Molecular structure suggests how a gene can "jump"
...sent a much clearer view of how the enzyme and DNA interact at the molecular level. Prior to transposition, one copy of Tn5 transposase binds to a specific region at one end of the transposon and a second copy binds to an identical region at the opposite end. Neither enzyme can cut DNA at the site to which it...Understanding how E. coli kills cells
...hort amino acid sequence is necessary for Bcl-2 to interact with other proteins. The researchers demonstrated that one particular verotoxin binds to Bcl-2 via this short motif and triggers the cell death program in an otherwise healthy cell. The massive self destruction of the reprogrammed cells leads to tiss...Molecular structure key to allergies and asthma is identified
...discovery lies in knowing how the "lock" and "key" interact with each other. Jardetzky and his colleagues determined that the IgE antibody binds in two places on the receptor, and that, because of its shape, the antibody may make a better target for drug therapies than the receptor. "The idea is to design m...Alcohol researchers suggest specific binding site for anesthetics and alcohols
...etter understand how alcohols and anesthetic drugs interact with certain brain proteins. The report also provides the strongest evidence to date that alcohols have specific protein binding sites. R. Adron Harris, Ph.D., Director, Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, Institute for Cellular an...Hair follicles provide the stem cells for the skin's entire epidermis
...enario, stem cells migrate to the bulb, where they interact with a region called the "dermal papilla," to promote hair growth. Hence, "hair grows down and then grows up," says Dr. Sun. Human skin is continually renewed throughout life, and 90% of the body is covered by hair. However, there are no hai...Simple and inexpensive, an artificial nose senses smell by seeing colors
...of many different dyes that change color when they interact with different chemicals. The resulting changes in the array provides a color fingerprint unique to each vapor." To create an array, the researchers paint a series of tiny dots each dot is a different dye on an inert backing such as paper, plast...The ultimate pocket protector--radiation detection made easy
...h gamma rays and neutrons-a challenge because they interact differently with the matter around them. Gamma ra...to detect the neutron particles because they don't interact with matter in the same way that the gamma energy does," says Aryaeinejad. He solved the problem...Small molecules used to block proteins in HIV
.... "Because protein surfaces are very large and can interact at various sites, trying to develop a molecule that can both pass through the cell's membrane and block the proteins isn't easy to accomplish," she says. "The molecules we developed are 50 times smaller than the dimeric enzyme they must block, so it'...Chemists report new approach to synthetic fragments of medically important Heparin
...disease. Many of the newly discovered proteins may interact with Heparin. "Carbohydrates have enormous potential to carry information, and that's one of the reasons why they are so important," said Boons. "By putting their principal building blocks in different orders, you can have a vast array of different ......tors, influencing the way the cells experience and interact with their environment. But until the Penn study, they had notestablished what, exactly, that influence might be. The Penn investigation was initiated by Lawrence F. Brass, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pharmacology at Penn. As a hematologist, B......fundamentally connected," notes Ehrlich, "and they interact in complex ways - something we must always keep in mind when we necessarily, but artificially, separate them for purposes of analysis and discussion." Ehrlich contends that the long-standing debate over "nature vs. nurture" is largely a false dichot......t how individual genes work and how multiple genes interact to cause complex diseases such as atherosclerosis and thrombosis. "Its estimated that humans and mice have up to 100,000 genes," Dr. Peters says, "but we know the function of fewer than 10% of them." The Jackson Laboratory program is designed to add...How streptococci go for the throat
...molecular mimics, deploying surface molecules that interact with host-borne proteins in much the same way that... in culture, strains that lack the capsule fail to interact with the host cell receptor CD44 and are avirulent when presented in vivo. The bacterial capsule c...Scientists Scientists detect mom's influence on obesity and diabetes
...d environmental factors, like sedentary lifestyle, interact to produce a predisposition for diabetes (diabesity), making it difficult to tease out individual suspects. In the current report, Leiter and colleagues perform an ingenious experiment to identify specific gene-environment interactions affecting dia...Biocomplexity study in Lake Ontario bays and lagoons
...nships that arise when living things at all levels interact with their environment. "All of us take for granted the predictable patterns in our world, but as scientists we are very poor at explaining how these patterns emerge from our many small and specific studies," says Cornell's Mark B. Bain, leader of ...Northwestern program aims at revealing genetic causes of spina bifida
...d more often in these families and how these genes interact with each other and the environment. They also are conducting experiments to identify genes that may increase risk for spina bifida. Jeffrey S. Nye, M.D., directs the program and is principal investigator on three National Institutes of Health-spon......genes are "reciprocally" imprinted - that is, they interact so that you activate only your father's copy of DLK1 and only your mother's copy of GTL2. The structure and arrangement of this two-gene cluster is astonishingly similar to a similar cluster on chromosome 11, IGF2/H19, lately prominent in scientific...Explaining the persistence of Hepatitis C
... has now screened for lymphocyte proteins that can interact specifically with the viral core protein. Here they show that gC1qR, a receptor for complement protein C1q, is one such binding partner for core protein, and they identify the domains required on each protein that allow for this interaction. C1q, t...UI researchers investigate regulation of immune system memory
...e infecting agent even though viruses and bacteria interact with the host animal in very different ways during an infection. "This is very basic research aimed at understanding how this very precisely orchestrated expansion and decline, and memory phase of the immune system is controlled," Harty said. "Under......to get a better handle on how a variety of animals interact across the food chain." Another workshop is planned for next year, when project members will finalize their proposals and seek additional funding....