Cryo-EM helps engineer enhanced IL-10
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - March 18, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Scanlon, S. T. Tags: Biochemistry, Immunology twis Source Type: news
Processive RNA polymerization and promoter recognition in an RNA World
Early life is thought to have required the self-replication of RNA by RNA replicases. However, how such replicases evolved and subsequently enabled gene expression remains largely unexplored. We engineered and selected a holopolymerase ribozyme that uses a sigma factor–like specificity primer to first recognize an RNA promoter sequence and then, in a second step, rearrange to a processive elongation form. Using its own sequence, the polymerase can also program itself to polymerize from certain RNA promoters and not others. This selective promoter–based polymerization could allow an RNA replicase ribozyme to def...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 18, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Cojocaru, R., Unrau, P. J. Tags: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology r-articles Source Type: news
Structure-based decoupling of the pro- and anti-inflammatory functions of interleukin-10
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine with both anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory properties and is frequently dysregulated in disease. We used a structure-based approach to deconvolute IL-10 pleiotropy by determining the structure of the IL-10 receptor (IL-10R) complex by cryo–electron microscopy at a resolution of 3.5 angstroms. The hexameric structure shows how IL-10 and IL-10Rα form a composite surface to engage the shared signaling receptor IL-10Rβ, enabling the design of partial agonists. IL-10 variants with a range of IL-10Rβ binding strengths uncovered substantial differ...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 18, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Saxton, R. A., Tsutsumi, N., Su, L. L., Abhiraman, G. C., Mohan, K., Henneberg, L. T., Aduri, N. G., Gati, C., Garcia, K. C. Tags: Biochemistry, Immunology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
A processive RNA replicator
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - March 18, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Jiang, D. Tags: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology twis Source Type: news
Structure of the activated human minor spliceosome
The minor spliceosome mediates splicing of the rare but essential U12-type precursor messenger RNA. Here, we report the atomic features of the activated human minor spliceosome determined by cryo–electron microscopy at 2.9-angstrom resolution. The 5' splice site and branch point sequence of the U12-type intron are recognized by the U6atac and U12 small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), respectively. Five newly identified proteins stabilize the conformation of the catalytic center: The zinc finger protein SCNM1 functionally mimics the SF3a complex of the major spliceosome, the RBM48-ARMC7 complex binds the -monomethyl phosphate ...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 18, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Bai, R., Wan, R., Wang, L., Xu, K., Zhang, Q., Lei, J., Shi, Y. Tags: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Masonic Medical Research Institute develops new technology for studying brown fat
(Masonic Medical Research Institute) Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a special type of fat that helps maintain body temperature. Importantly, brown fat is a biological fuel linked to metabolic rate and fat storage. In a recent publication, Dr. Zhiqiang Lin, Assistant Professor at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) and senior author of the manuscript, successfully developed a new way to enrich isolation of brown fat cells for use in his biochemistry studies. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 15, 2021 Category: Biology Source Type: news
NJIT's Guvendiren develops 3D-printed biomaterials to create rejection-proof organs
(New Jersey Institute of Technology) To date, bioinks cannot fully mimic the dynamic properties of native tissue, like changes in stiffness and biochemistry. Guvendiren's bioinks are " cell-instructive " materials that train stem cells to differentiate into different cell types in the right sequence to create a functional tissue. Their casing functions as support for the cells that are " cured " into the desired structure with blue light, eventually degrading in the body as it is replaced by a naturally produced extracellular matrix. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 11, 2021 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Basic and applied concepts of biochemical compounds
(Bentham Science Publishers) This book will serve as a learning tool for students belonging to the field of biochemistry. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - March 10, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
The epic battle with cancer's 'Death Star'
Forty years after the mutant genes that cause the deadliest cancers were discovered, drugs that target them could be approvedIn the early 1980s, Channing Der was just beginning his career as a scientist at Harvard Medical School when he happened upon a discovery that would change the course of cancer research. At the time, the holy grail of cancer biology was discovering so-called oncogenes – genetic switches that can turn a normal cell into a cancer cell – in the genomes of tumours. But while teams of scientists had thrown everything at it for the best part of a decade, their efforts had proved fruitless. One by one, ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 7, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Cox Tags: Cancer research Medical research Science Health Society Biochemistry and molecular biology Source Type: news
Janssen Announces 96-week Results of Phase 3b Study Demonstrating the Continued Safety and Efficacy of Long-acting HIV Treatment of Rilpivirine and Cabotegravir
CORK, IRELAND, March 6, 2021 – The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson today presented positive long-term data from the global Phase 3b trial of the first complete, long-acting (LA), two-drug injectable regimen (consisting of Janssen’s rilpivirine and ViiV Healthcare’s cabotegravir) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in adults. The 96-week findings of the Antiretroviral Therapy as Long-Acting Suppression Every 2 Months (ATLAS-2M) trial confirmed the primary endpoint, met at Week 48, and met the secondary endpoint, showing efficacy of both monthly dosing an...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - March 6, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Our Company Source Type: news
Parallel molecular mechanisms for enzyme temperature adaptation
The mechanisms that underly the adaptation of enzyme activities and stabilities to temperature are fundamental to our understanding of molecular evolution and how enzymes work. Here, we investigate the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms of enzyme temperature adaption, combining deep mechanistic studies with comprehensive sequence analyses of thousands of enzymes. We show that temperature adaptation in ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) arises primarily from one residue change with limited, local epistasis, and we establish the underlying physical mechanisms. This residue change occurs in diverse KSI backgrounds, suggesting par...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 4, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Pinney, M. M., Mokhtari, D. A., Akiva, E., Yabukarski, F., Sanchez, D. M., Liang, R., Doukov, T., Martinez, T. J., Babbitt, P. C., Herschlag, D. Tags: Biochemistry, Evolution, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
A structure of human Scap bound to Insig-2 suggests how their interaction is regulated by sterols
The sterol regulatory element–binding protein (SREBP) pathway controls cellular homeostasis of sterols. The key players in this pathway, Scap and Insig-1 and -2, are membrane-embedded sterol sensors. The 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC)–dependent association of Scap and Insig acts as the master switch for the SREBP pathway. Here, we present cryo–electron microscopy analysis of the human Scap and Insig-2 complex in the presence of 25HC, with the transmembrane (TM) domains determined at an average resolution of 3.7 angstrom. The sterol-sensing domain in Scap and all six TMs in Insig-2 were resolved. A 25HC mole...
Source: ScienceNOW - March 4, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Yan, R., Cao, P., Song, W., Qian, H., Du, X., Coates, H. W., Zhao, X., Li, Y., Gao, S., Gong, X., Liu, X., Sui, J., Lei, J., Yang, H., Brown, A. J., Zhou, Q., Yan, C., Yan, N. Tags: Biochemistry, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Some like it hot, others not
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - March 4, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Funk, M. A. Tags: Biochemistry, Evolution twis Source Type: news
A cellular cholesterol sensor
(Source: ScienceNOW)
Source: ScienceNOW - March 4, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Vinson, V. Tags: Biochemistry twis Source Type: news
$1m grant funds research on potential new RX for prostate cancer
(Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center) The Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Branch of the Veterans Administration (VA) has awarded Hari Koul, PhD, Professor and Interim Chairman of the Department Biochemistry& Molecular Biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, $1,056,317 in research funding over four years to help find new treatments for prostate cancer. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - March 3, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
