Biochemistry news

Scientists Show How Bacteria Move Electrons Across a Membrane

Chemistry / Biochemistry

3 hours ago | 4.5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of East Anglia, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Pennsylvania State University have demonstrated for the first time the mechanism by which some bacteria ...

Team makes breakthrough demonstration of pH-regulating protein

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 22, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

Researchers have identified the protein mechanism that senses bicarbonate fluctuations and adjusts blood pH levels.

Understanding relationship of proteins, fatty acids could help treat diseases

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 22, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's widely understood that eating a diet high in saturated fats increases the risk for a long list of chronic and deadly diseases, including diabetes and coronary heart disease. Understanding ...

Within a cell, actin keeps things moving

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using new technology developed in his University of Oregon lab, chemist Andrew H. Marcus and his doctoral student Eric N. Senning have captured what they describe as well-orchestrated, actin-driven, ...

Researchers design a tool to induce controlled suicide in human cells

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

When cells accumulate excessive errors in the proteins they produce, apoptosis is activated, that is to say, a cell suicide programme; however, beforehand the cells attempt to rectify the problem through a number of rescue ...

Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines (w/ Video)

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 16, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University, Evanston, have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in ...

Discovery of new gene called Brd2 that regulates obesity and diabetes

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 15, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 0

The chance discovery of a genetic mutation that makes mice enormously fat but protects them from diabetes has given researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, USA, new insights into the cellular mechanisms that ...

Scientists isolate new antifreeze molecule in Alaska beetle

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 14, 2009 | 5 / 5 (14) | 4

Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain ...

New protein key for cell proliferation identified

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 14, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at McGill University have identified a protein that plays a key role in cell proliferation and is likely to promote cancer development. The work may lead to the development of new diagnostic tools ...

Prussian blue linked to the origin of life

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 14, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (6) | 1

A team of researchers from the Astrobiology Centre (INTA-CSIC) has shown that hydrogen cyanide, urea and other substances considered essential to the formation of the most basic biological molecules can be ...

Scientists crack mystery of protein's dual function

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 13, 2009 | 5 / 5 (5) | 0

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have solved a 10-year-old mystery of how a single protein from an ancient family of enzymes can have two completely distinct roles in the body. In addition to providing guidance ...

Study shows how gene action may lead to diabetes prevention, cure

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 11, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (7) | 2

A gene commonly studied by cancer researchers has been linked to the metabolic inflammation that leads to diabetes.

Researchers identify a scaffold regulating protein disposal

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 11, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

How does a cell manage to identify and degrade the diverse types of defective proteins and thus protect the body against serious diseases? The researchers Sabine C. Horn, Professor Thomas Sommer, Professor Udo Heinemann and ...

Synthetic protein mimics structure, function of metalloprotein in nature

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 10, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 1

Scientists have designed a synthetic protein that is both a structural model and a functional model of a native protein, nitric-oxide reductase.

Older dental fillings contain form of mercury unlikely to be toxic

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

A new study on the surface chemistry of silver-colored, mercury-based dental fillings suggests that the surface forms of mercury may be less toxic than previously thought. It appears online in ACS' journal ...

New clues emerge for understanding morphine addiction

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 09, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Scientists are adding additional brush strokes to the revolutionary new image now emerging for star-shaped cells called astrocytes in the brain and spinal cord. Their report, which suggests a key role for ...

New research may lead to new ways to control honeybee parasite

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 08, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (4) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ground-breaking discoveries by Michigan State University researchers could help protect honeybees from deadly parasites that have devastated commercial colonies.

Parasite evades death by promoting host cell survival

Chemistry / Biochemistry

Dec 08, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

Researchers have discovered how the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas' disease, prolongs its survival in infected cells. A protein on the parasite activates the enzyme Akt, which blocks cell ...