Man and mouse share genome structures
In the most detailed large-scale study to date of the proteins that package DNA, researchers have mapped a family of switches that turn genes on and off. Their findings may help scientists understand regulatory mechanisms underlying cancer and human development. The research team includes first author Bradley Bernstein, recipient of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) physician postd...The Shapes Of Life: NIGMS Project Yields More Than 1,000 Protein Structures
The Protein Structure Initiative (PSI), a national program aimed at determining the three-dimensional shapes of a wide range of proteins, has now determined more than 1,000 different structures. These structures will shed light on how proteins function in many life processes and could lead to targets for the development of new medicines. The PSI is a 10-year, approximately $600 million pr...SuperLigands - a database of ligand structures derived from the Protein Data Bank
Scientists have isolated the first human embryonic stem cell lines specifically tailored to match the nuclear DNA of patients, both males and females of various ages, suffering from disease or spinal cord injury. These ce...Structures of marine toxins provide insight into their effectiveness as cancer drugs
Vibrantly colored creatures from the depths of the South Pacific Ocean harbor toxins that potentially can act as powerful anti-cancer drugs, according to research findings from University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemists and their Italian colleagues. The research team has defined the structure of the toxins and provided a basic understanding that can be used to synthesize pharmaceuticals,...DNA self-assembly used to mass-produce patterned nanostructures
Duke University scientists have used the self-assembling properties of DNA to mass-produce nanometer-scale structures in the shape of a 4x4 grids, on which patterns of molecules can be specified. They said the achievement represents a step toward mass-producing electronic or optical circuits at a scale 10 times smaller than the smallest circuits now being manufactured. Instead of using si...Chemotherapy Affects The Structures Of The Human Brain – Says A Researc
According to a new study published in January 2007 issue of CANCER, chemotherapy is linked with short-term structural changes in the cognitive areas of the brain. In CANCER// (http://www.interscience .wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the researchers of the study have revealed that within 12 months of receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, significan...Decoding Protein Structures Helps Illuminate Cause of Diabetes
Any photographer can vouch for the difficulty of capturing a clear picture of a moving target . When it comes to molecules, however, sometimes the motion is exactly what scientists want to see - for example, to understand the pathological protein mis-folding and assembly that seem to underlie a host of human disorders, including diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Now, c...