Darwin peering through the molecular level

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To Bob Rose and his colleagues, evolution isn't just a theoryit's the basis for their whole career.

"The idea of evolution is seminal to biochemistry," Rose, professor of biochemistry, said. Rose is currently working with the University, researching the gene that promotes insulin-production in various species.

"We do a lot of comparisons between species, which is very evolution-based." Rose said.

Rose is currently working on comparing the insulin promoter between humans, rats and mice in order to understand what things are conserved between the species. One of the key differences between these species is that mice have two insulin genes, whereas humans only have one.

"For some reason, the function was important enough to warrant two genes we see variations like that a lot," Rose said.

Despite those differences, enough is conserved between the proteins that regulate the genes and even the genes themselves that researchers can examine them as an important evolutionarily-preserved function.

According to Paul Wollenzien, professor of biochemistry, the first signs of evolution came at the earliest stages of life. Originally, polymers of RNA, nucleic acids that can code genetic information, self-competed for replication. Next came proteins translated from that primary genetic code, and finally life began to emerge.

Even in modern organisms, there are clues to these early events. For example, there are sequences within ribosomal RNA that are shared between the three domains of life: eukaryotes, prokaryotes and achaea. This means that the sequences were present within the progenitor of these domainsa common ancestor.

"Because we can recognize these universally-conserved sequences, we take that to mean that they were established early on in evolution," Wollenzien said. Because the sequences were established very early on, it indicates a great importance for the basic functions of life.

Evolution influences the emerging field of biochemistry with something called "Instant Evolution."

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UTHSCT researchers receive five seed grants totaling $115,000

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UTHSCT researchers receive five seed grants totaling $115,000

Five seed grants totaling $115,000 have been awarded to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler. The locally raised money will help UTHSCT researchers explore new cures for serious diseases, saidSteven Idell, MD, Ph.D., UTHSCTs vice president for research.

Hong-Long Ji, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry, was awarded a $40,000 grant to study the relationship between abnormal genes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Usha Pendurthi, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, received $40,000 to fund her work into how certain proteins that curb blood clotting affect the growth of cancerous tumors.

Proteins are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the bodys cells, tissues, and organs; each protein has unique functions. Hormones, enzymes, and antibodies are all examples of proteins.

Buka Samten, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and Malini Madiraju, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, were awarded $20,000 for preliminary research that could lead to a better vaccine against tuberculosis. Thats important, because TB kills more than a million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.

Anna Kurdowska, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, received $10,000 for her research into a new way to treat acute lung injury, also known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). And Amir Shams, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology, received $5,000 to examine how to keep treatments for injured lungs inside those lungs.

These grants enable our scientists to pursue new and exciting research that could change our understanding of how serious diseases develop, as well as transform how we treat them. They help our researchers acquire the preliminary data they need to successfully compete for funding from the National Institutes of Health, the gold standard in biomedical research, Dr. Idell said, calling this years projects outstanding.

Funding for the seed grants comes from UTHSCs Research Council and the Texas Lung Injury Institute. Since 2002, scientists in the Center for Biomedical Research have been awarded $118.6 million in research dollars.

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UTHSCT researchers receive five seed grants totaling $115,000

Research and Markets: Biochemistry for Sport and Exercise Metabolism

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b561c1/biochemistry_for_s) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Biochemistry for Sport and Exercise Metabolism" to their offering.

How do our muscles produce energy for exercise and what are the underlying biochemical principles involved? These are questions that students need to be able to answer when studying for a number of sport related degrees. This can prove to be a difficult task for those with a relatively limited scientific background. Biochemistry for Sport and Exercise Metabolism addresses this problem by placing the primary emphasis on sport, and describing the relevant biochemistry within this context.

The book opens with some basic information on the subject, including an overview of energy metabolism, some key aspects of skeletal muscle structure and function, and some simple biochemical concepts. It continues by looking at the three macromolecules which provide energy and structure to skeletal muscle - carbohydrates, lipids, and protein. The last section moves beyond biochemistry to examine key aspects of metabolism - the regulation of energy production and storage. Beginning with a chapter on basic principles of regulation of metabolism it continues by exploring how metabolism is influenced during high-intensity, prolonged, and intermittent exercise by intensity, duration, and nutrition.

Key Features:

Biochemistry for Sport and Exercise Metabolism will prove invaluable to students across a range of sport-related courses, who need to get to grips with how exercise mode, intensity, duration, training status and nutritional status can all affect the regulation of energy producing pathways and, more important, apply this understanding to develop training and nutrition programmes to maximise athletic performance.

Key Topics Covered:

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b561c1/biochemistry_for_s

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Clever Apes: Cooking up a dino-chicken

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We bring you a guest post today from Faraz Hussain, who studies biochemistry at Illinois Institute of Technology. Faraz is a student of Joseph Orgel, the biologist researching preserved dinosaur tissue whom we profiled in the latest episode of Clever Apes. Here, Faraz introduces us to a completely different way of bridging the eons to bring dinosaurs into the present day. Gabriel Spitzer

Dinosaurs 180 million-odd year reign may be considered a lively old romp by most, but some clever apes would prefer to study these fossils in the flesh. One particular suborder, the theropods, never really went extinct at all. The birds that descended from them are the nearest living relatives today of both raptors and tyrannosaursperhaps none more so than the humble hen. Paleontologist Jack Horner, one of the most vocal exponents of avian dinosaurs being all around us, would rather that hens' more imposing ancestors had not evolutionarily "chickened out" in the first place.

Instead of messing about with amber-encased mosquitoes gorged on dino-DNA and playing fill-in-the-blanks with frog and bird genomes la Jurassic Park, Horner has been rallying his paleontologist pals and evolutionary developmental biologists to try a fresh tack on resurrecting a dinosaur: He wants to reverse-engineer a chickenosaurus. Hey, why start from scratch when you already have a fully-formed dinosaur in need of just a few minor genetic modifications? What follows is not your grandma's stuffed chicken recipe:

Chicken fingers:

While birds may have opted for wings instead of claws, both the T. rex and the chicken have only three digits at the end of each. In birds, however, these fingers have fused together. Hans Larsson at McGill University's Redpath Museum is looking for ways to short-circuit the genetic pathway responsible for this process in the chicken's embryonic stage and allowing the digits to separate so that, instead of those delicious wings, it ends up with far deadlier talons instead.

Rump:

A chicken has only a handful of vertebrae at the end of its spine that fuse to form what passes for its tail. In 2007, Larsson observed a tail in a developing chick embryo that had 16, although by the time it hatched these had dwindled to five. Turn off the genetic mechanism that triggers the breakdown and absorption of the tail, and voilyou're well on your way to the 40 or so vertebrae found in some of the heftiest hindquarters ever: the T. rex tail.

Teeth:

Matthew Harris discovered the rudiments of teeth on a frankenchicken embryo called the talpid2 usually known for its polydactyl fingers. While a far cry from the toothy old tyrannosaur grin that we know and lovethe genome of a chicken doesnt contain genes coding for enamel, nor can they produce dentin, which made up the bulk of those formidable fangsits finally a fighting chance for poultry to bite back!

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Clever Apes: Cooking up a dino-chicken

Correcting human mitochondrial mutations

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Public release date: 12-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Irwin kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu 310-206-2805 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences

Researchers at the UCLA stem cell center and the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and pathology and laboratory medicine have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases.

Mutations in the human mitochondrial genome are implicated in neuromuscular diseases, metabolic defects and aging. There currently are no methods to successfully repair or compensate for these mutations, said study co-senior author Dr. Michael Teitell, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

Between 1,000 and 4,000 children per year in the United States are born with a mitochondrial disease and up to one in 4,000 children in the U.S. will develop a mitochondrial disease by the age of 10, according to Mito Action, a nonprofit organization supporting research into mitochondrial diseases. In adults, many diseases of aging have been associated with defects of mitochondrial function, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

"I think this is a finding that could change the field," Teitell said. "We've been looking to do this for a long time and we had a very reasoned approach, but some key steps were missing. Now we have developed this method and the next step is to show that what we can do in human cell lines with mutant mitochondria can translate into animal models and, ultimately, into humans."

The study appears March 12, 2012 in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The current study builds on previous work published in 2010 in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, in which Teitell, Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientist, and their team uncovered a role for an essential protein that acts to shuttle RNA into the mitochondria, the energy-producing "power plant" of a cell.

Mitochondria are described as cellular power plants because they generate most of the energy supply within a cell. In addition to supplying energy, mitochondria also are involved in a broad range of other cellular processes including signaling, differentiation, death, control of the cell cycle and growth.

The import of nucleus-encoded small RNAs into mitochondria is essential for the replication, transcription and translation of the mitochondrial genome, but the mechanisms that deliver RNA into mitochondria have remained poorly understood.

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Correcting human mitochondrial mutations

Repairing mutations in human mitochondria

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LOS ANGELES Researchers at the UCLA stem cell center and the departments of chemistry and biochemistry and pathology and laboratory medicine have identified, for the first time, a generic way to correct mutations in human mitochondrial DNA by targeting corrective RNAs, a finding with implications for treating a host of mitochondrial diseases.

Mutations in the human mitochondrial genome are implicated in neuromuscular diseases, metabolic defects and aging. There currently are no methods to successfully repair or compensate for these mutations, said study co-senior author Dr. Michael Teitell, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and a researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

Between 1,000 and 4,000 children per year in the United States are born with a mitochondrial disease and up to one in 4,000 children in the U.S. will develop a mitochondrial disease by the age of 10, according to Mito Action, a nonprofit organization supporting research into mitochondrial diseases. In adults, many diseases of aging have been associated with defects of mitochondrial function, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

"I think this is a finding that could change the field," Teitell said. "We've been looking to do this for a long time and we had a very reasoned approach, but some key steps were missing. Now we have developed this method and the next step is to show that what we can do in human cell lines with mutant mitochondria can translate into animal models and, ultimately, into humans."

The study appears today in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The current study builds on previous work published in 2010 in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, in which Teitell, Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and a Broad stem cell research center scientist, and their team uncovered a role for an essential protein that acts to shuttle RNA into the mitochondria, the energy-producing "power plant" of a cell.

Mitochondria are described as cellular power plants because they generate most of the energy supply within a cell. In addition to supplying energy, mitochondria also are involved in a broad range of other cellular processes including signaling, differentiation, death, control of the cell cycle and growth.

The import of nucleus-encoded small RNAs into mitochondria is essential for the replication, transcription and translation of the mitochondrial genome, but the mechanisms that deliver RNA into mitochondria have remained poorly understood.

The study in Cell outlined a new role for a protein called polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPASE) in regulating the import of RNA into mitochondria. Reducing the expression or output of PNPASE decreased RNA import, which impaired the processing of mitochondrial genome-encoded RNAs. Reduced RNA processing inhibited the translation of proteins required to maintain the mitochondrial electron transport chain that consumes oxygen during cell respiration to produce energy. With reduced PNPASE, unprocessed mitochondrial-encoded RNAs accumulated, protein translation was inhibited and energy production was compromised, leading to stalled cell growth.

The findings from the current study provide a form of gene therapy for mitochondria by compensating for mutations that cause a wide range of diseases, said study co-senior author Koehler.

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Semi-automated 'pathwalking' to build a protein model

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In a report that appears online in the journal Structure, the BCM team describes the development of the semi-automated protocol that enables researchers to "rapidly generate an ensemble of initial models for individual proteins, which can later be optimized to produce full atomic models."

Taking the 3-D images generated through the process of electron cryo-microscopy and X-ray crystallography, the team developed this computational approach to produce these first-generation models of the proteins' structure or fold without prior knowledge of the protein's sequence or other information.

"This is important in working with big complexes made up of 10 to 30 proteins," said Dr. Matthew Baker, instructor in biochemistry and molecular biology at BCM and the paper's corresponding author. "You might know the structure of one or two proteins, but you want to know how all of those proteins interact with each other. As long as you can separate one protein from another, you can use this technique to make a model of each of the proteins in the complex."

"We borrowed from a classic computer science problem called the 'traveling salesman problem,'" said Dr. Mariah Baker, the paper's first author and a postdoctoral fellow at BCM. "It is in effect a connect-the-dots puzzle without the numbers."

In the traveling salesman problem, computer programmers are asked to figure the best route for a salesman who wants to visits all the cities where he sells just once while minimizing the distance traveled. Pathwalking solves a similar problem for proteins by looking for the optimal path through a 3-D image that connects C-alpha atoms, rather than cities, to form the protein's structure.

The tool is the answer to the dilemma presented by the near-atomic structures that are in the "middle" not of the highest resolution or the lowest resolution, said Matthew Baker.

As many as 25 percent of all structures imaged by electron cryo-microscopy and one-third of large protein complexes solved by X-ray crystallography are in the 3 to 10 angstroms range, said Matthew Baker.

Until now, the methodology used to annotate or trace the structure of protein from these density maps was usually tailored to specific cases, said Mariah Baker.

"They involved a lot of user intervention and the possibility to include bias," she said. That sparked a determination to automate the process with better routines that required less specific information.

"The question we asked was, can we trace a protein fold in a density map without a priori knowledge," she said. "The answer is that we can."

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Semi-automated 'pathwalking' to build a protein model

Renowned Scientist receives IRL Industry and Outreach Fellow

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Renowned Scientist receives IRL Industry and Outreach Fellowship

IRL has appointed Professor Juliet Gerrard, a biochemist and leader in the industrial application of biochemistry in New Zealand as its second Industry and Outreach Fellow.

IRLs Industry and Outreach Fellowships have been established as part of IRLs drive to strengthen links between the research and high-value manufacturing organisations.

New Zealands economic success depends on our ability to get greater coordination and alignment across our research and industry sectors. One area of significant potential is through greater mobility of highly talented people, says Shaun Coffey, IRL Chief Executive.

The Industry and Outreach Fellowships attract leaders from the research sector into IRL to develop areas of scientific research and assist with their application to industry.

Professor Gerrard, who runs the Biomolecular Interaction Centre at the University of Canterbury, has held a number of significant positions in recognition of her scientific work and has recently been appointed Chair of the Marsden Council.

Professor Gerrard sees the overall strategic aim of the Industry and Outreach Fellowship programme as boosting collaboration.

"There is a lot of research being done in both universities and industry and Id like to bridge that gap between fundamental and applied work," she says. "By collaborating with IRL I believe that we will be able to achieve this."

Professor Gerards track record includes stints working for Crop and Food Research Ltd, and conducting research for the likes of Fonterra. She is also a principal investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute and Riddet Institute and has been on a number of editorial boards for scientific journals. She has written over 100 journal articles.

IRL Industry and Outreach Fellows are initially appointed for a five-year term and are mandated to resolve industry-related problems while building links between research institutions and business.

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Renowned Scientist receives IRL Industry and Outreach Fellow

Penn Biochemist Receives Hodgkin Award from The Protein Society

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PHILADELPHIA Mark A. Lemmon, PhD, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, is the 2012 recipient of the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award by The Protein Society. The award will be presented at the 26th Annual Symposium of The Protein Society in August, during the Plenary Awards Session.

The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, is given in recognition of exceptional contributions in protein science, which profoundly influence our understanding of biology. Dr. Lemmon is being recognized for major contributions to the field of signal transduction and transmembrane signaling mechanisms of receptor tyrosine kinases. Crystallographic, biochemical, and genetic studies from his laboratory have provided sophisticated understanding of EGFR cell signaling. His discoveries of the mechanisms for the epidermal growth factor receptor family offer new ideas for developing therapies targeting cancer and other human diseases.

"Of course, it's not really my work that this award honors, but really that of several fantastic Penn postdocs and students," says Lemmon. "First, I'd particularly like to single out Diego Alvarado, Daryl Klein, Sung Hee Choi, Jeannine Mendrola and Fumin Shi for the EGF receptor work that the award cites. They are all great examples of the superb scientists that Penn Medicine attracts and reasons why it's so great to be here.

"Second, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin has always been a hero of mine. She did much of her secondary education in the part of England where I grew up and was already a legend at Oxford when I went there. Her crystallographic studies of insulin -- well after her 1964 Nobel Prize -- inspired much of our structural work in EGF signaling. I always found it interesting too given her politics - that Margaret Thatcher was one of Professor Hodgkin's most famous students."

###

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4 billion enterprise.

Penn's Perelman School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools and among the top 10 schools for primary care. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $507.6 million awarded in the 2010 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top 10 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2010, Penn Medicine provided $788 million to benefit our community.

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Penn Biochemist Receives Hodgkin Award from The Protein Society

University associate research scientist arrested with root beer flavored vodka in front seat (w/Documents)

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A University associate research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was arrested Saturday night and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to maintain lane and open container, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.

Irina Kataeva, 55, was pulled over by an officer on West Broad Street after he noticed her vehicle cross into the left lane and go across the fog line, according to the report.

Kataeva reportedly told the officer she had difficulty seeing at night, and the officer then noticed her eyes were extremely red and watery and there was the smell of alcohol on her breath.

The officer then asked her how much she had to drink, and she said she had one beer, according to the report.

While the officer was speaking to Kataeva, another officer noticed an open container of alcohol in the passenger seat.

When she exited the car, the officer noticed she was swaying when she walked and asked her if she had any alcohol in the car.

Kataeva reportedly said she did not have any alcohol in the vehicle. But when the officer asked to search her car, she said she did mind and had a bottle of liquor in the front seat.

An officer recovered an opened bottle of root beer flavored vodka from the car, according to the report.

Kataeva declined to perform field sobriety tests, and she reportedly asked the officer to just let her go and told him she was not far away from her house.

Her breath tested positive for alcohol, and she was placed under arrest and taken to the ACC Police Substation on Baxter Street, according to the report.

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University associate research scientist arrested with root beer flavored vodka in front seat (w/Documents)

Nationwide Children's Hospital neuromuscular disorder podcasts now available on iTunes

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Public release date: 1-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Erin Pope Erin.Pope@NationwideChildrens.org 614-355-0495 Nationwide Children's Hospital

In 2010, the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide Children's Hospital launched a monthly podcast entitled, "This Month in Muscular Dystrophy," featuring internationally known scientists discussing the latest research in muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disorders. Now, these podcasts will be available for users on iTunes and at http://www.NationwideChildrens.org/muscular-dystrophy-podcast.

The podcasts are geared toward patients, their families and primary care physicians who take care of patients with neuromuscular diseases. Hosted by Kevin Flanigan, MD, an attending physician in Neurology at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and a principal investigator in the Center for Gene Therapy in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's, the programs include interviews with authors of recent scientific publications discussing how their work improves understanding of inherited neuromuscular diseases and what their findings might mean for treatment.

New programs available for download on iTunes include:

Podcasts from previous months have also been uploaded to iTunes and are available for download.

"There is a lot of exciting work going on in the field of neuromuscular disease, and for patients and their families, it may be hard to get access to information about new results," said Dr. Flanigan, also a professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "Our goal in offering this monthly podcast is to provide a way for people affected by the muscular dystrophies and related disorders to hear directly from top researchers about their latest results. It's my job to converse in understandable terms with these researchers about what is useful or exciting in their work."

Patients and their families are eager to find reliable information, especially about what new therapies are entering trials. With these podcasts available on iTunes, patients and their families have access to this information at their fingertips. These monthly podcasts provide reliable information directly from leading scientists and physicians in the field to empower patients to take the information they learn into their own clinics to discuss with their doctors. The podcasts also serve to provide reliable information to primary care physicians who often have the most contact with patients who have neuromuscular disorders.

"Through these podcasts, I think we can reinforce the hope shared by all families, and let them know that many pathways that may lead to meaningful treatments are being explored," Dr. Flanigan added.

Dr. Flanigan's primary research interest is in the genetic and molecular characterization of inherited neuromuscular diseases particularly muscular dystrophies and in the development of therapies directed toward these diseases.

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Nationwide Children's Hospital neuromuscular disorder podcasts now available on iTunes

Nobel Laureate Explores Proteins, Surgery

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Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Roger Tsien discussed current research on fluorescent proteins, or proteins that emit bright colors when exposed to ultraviolet blue light, and their uses in surgery at Emory on Thursday.

The Department of Biochemistry held the lecture, titled Breeding and Building molecules to Spy on Cells and Disease Processes, at the Woodruff Health Sciences building as part of the Department of Biochemistrys annual Donald B. McCormick Lecture. The annual lecture honors McCormick, who served as the chair of the department from 1979 to 1994 and is currently professor emeritus at Emorys School of Medicine.

McCormick is recognized for his many achievements including the publication of more than 500 papers, leading expertise in nutritional biochemistry, and membership in notable committees such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In 2008, Tsien received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) with his colleagues Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and professor at the University of California-San Diego.

He focused on proteins called miniSOGs, which are single oxygen-generating miniproteins and genetic tags used in electron microscopy (EM). He said electrons are beamed at an object to produce a highly magnified image. These miniSOGs are sequences of amino acids that can be attached to proteins, Tsien noted. When miniSOGs are exposed to blue light, they produce a type of molecular oxygen that is visible in EM. The use of EM creates an amplified image under the microscope which is of a greater resolution than the image produced by light microscopy.

It is really amazing how many different applications there are for the tag, James Roed, post doctorate fellow at the School of Medicine noted. The design is simple yet so complex and is really going to revolutionize cancer treatment but has potential in being used to tether probes to drugs as well.

Tsien explained the clinical applications of fluorescent dyes in cancer research and treatment. This is a very nonselective process. Tsien explained. When you try to do this with a fluorescent tag IV injection into a mouse, you get a fluorescent tail, because it sticks to the epithelia, which is the skin of the animal, at the site of the injection.

It then travels to different regions of the body but practically never reaches the tumor that you care about, Tsien said.

We decided in our lab that what was necessary was a way of making this process selective, not just indiscriminate, he said.

He then showed images of tumors in mice and explained the difficulty the human eye experiences in differentiating a tumor from the surrounding flesh. When the tissue was exposed via fluorescent illumination, the boundaries of the tumor became easily distinguishable as the fluorescent light blue mass stood out.

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Nobel Laureate Explores Proteins, Surgery

Bite-Sized Biochemistry #22 – Glycolysis II / Carbohydrate Metabolism – Video

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03-08-2011 12:03 (11/17/10) Lecture by Kevin Ahern of Oregon State University discussing Biochemistry Basics in BB 450. See the full course at oregonstate.edu Highlights Glycolysis II 1. Reaction #9 is catalyzed by enolase and involves removal of water from 2PG to form PEP, which is a highly energetic compound. 2. Reaction #10 is the "Big Bang" of glycolysis. It is catalyzed by the enzyme pyruvate kinase and in the reaction, a substrate level phosphorylation yields ATP. Note that the Delta G zero prime is very strongly negative, helping to pull all the reactions preceding it to a large extent. The enzyme is allosterically inactivated by ATP and allosterically activated by F1,6BP. The latter activation is an example of "feed forward" activation. Pyruvate kinase is also inactivated by phosphorylation, as will be seen in glycogen metabolism. 3. The phenomenon of redox balancing is important for glycolysis. Redox balancing relates to the relative amount of NAD+ and NADH in the cell. Remember that reaction 6 is very sensitive to the ratio of NAD+/NADH. 4. Pyruvate has three separate fates, depending on conditions and the cell type. When oxygen is present, there is plenty of NAD+, so aerobic cells convert pyruvate to acetyl-CoA for oxidation in the citric acid cycle. When oxygen is absent, NAD+ levels can go down, so to prevent that from happening, pyruvate is converted to either lactate (animals) or ethanol (bacteria/yeast). Either of these last two conversions REQUIRES NADH and produces NAD+ ...

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Bite-Sized Biochemistry #22 - Glycolysis II / Carbohydrate Metabolism - Video

Nick Denis trades in laboratory for the octagon

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darren yourk From Friday's Globe and Mail Published Thursday, Mar. 01, 2012 8:23PM EST Last updated Thursday, Mar. 01, 2012 8:25PM EST

Nick Denis can tell you what it feels like to knock a man out cold while thousands of fans roar their approval. He can also talk at length about proteomics the study of proteins and what it takes to finish a master degree in biochemistry.

Not a lot attention is paid to what goes on between the cauliflower ears of mixed martial arts fighters, but Denis, who walked away from the research lab one year short of getting his PhD from the University of Ottawa to focus on the octagon, is proof theres a lot more to the sport than power and toughness.

To be able to out-think an opponent is a huge advantage in a fight, Denis said. You have to understand how to react to situations and be analytical. It looks like just brute force in there, but theres actually technique and skill.

The Ottawa native roared into the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in January, knocking out Joseph Sandoval with a series of elbow strikes just 22 seconds into the first round of his debut bout in Nashville an effort that earned him a $45,000 bonus cheque for knockout of the night. Hes now aiming to cement his status as an emerging talent when he returns to the octagon to face Johnny Bedford May 5 in East Rutherford, N.J.

After studying karate and tae kwon do in his youth, it was boredom with weightlifting workouts that got Denis started down the path to the UFC. He enrolled in a jiu-jitsu class with a friend as a new way to stay in shape and was hooked immediately. It wasnt long before he decided to train toward competing as an MMA fighter.

At the same time, Denis enrolled at the University of Ottawa, balancing a busy academic schedule in the world of analytical biochemistry with morning and evening training sessions.

Jeffrey Smith, a professor in the chemistry department at Carleton University who shared an office with Denis for almost three years at the University of Ottawa, calls him a gifted scientist.

He is really good with his hands, which is a big skill in the lab, Smith said. A lot of people have book smarts, but at the end of the day you have to have the manual dexterity to use the equipment and do things accurately. He was good at it, but Im not sure he enjoyed it all that much. MMA is really what hes passionate about.

While Denis showed up to the lab some days with a lumpy face and black eyes from training, Smith said it was his big personality that really made him stand out.

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Nick Denis trades in laboratory for the octagon

New Biochemistry, Food and Inorganics Resources Published at ScienceIndex.com

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The Biochemistry, Food and Inorganics Sciences are three new key categories covered by the Sciences Social Network ScienceIndex.com. The users of the website monitor over 130 scientific Biochemistry, Food and Inorganics journals and submit the most significant scientific results of these journals for inclusion in ScienceIndex.com. ScienceIndex.com was established in 1998 to index the very latest news, headlines, references and resources from science journals, books and websites worldwide. The site covers news in all fields of biology, business, chemistry, engineering, geography, health, mathematics and society.

Mannheim, Germany (PRWEB) February 27, 2012

ScienceIndex.com is a Web 2.0 sciences social network established in 1998 to index the very latest news, headlines, references and resources from science journals, books and websites worldwide. The site covers news in all fields of biology, business, chemistry, engineering, geography, health, mathematics and society. In the field of Chemistry, the site has now included the three new categories Biochemistry, Food and Inorganics. While the Biochemistry category covers the chemical substances and vital processes in living organisms, the Food category covers production of materials of plant or animal origin, that are ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life, and the Inorganics category covers chemical reactions and properties of all elements in the periodic table and their compounds, except element carbon.

ScienceIndex.com's Chemistry Sciences Category covers the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of substances. Its seven subsections include Biochemistry, Food, Inorganics, Materials, Organics, Physics and Toxicology.

ScienceIndex.com's Biochemistry Sciences Category covers covers the chemical substances and vital processes in living organisms. It currently contains over 18,500 articles partly derived from over 40 scientific journals. One of the latest additions covers novel oxidative stress transcription factor. Hypochlorite is a powerful oxidant produced by neutrophils to kill invading microorganisms. Despite this important physiological role of hypochlorite in fighting bacterial infections, no hypochlorite-specific stress response has been identified yet. The authors identified a hypochlorite-responsive transcription factor, YjiE, which is conserved in proteobacteria and eukaryotes. To their knowledge, YjiE is the first described hypochlorite-specific transcription factor specifically conferring hypochlorite resistance to E. coli cells.

ScienceIndex.com's Food Sciences category covers production of materials of plant or animal origin, that are ingested and assimilated by an organism to produce energy, stimulate growth, and maintain life. It currently contains nearly 11,800 articles partly derived from almost 50 scientific journals. One recently included article in this category covers a review of osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables. Osmotic dehydration is one of the best and suitable method to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables since this process retains vitamin and minerals, color, flavor and taste in fruits and vegetables. The authors review different methods, treatments, optimization and effects of osmotic dehydration. Their results show that combination of different osmotic agents are more effective than sucrose alone due to combination of properties of solutes.

ScienceIndex.com's Inorganics Sciences Category covers chemical reactions and properties of all elements in the periodic table and their compounds, except element carbon. It currently contains nearly 6,200 articles partly derived from over 40 scientific journals. One of the latest additions characterizes work hardening mechanisms in Fe–Mn based TWIP steels. When strained in tension, high-manganese austenitic twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) steels achieve very high strength and elongation before necking. The authors show that the Fe–Mn–C grade exhibits the best properties, together with a Portevin–Le Châtelier effect which could result in supplementary hardening. Furthermore, TEM analyses show that twins in the Fe–Mn–C steel are thinner and without dislocation activity, which could lead to a composite effect and increase the work hardening.

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ScienceIndex.com currently contains over 1.38 million stories distributed among 75 categories. 75,291 users monitor nearly 8,400 journals covering the broad spectrum of sciences. They share circa 2,500 new articles every day. Since new science content is discovered in real-time, the delay between original publication and appearance at ScienceIndex.com is no more than two days. ScienceIndex.com provides an advanced search feature which suggests up to ten closely related articles for a search and also for a selected story. Other features include a "Life Traffic Feed", a "Top Content" sidebar, Google Translate functionality, and RSS feeds for every category. ScienceIndex.com also maintains the new Twitter account @ScienceIndex_ .

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New Biochemistry, Food and Inorganics Resources Published at ScienceIndex.com

See restored Curry murals at Wednesday Night @ the Lab

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Feb. 28, 2012

A remarkable University of Wisconsin-Madison research triumph and artful renderings depicting the importance of biochemistry are the subject of a rare occurrence of the popular Wednesday Night @ the Lab series.

Held for one night only maybe, as there won't be another Wednesday night on a Leap Day until 2040 on Feb. 29 and in Room 1125 of the remodeled Biochemistry Building, 420 Henry Mall, this edition of the long-running science speaker series will give the audience an early public view of restored murals painted in the 1940s by John Steuart Curry.

The session begins at 7 p.m.

Lauren Kroiz, a UW-Madison art history professor, will talk about Curry's work as the first official artist-in-residence in the United States and the art he intended to enrich farmers' lives and encourage experimental agriculture. Curry's paintings in the Biochemistry Building were meticulously stabilized, cleaned and restored by conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center as the building was gutted and rebuilt.

David Nelson, biochemistry professor and lecturer in a course on historic research breakthroughs at UW-Madison, will discuss the discovery of vitamins by the likes of Stephen Babcock, E.B. Hart, Harry Steenbock, and E.V. McCollum (all depicted in Curry's murals) in UW-Madison's agricultural chemistry department.

Wednesday Night @ the Lab which is sponsored by BioTrek, the Science Alliance, the Wisconsin Alumni Association and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is free and open to the public. There will be free parking in Lot 20, located nearby at 1390 University Ave.

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See restored Curry murals at Wednesday Night @ the Lab

Georgia Research Alliance Names First Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine

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ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Younan Xia, Ph.D., an internationally recognized leader in the field of nanotechnology, recently joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as the first Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine.

Dr. Xia is the Brock Family Chair and GRA Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, with a joint appointment in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research focuses on nanocrystals -- a novel class of materials with features smaller than 100 nanometers -- as well as the development of innovative technologies enabled by nanocrystals. One nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter. These technologies span the fields of molecular imaging, early cancer diagnosis, targeted drug delivery, biomaterials, regenerative medicine and catalysis.

The possible applications of nanotechnology in medicine have only begun to be explored, said Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. Dr. Xias expertise and collaborative vision will lead to vital new scientific discoveries that can be transformed into new tools to help people live healthier lives.

Dr. Xia is an international leader in the synthesis of nanomaterials designed to improve the way we live. He has been ranked as one of the top 10 chemists in the world, as well as the second most cited scientist in the fields of nanomedicine and materials science.

Dr. Xia is a world-renowned teacher and leader at the forefront of nanomedicine and materials science, said Larry McIntire, the Wallace H. Coulter Chair of Biomedical Engineering. His reputation and innovative research in these areas will clearly strengthen our expanding efforts in nanomedicine and biomaterials. We are honored to welcome him to the Department and to the Institute.

Regents' Professor and Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry Charles Liotta said, Dr. Xia is an outstanding addition to our faculty in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research in nanomedicine and biomaterials lies at the interface between chemistry and engineering and fits in so well with the interdisciplinary culture at Georgia Tech. Dr. Xias presence will clearly enhance our efforts in these critical research areas.

Dr. Xia received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Harvard University (with Professor George M. Whitesides) in 1996, his M.S. in inorganic chemistry from University of Pennsylvania (with the late Professor Alan G. MacDiarmid, a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2000) in 1993. He has received a number of prestigious awards, including AIMBE Fellow (2011), MRS Fellow (2009), NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2006), Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award (2005), Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar (2002), David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering (2000), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2000), NSF Early Career Development Award (2000) and the ACS Victor K. LaMer Award (1999).

About GRA

A model public-private partnership between Georgia universities, business and state government, the Georgia Research Alliance helps build Georgias technology-rich economy in three major ways: through attracting Eminent Scholars to Georgias research universities; through investing in sophisticated research tools; and through converting research into products, services and jobs that drive the economy. To learn more about GRA, visit http://www.gra.org.

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Georgia Research Alliance Names First Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine

#43 Biochemistry DNA Replication III Lecture for BB 451/551 Winter 2012 – Video

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20-02-2012 17:19 A lecture by Kevin Ahern of Oregon State University to his BB 451/551 class. See the full course at oregonstate.edu This course can be taken for credit (wherever you live) via OSU's ecampus. For details, see ecampus.oregonstate.edu Topics covered include DNA replication, DNA polymerase, telomerase, RNA primers, chromosomes, chromosome ends, replication of linear ends, aging, cancer, stem cells, DNA repair, mutS, mutH, mutL, proofreading, excinuclease, excision repair, U in DNA, base excision, nucleotide excision, mismatch repair, cell cycle, telomere, 8-oxoguanine, aflatoxin, thymine dimers, psoralen, suntanning, UV radiation

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#43 Biochemistry DNA Replication III Lecture for BB 451/551 Winter 2012 - Video

Names and changes – www.roanoke.com

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EDUCATION

Pablo Sobrado, assistant professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech, has been awarded Costa Rica's 2011 National Technology Prize, administered by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Deborah Robinson has been appointed vice president for advancement at Radford University.

Two Washington and Lee University professors received state Outstanding Faculty Awards for excellence in teaching, research and public service: James Kahn, professor of economics and director of the Environmental Studies Program, and Lesley Wheeler, professor of English.

Panos Diplas, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, is the 2012 recipient of the Hans Albert Einstein Award, presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also part of a team receiving the 2012 Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Prize, presented by the same society.

Keith Gilbertson has joined University Libraries at Virginia Tech as digital technologies development librarian.

Emory & Henry College has announced the following: David Haney has been named vice president of academic affairs and Joseph Taylor has been named vice president of institutional advancement.

Lee Todd Jr. has joined Virginia Tech's Engagement Academy for University Leaders as a faculty member.

Mark Stremler, a Virginia Tech engineering faculty member, is one of 60 young engineers selected to attend the 2012 Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium.

GOVERNMENT

Frances Coles and Jason Horne were re-appointed to serve four-year terms on the City Planning Commission of Bedford.

MEDICAL

Benjamin Bowman, a chiropractor for Tuck Chiropractic Clinic in Fairlawn, has been named a full partner in the Tuck Chiropractic Clinic organization.

ORGANIZATIONS

Ken Ferris has been named moderator of the new VT KnowledgeWorks Roanoke President's Council.

Mary Carlin has joined the staff of the Roanoke Valley SPCA as director of finance.

Leslie Hager-Smith was recently hired as the director of development of the New River Land Trust.

The Roanoke Valley Horsemen's Association Inc. announced its newly elected officers and board of directors for 2012. Officers: Mark Hartberger, president; Donnis Honeywell, vice president; Lorrie McCloskey, recording secretary; Brenda Greene, corresponding secretary; and Ray Eades, treasurer. Board members: Jack Richards Jr., Rebecca Tobey, Amy Wentzel, David Levine, Leah Wilson and Linda Humphries

OTHER

Susan Snyder of D'Ardenne Associates has been certified as an aerospace auditor.

Three employees of American Door & Glass of Southwest Virginia Inc. recently received promotions: Doug Kirsch is the new executive vice president, Jay Finkle is the new vice president of estimating and Tim Camper is the new vice president of field installation.

Mark Sorrentino has joined CMR Institute's board of directors.

Lisa Thaxton and Todd Bryant have joined Blue Ridge Copier as junior account managers.

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