Doing nature one better: Expanding the genetic code in living mammalian cells
...entional means. We had tried using conventional mutagenesis to introduce mutations into the potassium channel but it didnt give us any answers, says Paul A. Slesinger, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Peptide Biology Laboratory, who collaborated with Wang on the current study. Being able to incorporate bu...Engineered protein effective against Staphylococcus aureus toxin
...ein's ability to bind SEB. After several rounds of mutagenesis and screening, graduate student Rebecca A. Buonpane developed a soluble protein with an affinity for SEB that was over a million times that of the original. "Our approach was to take these receptors that bind to the toxins and to try to make them h...Researchers from the UGR use a bacterium to obtain biopreservatives from food
..."We designed a strategy to carry out site-directed mutagenesis on the as-48A gene, the one which generates enterocin AS-48", the researcher from Granada pointed out, "and we have studied the role of seven amino acids that could be involved in biological activity and in the hydrophobic nature and thermodynamic st...Structural basis for photoswitching in fluorescent proteins brought into focus
...d spontaneously. Using a combination of rational mutagenesis and directed evolution, UO doctoral student J. Nathan Henderson determined high-resolution crystal structures of both the on and off states of a fluorescent protein isolated from a sea anemone. In the stable or fluorescent state of the molecule, tw...Link between beef consumption during pregnancy and reduced sperm quality in sons
...a available to JECFA based on research focusing on mutagenesis conducted in the 1970 and early 1980s," he said. He called on the JECFA and other regulatory bodies to revisit the risks associated with exposure during foetal development to hormonal residues in beef. He concluded: "Given the importance of this is...Scientists uncover critical step in DNA mutation
...t to explore the elementary processes that lead to mutagenesis and eventually cancer," said Uzi Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science and Regents' professor and Callaway chair of physics at Georgia Tech. "Until now, the mechanism by which water reacts with the guanine of the ioniz...Novel method reveals how menthol discovery could point towards new or improved pain therapies
...s April edition (Vol. 9, No. 4). Utilizing a novel mutagenesis and high-throughput screening approach, the study ...at would have been difficult to obtain using other mutagenesis methods." Because the methodology can be used to screen for activation or inhibition, Bandell adde...High resolution 'snapshots' detail dynamics of a cocaine antibody
...ut, provides a foundation for the humanization and mutagenesis of the antibody to enhance its cocaine-hydrolyzing...eneration antibody catalysts by multiple rounds of mutagenesis and selection to produce improvements. In essence, this would allow scientists to dramatically accel...Glycoprotein hormone receptors
...membrane (TM) region. Combination of site-directed mutagenesis and molecular dynamics simulations applied to the thyrotropin receptor (TSHr) have allowed identification of the residue N7.49, belonging to the canonical NPxxY motif of TM 7, as a molecular control in the mechanism of TSHr activation. N7.49 appears ...Sleeping beauty plays a significant role in identifying cancer genes
...ry in solid tumours using transposon-based somatic mutagenesis in the mouse," Nature, Vol. 436, No. 7047. Dupuy A...Largaespada D., Copeland N., Jenkins N. "Mammalian mutagenesis using a highly mobile somatic Sleeping Beauty transposon system," Nature, Vol. 436, No. 7047....By creating molecular 'bridge,' scientists change function of a protein
... In total, Zhao and Chen did four rounds of random mutagenesis and screened about 1 million mutants before they found two estrogen receptor mutants that can be activated by corticosterone. The whole process was done in a couple of months. The authors conclude that their new method may provide "a general approach...Researchers improve design of genetic on-off switches
...In their paper, the Georgia scientists used random mutagenesis and chemical complementation to develop a yeast-ba...s is done mainly through stepwise, site-saturation mutagenesis and high throughput screening. The sites of human estrogen receptor chosen for saturation mutagenes...William C. Rose Award lecture will focus on cytochrome P450
...hat contribute to binding and catalysis, and using mutagenesis methods to develop gain of function. Dr. Guengerich is also studying the development of methods to define the substrates and products of orphan P450s in both bacteria and humans and will present some of his findings in this area. The William C. Rose ...New insight into regulation of blood stem cells
...y around this problem. The researchers used random mutagenesis and screening to find animals with hematopoiesis defects, and they used genetics to identify the causative gene. One line mapped to a mutation in the gene c-Myb, which has a known role in regulation of blood formation. Interestingly, they found that ...Scientists decipher genome of fungus that can cause life-threatening infections
...ene identification, fueled genome wide insertional mutagenesis approaches, and provided the foundation for the development and implementation of a genetic map for quantitative genetics and population analysis. In addition, the accuracy of the gene annotation makes it feasible to use Cryptococcus as a model to st...Immune system contributes to evolution of a new fluorescent protein
...with new properties. "The traditional approach to mutagenesis is to use a biochemical method to make changes in a gene in the test tube and then insert the gene into an organism to determine the properties of its protein," he said. "You then have to grow it up and pull the gene out in order to do any further mu......has only one NOS gene and is thus more amenable to mutagenesis and genetic analysis. After a large genetic screen, the researchers found several mutations that inactivate the Drosophila NOS gene. Their work provides the first conclusive evidence that NOS function is essential for the development of an organism....