for corn-based ethanol production," ... of different microbes, producing hundreds of enzymes with potentially useful industrial applications. ... lead to the identification of novel microbial enzymes that degrade plant cell walls. ...

Turning fungus into fuel

... was later identified as a source of industrial enzymes and a role model for the conversion of cellulose ... fibersinto simple sugars. The organism uses enzymes it creates to break down human-indigestible ... dedicated to the production of cellulose-eating enzymes than its counterparts. We were aware of T. ...

Lean and mean biomass-degrading fungus reveals capabilities for improved biofuel production

... opportunities for further improvements in enzymes customized for biofuels production. The results ... It is also the organism of choice for producing enzymes for the breakdown of cellulosic biomass to ... and to understand how it produces the required enzymes so prodigiously. Using this information, it may ...

UF scientists discover compound that could lead to new blood pressure drugs

... set out to discover a compound that enhances the enzymes activity. Researchers used one of the worlds ... see how they would bind to certain pockets on the enzymes surface. This project had a very small ... Ostrov said. If you consider the structure of an enzymes active site its easy to see that if you plug up ...

Nitric oxide regulates plants as well as people

... nitric oxide targets a number of proteins and enzymes in plants. In collaborative work with the ... has identified 19 such targeted proteins and enzymes in Kalanchoe pinnata, also known as "miracle leaf." These proteins and enzymes are involved in regulating processes from seed ...