http://www.physorg.com/chemistry-news/biochemistry/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on biochemistry (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 adjusted for personalized treatments, the researchers said. Their results are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news180033486.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:20:27 EST news180033486 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 protein, this new molecule, called xylomannan, has little or no protein. It is composed of a sugar and a fatty acid and may exist in new places within the cells of organisms. http://www.physorg.com/news180021715.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:02:30 EST news180021715 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 for understanding other molecules in the family, the research supplies a theoretical underpinning for the protein's possible use for combating diseases including cancer and macular degeneration. http://www.physorg.com/news179934545.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:20:03 EST news179934545 A gene commonly studied by cancer researchers has been linked to the metabolic inflammation that leads to diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news179776847.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:02:19 EST news179776847 Scientists have designed a synthetic protein that is both a structural model and a functional model of a native protein, nitric-oxide reductase. http://www.physorg.com/news179667132.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:34:48 EST news179667132 (PhysOrg.com) -- A single bacterium can act alone, performing the same kinds of actions that a group normally does. The behavior of that bacterium can be manipulated at the cellular level. That`s the intriguing finding by a group of researchers from UNM, the Dartmouth Medical School, the New Mexico Veterans Health Care System, and Sandia National Laboratories. The results are reported in the Nov. 22 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. A possible application is halting drug resistant bacteria found in hospital settings. http://www.physorg.com/news179520110.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:42:40 EST news179520110 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ground-breaking discoveries by Michigan State University researchers could help protect honeybees from deadly parasites that have devastated commercial colonies. http://www.physorg.com/news179515713.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:20:02 EST news179515713 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 death signals, preventing cell destruction and parasite elimination. Chagas' disease affects some 8 to 11 million people throughout Latin America and even the United States. http://www.physorg.com/news179502191.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:45:49 EST news179502191 (PhysOrg.com) -- MIT chemists have developed a new platinum compound that is as powerful as the commonly used anticancer drug cisplatin but better able to destroy tumor cells. http://www.physorg.com/news179426472.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:00:03 EST news179426472 In an encouraging new development, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has restored partial function to lung cells collected from patients with cystic fibrosis. While there is still much work to be done before the therapy can be tested in humans, the discovery opens the door to a new class of therapies for this and a host of other chronic diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news179328978.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:37:24 EST news179328978 Most scientists believe that staph infections are caused by many bacterial cells that signal each other to emit toxins. The signaling process is called quorum sensing because many bacteria must be present to start the process. http://www.physorg.com/news179070935.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:56:14 EST news179070935 (PhysOrg.com) -- An enzyme in our blood that enables our lungs to exhale carbon dioxide could be the key to isolating carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants in order to store them safely underground. A company called Carbozyme, based in New Jersey, is developing a synthetic version of the blood enzyme that could capture carbon dioxide using one-third less energy than other methods. http://www.physorg.com/news179068055.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:08:37 EST news179068055 Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein structures known as amyloids. Amyloids are the primary culprits in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases. Their study, published in the current issue of Nature Chemical Biology (December 2009), may ultimately contribute to future therapies for these diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news179060136.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:57:46 EST news179060136 Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such chronic health conditions as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. http://www.physorg.com/news178990755.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:42:56 EST news178990755 An important Brandeis study appearing in the December 3 issue of Nature raises the curtain on the hidden lives of proteins at the atomic level. The study reports that for the first time, researchers used x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to directly visualize protein structures essential for catalysis at the rare high-energy state. The study also showed how the motions of these rare, or hidden, structures collectively, directly contribute to enzyme catalysis. http://www.physorg.com/news178987418.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:30:01 EST news178987418 Before one of your muscles can twitch, before the thought telling it to flex can race down your nerve, a tiny floodgate of sorts -- called an ion channel -- must open in the surface of each cell in these organs to let in the chemical signals that spur the cell to action. New research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has allowed scientists to observe ion channels within the surface membrane for the first time, potentially offering insights for future drug development. http://www.physorg.com/news178979870.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:38:21 EST news178979870 (PhysOrg.com) -- Chemistry professor Harry Frank led an international group of researchers that identified the molecules in algae which direct the organisms to convert sunlight into oxygen. The findings may ultimately help in developing new solar energy conversion devices. http://www.physorg.com/news178964604.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:24:06 EST news178964604 (PhysOrg.com) -- A whole microcosm of various bizarrely shaped life forms opens up when you look at diatoms, the primary component of ocean plankton, under a microscope. The regularly structured silica shells of these tiny individual life forms have attracted scientists because they are particularly interesting examples of natural hybrid materials and also demonstrate unusual mechanistic and optical properties. The mechanisms of the underlying biomineralization process are not yet fully understood, but the silica shells often provide inspiration for the synthesis of man-made nanostructures. http://www.physorg.com/news178901054.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:51:39 EST news178901054 (PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria don`t have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days. http://www.physorg.com/news178816618.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:19:21 EST news178816618 (PhysOrg.com) -- Finding and treating a tumor without disturbing normal tissue presents challenges - sometimes the most effective therapies can be invasive and harsh. http://www.physorg.com/news178804691.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:58:49 EST news178804691 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research into Alzheimer's disease seems an unlikely approach to yield a better way to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs), but that's what scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and elsewhere recently reported. http://www.physorg.com/news178359416.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:20:01 EST news178359416 Scientists have crystallised a protein that may help gut bacteria bind to the gastrointestinal tract. The protein could be used by probiotic producers to identify strains that are likely to be of real benefit to people. http://www.physorg.com/news178285643.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:01 EST news178285643 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have built a machine that uses the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide waste from power plants into transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The system could provide an alternative to carbon sequestration; instead of permanently storing CO2 underground, the CO2 could be recycled and put to use. http://www.physorg.com/news178203219.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:06:36 EST news178203219 A key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water. http://www.physorg.com/news177945116.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:36 EST news177945116 (PhysOrg.com) -- Not too long ago, it seemed that ethanol production was the wave of the future. The use of trash, wood chips or different types of plants -- usually grass or corn -- to make ethanol was considered a way to help reduce reliance on foreign oil. However, investor interest in the process cooled, especially since it turned out that some materials were not terribly efficient when it came to producing ethanol. However, wood chips are once again being considered in the quest to create an industry based around cellulosic ethanol. http://www.physorg.com/news177942392.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:27:35 EST news177942392 (PhysOrg.com) -- We've all read studies about the health benefits of having a life partner. The same thing is true at the molecular level, where amino acids known as cysteines are much more vulnerable to damage when single than when paired up with other cysteines. http://www.physorg.com/news177873745.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:23:18 EST news177873745 (PhysOrg.com) -- Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of thwarting its infection-promoting activity. http://www.physorg.com/news177859237.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:21:15 EST news177859237 In an advance with overtones of Star Trek phasers and other sci-fi ray guns, scientists in Canada are reporting development of an internal on-off "switch" that paralyzes animals when exposed to a beam of ultraviolet light. The animals stay paralyzed even when the light is turned off. When exposed to ordinary light, the animals become unparalyzed and wake up. Their study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. It reports the first demonstration of such a light-activated switch in animals. http://www.physorg.com/news177772060.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:20:02 EST news177772060 Just as fly paper captures insects, an innovative new device with nano-sized features developed by researchers at UCLA is able to grab cancer cells in the blood that have broken off from a tumor. http://www.physorg.com/news177771822.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:04:21 EST news177771822 (PhysOrg.com) -- Human embryonic stem cells could help people with learning and memory deficits after radiation treatment for brain tumors, suggests a new UC Irvine study. http://www.physorg.com/news177681967.html Chemistry - Biochemistry Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:40:01 EST news177681967