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Tag: "structural" at biology news

Oxidation defense in mosquitoes benefits malaria parasite

...he University of Piemonte Orientale focuses on the structural characterization of enzymes involved in tryptophan degradation in mosquitoes, which results in the synthesis of XA. "Deciphering the molecular architecture of each enzyme in this pathway will be used for the structure-based rational design of potent ...

Nanopore method could revolutionize genome sequencing

...rent perpendicular to the DNA strand to reduce the structural fluctuations of DNA while it moves through the pore, thus minimizing the noise. "If nature was very unkind, then the DNA would always fluctuate so much as it passes through the nanopore that measuring the current would not give us any information ab...

Amber reveals ecology of 30 million year old spiders

...ize. "Several lines of evidence show that greater structural complexity of Baltic compared to Dominican amber trees explains the presence of larger web-spinners. The Dominican trees are long, thin and smooth whereas the Baltic trees are wide and bushy, providing a much better environment for web-spinners to pr...

Enzyme crystal structure reveals 'unexpected' genome repair functions

...from transcription mode to NER," Tainer says. "The structural biochemistry of XPB that we discovered shows an unexpected molecular mechanism by which XPB plays a key role in determining exactly how TFIIH functions, whether in transcription or repair mode." ...

Evolution mystery: Spider venom and bacteria share same toxin

...t to offspring. Cordes and Binford found a common structural motif at the end of both toxic proteins that is no...ad previously been noted, but this uniquely shared structural bit is best explained by these toxins being more closely related to each other than they are to any ...

Report lists top 20 most-vulnerable African carnivores

...ive cancer drugs. Until now, the lack of detailed structural information about the enzyme has hindered progress... has been challenged by the fact that there was no structural basis for thinking about the problem," he said. "There was no picture in any detail of what any part...

Groovy protein essential for promoting cancer development

...ive cancer drugs. Until now, the lack of detailed structural information about the enzyme has hindered progress... has been challenged by the fact that there was no structural basis for thinking about the problem," he said. "There was no picture in any detail of what any part...

Scientists make first step towards 'holy grail' of crystallography

...m has become increasingly acute with the advent of structural genomics and proteomics which aim to determine the structures of thousands of proteins. Protein crystallography plays a major role in this understanding because proteins, being the major machinery of living things, are often targets for drugs. To d...

Creation of antibiotic in test tube holds promise for better antibiotics

... new research also showed that NisC has unexpected structural similarities with mammalian farnesyl transferases, which are important for the activity of the RAS protein which when mutated is implicated in 25 percent of breast cancers. Preventing farnesylation possibly could prevent the cancerous effects, becaus...

Unraveling the mysteries of poison

...f interactions had not been well investigated at a structural level ?even though scientists had made great strides studying ion channels, using x-ray crystallography. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, working together with researchers from the Institute for Neural...

The giant protein titin helps build muscles

...ology combines approaches from cell biophysics and structural biology, and it gives us a way to discover why some mutations in titin are linked to diseases," says Gautel. ...

High resolution 'snapshots' detail dynamics of a cocaine antibody

...ths that previously took billions of years. "The structural insights into antibody catalysis that we have show...diated reaction and provided a rare glimpse of the structural dynamics involved. With this information, it's possible to move onto the next step in the developmen...

How the octopus forms an elbow

...d map of external space. The presence of similar structural features and control strategies in articulated limbs (for example, jointed vertebrate arms) and flexible octopus arms suggests that these qualities have evolved convergently in octopuses and in vertebrates, and it also suggests that an articulated li...

NHGRI announces new sequencing targets

...iven the highest priority is a project to identify structural variations in the human genome, which will characterize the most common types of structural variation in human DNA. The effort will use 48 human DNA samples donated for the recently completed ...

Findings advance use of adult stem cells for replacement bone

..., the boney, calcified deposit that gives bone its structural strength. A comparison was then run on these pre-generated ECM constructs and on non-treated titanium scaffolds. The pre-treated surfaces encouraged calcification at a much faster rate. The researchers also found up to 75 times more calcium in the b...

Minor mutations in avian flu virus increase chances of human infection

...o the new host." "Our recombinant approach to the structural analysis of the Viet04 virus showed that when we inserted HA mutations that had already been shown to shift receptor preference in H3 HAs to the human respiratory tract, the mutations increased receptor preference of the Viet04 HA towards specific hu...

Wisconsin scientists find a way to make human collagen in the lab

...iquitous than collagen. It is the most important structural protein in the body, reinforcing connective tissue, bones and teeth, and forming long, fibrous cables to strengthen tendons. Collagen forms sheets of tissue that support the skin and every internal organ. There is nothing in the body, in fact, that d...

Protein 'nanosprings' most resilient found in nature

... repeats. "Ankyrins appear to have a very unusual structural design ?consisting of short anti-parallel alpha helices that self-assemble into stacks -- that allows them to quickly and robustly unfold and refold," Bennett said. "It's hard to believe, but it happens. You have to wonder whether their structure pla...

Aggression-related gene weakens brain's impulse control circuits

...his works at the level of brain circuitry. Using structural MRI in 97 subjects, they found that those with L showed reductions in gray matter (neurons and their connections) of about 8 percent in brain structures of a mood-regulating circuit (cingulate cortex, amygdala) among other areas. Volume of an area im...

'Nano-keys' bind cell receptors and trigger allergic reactions

...sponse. At present, very little is known about the structural changes caused by receptor clustering that allow cells to sense their outer environment and start cellular processes within the cell. The so-called nano-keys are surfaces of silicon with a layer of polymer or a thin lipid (fatty molecules that make ...

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