Protein production has evolved from an artisan activity to more efficient, specialized processes, with new tools helping out along the way. Imagine the possibilities for scientific discovery if progress were not hindered by the availability of any particular protein reagent. Think of the advantages a researcher would have with the immediate access to any protein…
Chemoprevention Gene Therapy Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have published findings that implicate a new chemoprevention gene therapy (CGT) for preventing and treating pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal and treatment-resistant forms of cancer. In the July issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, the researchers showed that…
Come Together
As mapping protein interactions fast becomes the art and science of cutting-edge proteomics, new molecular tools emerge to aid the biological cartography. click to enlarge The protein interaction network of Syphilis bacteria (Treponema pallidum). T. pallidum is only one of two species for which (binary) interaction networks are available, the other one being Campylobacter…
Micro RNA Implicated as Molecular Factor in Alcohol Tolerance
In recent years, a class of small molecules known as microRNAs have been found to play an important role in regulating gene products in most animal and plant species. A new study now indicates that microRNA may influence the development of alcohol tolerance, a hallmark of alcohol abuse and dependence. Researchers supported by the National…
Research on Pre-Eclampsia in Mice May Have Human Implications
In a new March of Dimes-funded study of pre-eclampsia, a serious and potentially deadly disorder that affects about 5 percent of pregnancies, researchers have found results in mice that may have important implications for diagnosis and treatment in humans. Yang Xia, MD, PhD, and Rodney E. Kellems, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and…
The Race to the $1000 Genome: Sprinting Toward the Finish Line
Industry Insider The question of when it will be possible to sequence a human genome is being replaced by concerns whether the average consumer will choose to have his or her genome sequenced. Patrice M. Milos, PhD, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Helicos BioSciences Corporation The scientific community has moved beyond the question…
Automated Microarray Processing
The latest product in febit’s Geniom family, the Geniom RT Analyzer enables the fully-automated processing of microarrays on the company’s Geniom biochips. The compact all-in-one device, which employs microfluidics, provides users with high sample throughput, excellent reproducibility, high sensitivity, and a variety of applications. In addition, the product’s freely-programmable and precise temperature control optimizes hybridizations…
Targeted Genome Resequencing
Roche NimbleGen, a company of Roche Applied Science launched its NimbleGen Sequence Capture technology for selecting targeted regions of the genome for high throughput sequencing. This new technology enables researchers to capture up to five million targeted bases from the human or mouse genomes. The technology addresses a bottleneck that lies in the sample preparation…
Sequencing Workflows
Invitrogen Corporation introduced the SequalPrep System; a complete sample enrichment and normalization solution for next generation sequencing technologies that consists of the SequalPrep Long PCR Kit and the SequalPrep Normalization Plate (96) Kit. One of the most significant applications of next generation sequencing technologies is the sequencing of specific DNA regions to identify rare genetic…
Protein Sequencing: We’re Not Done Yet
Genome-speak left the message incomplete: genes lead to proteins, yes, but there’s something more beyond translation. You need the protein sequence. click to enlarge Shotgun protein sequencing: Assembling MS/MS spectra from overlapping peptides into protein sequences. (Source: Nuno Bandeira, University of California, San Diego) In the beginning, there was Edman degradation—the lopping off N-terminal…
Zinc Finger Proteins Put Personalized HIV Therapy Within Reach
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans. The Penn researchers and colleagues from Sangamo Biosciences (Nasdaq:SGMO), Richmond, CA, who developed the zinc finger technology, report in an advanced online issue of…
DNA Microarray Technique Could Revolutionize Medical Diagnostics
The dream of personalized medicine—in which diagnostics, risk predictions and treatment decisions are based on a patient’s genetic profile — may be on the verge of being expanded beyond the wealthiest of nations with state-of-the-art clinics. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has invented a…
Breast Cancer Test
MammaPrint laboratory service from Agendia BV is a FDA-cleared DNA microarray-based, in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay (IVDMIA). MammaPrint measures the activity of 70 genes, providing information about the likelihood of tumor recurrence. The MammaPrint test measures the level of expression of each of these genes in a sample of a surgically-removed breast cancer tumor…
A Unique Breed
NMR is no longer the second fiddle. It now plays a bigger role than ever in protein structure determination. In 1993, when Frank Sonnichsen, PhD, and colleagues solved the structure of a type III antifreeze protein using NMR—nuclear magnetic resonance (Protein Sci. 1993 Sep;2(9):1411-28.), this was an unusual thing to do. The whole procedure took…
Tiling the Genome
Chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with tiling microarrays interrogate promoters, chromatin structure, and much more. The nice thing about tile is that individual pieces can be placed very close together, abutting each other. And that is also the nice thing about tiling microarrays—oligonucleotide probes containing sequences that lie very close to each other in a genome. As…
Common Gene Disorder Doubles Risk of Lung Cancer
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that carrying a common genetic disorder doubles the risk of developing lung cancer in smokers and nonsmokers. The study is published in the May 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal published by the American Medical Association. Researchers found that the genetic disorder, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (a1ATD),…
Key Motor Proteins Orchestrates Chromosome Movements
Cell division is essential to life, but the mechanism by which emerging daughter cells organize and divvy up their genetic endowments is little understood. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois and Columbia University report on how a key motor protein orchestrates chromosome movements at a critical stage of cell division. The…
Sigma-Aldrich Validates shRNA Libraries
Sigma-Aldrich and the second phase of The RNAi Consortium (TRC2) have commenced functional validation of the Consortium’s collection of approximately 160,000 previously-cloned lentiviral-based shRNA vector constructs. Currently, more than 5,000 clones have been tested in the functional validation process. Validated clones covering more than 700 genes are available in Sigma-Aldrich’s MISSION shRNA collection, a number…
Genome-wide Screening
The Acumen eX3 microplate cytometer is the next generation of TTP LabTech’s Acumen Explorer technology. It combines ultra high throughput data collection with the reporting of detailed high content cellular information. Acumen eX3 offers high content screening, high throughput cytometry, and applicability to a broad range of assays in one platform. Acumen technology applies cytometry…
Game On! Fold Proteins Online
Now, there is a new excuse for playing games online: curing disease. Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at the University of Washington have brought the arcane world of protein folding to the online gaming arena with the launch of “Foldit,” a free game in which players around the world compete to design…
High Content Screening
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has unveiled the Thermo Scientific Cellomics Micronucleus v3.0 BioApplication—a new solution that uses a cell-based approach for a comprehensive assessment of genotoxicity. The Micronucleus BioApplication relies on the Thermo Scientific Cellomics ArrayScan VTI system, which comprises high-content screening instrumentation, informatics and reagent products, allowing researchers to more rapidly test multiple compounds…
Proteins Locate and Repair Genetic Material
click to enlarge Bacterial AlkB protein and its corresponding human protein, ABH2 chemically cross-linked with strands of DNA. (Source: Chuan He, University of Chicago) A team of University of Chicago scientists has shown how two proteins locate and repair damaged genetic material inside cells. One protein detects and repairs damage in malignant cells that…
Dinosaur Link to Birds Confirmed
click to enlarge Genetic sequencing show link of T. rex with birds and mastadons with elephants. (Source: National Science Foundation) Genetic sequencing, of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein from the dinosaur’s femur confirms that T. rex shares a common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators. The dinosaur protein was extracted from…
Superbug Genome Sequenced
The genome of a newly-emerging superbug, commonly known as Steno, has just been sequenced. The results reveal an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance. The research was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and the University of Bristol. Understanding the genome of this bacterium will help researchers…
New Discovery on Role of Protein that Fights Meningitis
A University of Leicester researcher has discovered how a protein in the blood linked to defence against meningitis plays a more vital role than previously understood in the body’s immune defence system. The published research has helped to advance medical understanding of how the body defends against disease and heals itself. The study also reveals…