Tag: Proteins

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Untangling a Trending Topic

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It’s not every day that we log into Facebook and Twitter to see conversations about denaturing proteins and the possibility of reducing biotechnology costs, but that changed last week when a story about “unboiling” eggs became a trending topic.

Since NIGMS partially funded the research advance Exit icon that led to the media scramble, we asked our scientific expert Jean Chin to tell us more about it.

What’s the advance?

Gregory Weiss of the University of California, Irvine, and his collaborators have designed a device that basically unties proteins that have been tangled together. Continue reading “Untangling a Trending Topic”

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New Research Sheds Light on Drug-Induced Salivary Issues

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Open human mouth
Scientists have discovered a possible mechanism behind the bad taste and dry mouth caused by some drugs. Credit: Stock image.

The effects some medicines have on our salivary glands can at times extend beyond the fleeting flavor we experience upon ingesting them. Sometimes drugs cause a prolonged bad taste or dryness in the mouth, both of which can discourage people from taking medicines they need. Now, a research team led by Joanne Wang of the University of Washington has discovered a possible mechanism behind this phenomenon. Working primarily with mice and using a commonly prescribed antidiabetic drug known to impair taste, the scientists identified a protein in salivary gland cells that takes up the drug from the bloodstream and secretes it in saliva. Wang and her colleagues were also able to pinpoint a specific gene that, when removed, hindered this process. They hope their new insights will aid efforts to develop medicines that do not cause salivary issues.

This work also was funded by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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Restoring the Function of an Immune Receptor Involved in Crohn’s Disease

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Gut bacteria
Receptor proteins bind to bacterial cell wall fragments, initiating an immune response to remove bad gut bacteria. Credit: S. Melanie Lee, Caltech; Zbigniew Mikulski and Klaus Ley, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.

Our bodies depend on a set of immune receptors to remove harmful bacteria and control the growth of helpful bacteria in our guts. Genetic changes that alter the function of the receptors can have an adverse effect and result in chronic inflammatory diseases like Crohn’s disease. Catherine Leimkuhler Grimes and Vishnu Mohanan of the University of Delaware researched a Crohn’s-associated immune receptor, NOD2, to figure out how it can lose the ability to respond properly to bacteria. In the process, they identified the involvement of a protective protein called HSP70. Increasing HSP70 levels in kidney, colon and white blood cells appeared to restore NOD2 function. This work represents a first step toward developing drugs to treat Crohn’s disease.

This work was funded in part by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant.

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Intercepting Amyloid-Forming Proteins

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Structure of a protein involved in disease-associated amyloid fibrils.
A molecule targets the intermediary structure of a protein involved in disease-associated amyloid fibrils. Credit: University of Washington.

Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes and many other illnesses are linked to the buildup of proteins whose structures have changed into shapes that enable the formation of cell-entangling threads called amyloid fibrils. About 10 years ago, researchers led by Valerie Daggett of the University of Washington used computer simulations to suggest that such proteins, on their way to creating fibrils, form an intermediary structure called an alpha sheet that’s even more toxic to cells than fibrils. Now Daggett’s team has experimentally investigated this possibility. The scientists made alpha sheet molecules expected to bind to amyloid-forming proteins in the computationally predicted intermediate state. When they tested the molecules on two amyloid disease-related proteins, they observed a substantial reduction in fibril formation. The work is still very preliminary, but it highlights a potential new avenue for treating a range of amyloid-related diseases.

This work also was funded by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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Monster Mash: Protein Folding Gone Wrong Article from Inside Life Science

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A Data Bank Built for Discovery

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Dynein, a motor protein. Credit: David S. Goodsell, The Scripps Research Institute and the RCSB PDB.
The PDB archive holds structural data for dynein, a motor protein, and more than 100,000 other molecules. Credit: David S. Goodsell, The Scripps Research Institute and the RCSB PDB. Click for larger image

Meet dynein, the August Molecule of the Month presented by the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB). This motor protein travels along the cables of our cellular skeleton, delivering cargo throughout the cell. The structure of dynein’s stalk enables it to bind to regular grooves along its path.

Dynein’s shape is just one of more than 100,000 structures that scientists have deposited in the PDB archive, a freely available digital repository. Because understanding a protein’s shape helps researchers better understand its function, the structural information in the PDB can lead to additional scientific advancements. For example, scientists use the structure of HIV protease, a protein that helps the virus replicate in the body, to develop drugs that fit snugly into the protein’s center, shutting it down. And they use the shape of RNA polymerase to learn how this protein fits together with smaller ones to read our genetic code.

The PDB has doubled in size over the last 6 years. As the collection continues to grow, so does our potential for drug discovery and our understanding of basic life processes.

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Molecule of the Month Archive from RCSB PDB

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How Heat-Loving Organisms Are Helping Advance Medicine

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Hot spring. Credit: Stock image.
Icelandic hot springs are the natural habitat of Rhodothermus marinus, one of many species of thermophiles that the Gennis Lab studies to better understand membrane proteins. Credit: Stock image.

As the temperature climbs, most humans look for ways to cool down fast. But for some species of microorganisms, a midsummer heat wave isn’t nearly hot enough. These heat lovers, known as thermophiles, thrive at temperatures of 113°F or more. They’re often found in hot springs, geysers and even home water heaters.

Like humans and other organisms, thermophiles rely on proteins to maintain normal cell function. While our protein molecules break down under intense heat, a thermophile’s proteins actually work more efficiently. They also tend to be more stable at room temperature than our own. An NIH-funded research team is taking advantage of this property of thermophiles to better understand a group of human proteins commonly targeted by today’s medicines.

Read more about the team’s thermophile research in this Inside Life Science article.

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A Drug-Making Enzyme in Motion

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Mutated enzyme, LovD9. Credit: Silvia Osuna and Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés, University of California, Los Angeles.
The movement of this mutated enzyme, LovD9, facilitates rapid production of the cholesterol reducing-drug simvastatin. Credit: Silvia Osuna and Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés, University of California, Los Angeles.

LovD9, a mutated version of an enzyme extracted from mold growing in soil, produces the cholesterol-reducing drug simvastatin 1,000 times faster than its natural predecessor. But scientists didn’t understand why because the enzyme’s mutations are far from the active site, where the drug is actually made. Now they do.

Yi Tang of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Codexis, generated LovD9 by repeatedly inducing random mutations, each time selecting the mutated versions of the enzyme with the most promise for industrial simvastatin production.

Then, the team collaborated with UCLA colleagues Kendall Houk and Todd Yeates to unlock the secret of the enzyme’s speed. Using ANTON, a special-purpose supercomputer at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, they simulated how different parts of the enzyme rotate and twist when synthesizing the drug. The scientists discovered that as LovD9 moves, it forms shapes that facilitate simvastatin production more often than the natural enzyme does.

With their better understanding of how mutations far from an active site may affect an enzyme’s motion, the researchers hope to one day directly engineer enzymes with precise mutations that enhance drug production.

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Houk Exit icon, Tang Exit icon and Yeates Exit icon Labs

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New Compound Improves Insulin Levels in Preliminary Studies

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compound
A new compound (chemical structure shown here) blocks the activity of an enzyme involved in glucose regulation.

The discovery of a compound that slows the natural degradation of insulin in mice opens up a new area of investigation in the search for drugs to treat diabetes. The research team, which included David Liu Exit icon and Alan Saghatelian Exit icon of Harvard University, Markus Seeliger of Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Wei-Jen Tang Exit icon of the University of Chicago focused on insulin-degrading enzyme, or IDE. Using a method called DNA-templated synthesis, the scientists made 14,000 small molecules and found one that bound to the enzyme, suggesting it might modulate the enzyme’s activity. Work in test tubes and in animal models confirmed this—and showed that blocking IDE activity improved insulin levels and glucose tolerance. The researchers also learned that the enzyme is misnamed: In addition to insulin, it degrades two other hormones involved in glucose regulation.

NIGMS’ Peter Preusch says, “This is a very interesting fusion of chemical methods and biology that has uncovered new basic science findings about insulin processing with potential clinical impact.”

This work also was funded by NIH’s National Cancer Institute and the Office of the Director.

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Chemistry of Health Booklet

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Revealing the Human Proteome

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An artistic interpretation of the human proteome. Credit: Corinne Sandone and Jennifer Fairman, Johns Hopkins University.
An artistic interpretation of the human proteome. Credit: Corinne Sandone and Jennifer Fairman, Johns Hopkins University.

Genes control the most basic functions of the cell, including what proteins to make and when. In 2003, the Human Genome Project created a draft map of our genes, and now researchers have completed a draft map of the human proteome—the set of all our proteins. The map, which includes proteins encoded by more than 17,000 genes as well as ones from regions of the genome previously thought to be non-coding, will help advance a broad range of research into human health and disease.

Read more about the proteome map in this NIH Research Matters article.

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Two Proteins That Regulate Energy Use Play Key Role in Stem Cell Development

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Stem cells. Credit: Julie Mathieu, University of Washington.
The protein HIF1 alpha is beneficial for creating induced pluripotent stem cells (green) from adult human cells. Credit: Julie Mathieu, University of Washington.

Hannele Ruohola-Baker and a team of researchers at the University of Washington recently discovered that two proteins responsible for regulating how cells break down glucose are also essential for stem cell development. The scientists showed that the proteins HIF1 alpha and HIF2 alpha are both required to reprogram adult human cells into pluripotent stem cells, which have the ability to mature into any cell type in the body. Taking a closer look at what each protein does on its own, the researchers found that HIF1 alpha was beneficial for reprogramming throughout the process, whereas HIF2 alpha was required at early stages but was detrimental at later stages of reprogramming. Because the two proteins also play a role in transforming normal cells into cancer cells, the findings could lead to future advances in cancer research.

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Once Upon a Stem Cell Article from Inside Life Science
Learning About Cancer by Studying Stem Cells Article from Inside Life Science
Sticky Stem Cells Article from Inside Life Science