A powerful technique for tracking a protein's fleeting shape changes
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a powerful, new technique to generate "movies" of changing protein structures and speeds of up to 50 frames per second.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a powerful, new technique to generate "movies" of changing protein structures and speeds of up to 50 frames per second.
Molecular & Computational biology
2 hours ago
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2
The sea is the world's largest ecosystem, and it harbors two photosynthetic organisms that produce approximately half of the oxygen on Earth. The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic organism ...
Cell & Microbiology
4 hours ago
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39
From microbes in the human gut to symbiotic algae in coral reefs, research in recent decades has increasingly revealed the pivotal roles that microorganisms (or microbial species) play in shaping the biology of host organisms ...
Evolution
5 hours ago
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4
Understanding how proteins interact with each other is crucial for developing new treatments and understanding diseases. Thanks to computational advances, a team of researchers led by Assistant Professor of Chemistry Alberto ...
Biochemistry
Apr 16, 2024
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How mutations impact protein stability and structure dynamics is crucial for understanding the molecular mechanism of the disease and the targeted drug design. However, probing the molecular details of mutation-induced subtle ...
Biochemistry
Apr 16, 2024
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A recent UCLA study demonstrates a new process for screening T cells, part of the body's natural defenses, for characteristics vital to the success of cell-based treatments. The method filters T cells based on the receptor ...
Bio & Medicine
Apr 15, 2024
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46
A new study details how nutrient-starved cells divert protein transport stations to cellular recycling centers to be broken down, highlighting a novel approach cells use to deal with stressful conditions.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 12, 2024
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68
In cellular biology, unraveling the complexities of cellular function at the molecular level remains a paramount endeavor. Significant scientific focus has been placed on understanding the interactions at organelle contact ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 12, 2024
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An international team of researchers led by groups from the Max Planck Institute in Marburg and the Philipps University in Marburg has stumbled upon the first regular molecular fractal in nature. They discovered a microbial ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2024
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Imagine tuning into a football game, but all of the players are invisible except for the two quarterbacks. Without being able to see the orchestrated movements of the full teams, this would be a very confusing game to watch.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2024
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65
Proteins (also known as polypeptides) are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acids in a protein is defined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded in the genetic code. In general, the genetic code specifies 20 standard amino acids, however in certain organisms the genetic code can include selenocysteine — and in certain archaea — pyrrolysine. Shortly after or even during synthesis, the residues in a protein are often chemically modified by post-translational modification, which alter the physical and chemical properties, folding, stability, activity, and ultimately, the function of the proteins. Proteins can also work together to achieve a particular function, and they often associate to form stable complexes.
Like other biological macromolecules such as polysaccharides and nucleic acids, proteins are essential parts of organisms and participate in virtually every process within cells. Many proteins are enzymes that catalyze biochemical reactions and are vital to metabolism. Proteins also have structural or mechanical functions, such as actin and myosin in muscle and the proteins in the cytoskeleton, which form a system of scaffolding that maintains cell shape. Other proteins are important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, and the cell cycle. Proteins are also necessary in animals' diets, since animals cannot synthesize all the amino acids they need and must obtain essential amino acids from food. Through the process of digestion, animals break down ingested protein into free amino acids that are then used in metabolism.
Proteins were first described and named by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1838. However, the central role of proteins in living organisms was not fully appreciated until 1926, when James B. Sumner showed that the enzyme urease was a protein. The first protein to be sequenced was insulin, by Frederick Sanger, who won the Nobel Prize for this achievement in 1958. The first protein structures to be solved were hemoglobin and myoglobin, by Max Perutz and Sir John Cowdery Kendrew, respectively, in 1958. The three-dimensional structures of both proteins were first determined by x-ray diffraction analysis; Perutz and Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for these discoveries. Proteins may be purified from other cellular components using a variety of techniques such as ultracentrifugation, precipitation, electrophoresis, and chromatography; the advent of genetic engineering has made possible a number of methods to facilitate purification. Methods commonly used to study protein structure and function include immunohistochemistry, site-directed mutagenesis, and mass spectrometry.
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