All posts; Tags Include "Biochemistry"
- September 1, 2016
- 06:52 AM
- 116 views
Roger Tsien – the scientist that colored our research
by Gal Haimovich in Green Fluorescent Blog
Roger Tsien died a few days ago, at the relatively young age of 64. He was a UCSD scientist, a Nobel laureate and he was one of the first to see the significance and usefulness of GFP. I’ve never met him. … Continue reading →... Read more »
Heim, R., Prasher, D., & Tsien, R. (1994) Wavelength mutations and posttranslational autoxidation of green fluorescent protein. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 91(26), 12501-12504. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.91.26.12501
- August 26, 2016
- 05:00 AM
- 127 views
Friday Fellow: Six-Spot Burnet
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Found in Europe, today’s Friday Fellow is a nice day-flying moth with beautiful colors and toxic compounds. Scientifically known as Zygaena filipendulae, its common name is six-spot burnet, burnet being the common name of moths in the … Continue reading →... Read more »
Zagrobelny, M., Bak, S., Olsen, C., & Møller, B. (2007) Intimate roles for cyanogenic glucosides in the life cycle of Zygaena filipendulae (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae). Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 37(11), 1189-1197. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2007.07.008
- August 25, 2016
- 09:40 AM
- 154 views
How to rebuild a brain
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
After the stroke The human brain is complicated. Very complicated. And like any piece of complex machinery that relies on the smooth functioning of many components, it’s not immune to malfunction. When a part of the brain doesn’t get proper nutrition through a nice and smooth blood flow, things go awry and a stroke occurs. […]... Read more »
Chowdhury R, Stevens S, Gorman D, Pan A, Warnakula S, Chowdhury S, Ward H, Johnson L, Crowe F, Hu FB.... (2012) Association between fish consumption, long chain omega 3 fatty acids, and risk of cerebrovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). PMID: 23112118
Hurst K, Lee R, Sideso E, Giles M, & Handa A. (2016) Delays in the presentation to stroke services of patients with transient ischaemic attack and minor stroke. The British journal of surgery. PMID: 27529453
Mayurasakorn K, Niatsetskaya ZV, Sosunov SA, Williams JJ, Zirpoli H, Vlasakov I, Deckelbaum RJ, & Ten VS. (2016) DHA but Not EPA Emulsions Preserve Neurological and Mitochondrial Function after Brain Hypoxia-Ischemia in Neonatal Mice. PloS one, 11(8). PMID: 27513579
Wang Y, Zhao Z, Rege SV, Wang M, Si G, Zhou Y, Wang S, Griffin JH, Goldman SA, & Zlokovic BV. (2016) 3K3A-activated protein C stimulates postischemic neuronal repair by human neural stem cells in mice. Nature medicine. PMID: 27548576
- August 19, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 153 views
Friday Fellow: Asian Pigeonwing
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Today’s Friday Fellow is a creeping (but not creepy) plant with nice deep blue flowers shaped like a human female genitalia. Yeah, you read that right. Its scientific name is Clitoria ternatea, the genus name being a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Devi, B., Boominathan, R., & Mandal, S. (2003) Anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties of Clitoria ternatea root. Fitoterapia, 74(4), 345-349. DOI: 10.1016/S0367-326X(03)00057-1
Taranalli, A., & Cheeramkuzhy, T. (2011) Influence of Clitoria Ternatea Extracts on Memory and Central Cholinergic Activity in Rats. Pharmaceutical Biology, 38(1), 51-56. DOI: 10.1076/1388-0209(200001)3811-BFT051
- August 18, 2016
- 08:00 AM
- 201 views
Sorry, I Don't Drink
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Koalas don’t drink a lot of water, but the spinifex hopping mouse and kangaroo rat put him to shame. They never drink. What water they need they get from the seeds they eat and from the fact that they conserve water amazingly well – including the water that they produce during metabolism. Adult mayflies don’t drink either – they don’t have working mouthparts! Of course, some only live a few minutes as adults, so it may not be that big a deal.... Read more »
Banta MR. (2003) Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) voluntarily select temperatures that conserve energy rather than water. Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZ, 76(4), 522-32. PMID: 13130431
King RF, Cooke C, Carroll S, & O'Hara J. (2008) Estimating changes in hydration status from changes in body mass: considerations regarding metabolic water and glycogen storage. Journal of sports sciences, 26(12), 1361-3. PMID: 18828029
- July 20, 2016
- 06:50 AM
- 361 views
Take Off Your Coat And Stay Awhile
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The naked mole rat is quite naked, but a lack of hair does help it move around in its environment. Other mammals that are supposedly hairless aren’t really, even dolphins have a few hairs. Of course, some humans and other mammals can have autoimmune disease mutations that make them completely hairless. For the naked mole rat it was a strange adaptation with strange results – it has become the only cold-blooded (ectothermic) mammal!... Read more »
Kutsukake, N., Inada, M., Sakamoto, S., & Okanoya, K. (2012) A Distinct Role of the Queen in Coordinated Workload and Soil Distribution in Eusocial Naked Mole-Rats. PLoS ONE, 7(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044584
- July 13, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 316 views
The Perils of Plant Monogamy
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The philodendron that raises its temperature to attract a certain beetle is an exception. Most plants invite many different pollinators, but a few have only a single pollinator species. This leads to some interesting adaptations and some even funkier smells.... Read more »
Chupp AD, Battaglia LL, Schauber EM, & Sipes SD. (2015) Orchid-pollinator interactions and potential vulnerability to biological invasion. AoB PLANTS. PMID: 26286221
Whitehead MR, & Peakall R. (2014) Pollinator specificity drives strong prepollination reproductive isolation in sympatric sexually deceptive orchids. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 68(6), 1561-75. PMID: 24527666
- July 13, 2016
- 07:28 AM
- 378 views
An equation for life
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Water churns. Earth moves. Molecules jostle and chemicals mix. Between heaven and hell, a young planet finds itself in full flux. Developing. Forming. Star stuff rains down and forged elements bubble up. Then it happens. It seems as if it’s just another chemical match-up, another reaction in the vast library of possibilities. But it would […]... Read more »
Scharf C, & Cronin L. (2016) Quantifying the origins of life on a planetary scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 27382156
- July 8, 2016
- 12:38 PM
- 330 views
FNIP1 and FNIP2 inhibit Hsp90 chaperone cycle and enhance drug binding
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
Heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone required for folding, stability and activity of many proteins, known as clients, including drivers of tumour initiation, progression and metastasis (Rohl et al. 2013). ATPase binding and hydrolysis is essential for the chaperone function of Hsp90. ATPase function is regulated by other proteins known as co-chaperones. In an interesting new study, Woodford et al. (2016) show that the stability of the tumour suppressor folliculin (FLCN), whose ........ Read more »
Woodford MR, Dunn DM, Blanden AR, Capriotti D, Loiselle D, Prodromou C, Panaretou B, Hughes PF, Smith A, Ackerman W.... (2016) The FNIP co-chaperones decelerate the Hsp90 chaperone cycle and enhance drug binding. Nature communications, 12037. PMID: 27353360
- July 6, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 356 views
Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Just My Philodendron?
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
It is usually animals that are referred to as endotherms or ectotherms – plants can’t regulate their temperature, right? Don’t tell that to a certain philodendron that can spike the temperature of its flowers to more than 113˚F on two nights of the year, just to attract the beetles that will pollinate it.... Read more »
Ito K, & Seymour RS. (2005) Expression of uncoupling protein and alternative oxidase depends on lipid or carbohydrate substrates in thermogenic plants. Biology letters, 1(4), 427-30. PMID: 17148224
Dötterl, S., David, A., Boland, W., Silberbauer-Gottsberger, I., & Gottsberger, G. (2012) Evidence for Behavioral Attractiveness of Methoxylated Aromatics in a Dynastid Scarab Beetle-Pollinated Araceae. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 38(12), 1539-1543. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-012-0210-y
- June 29, 2016
- 08:01 AM
- 196 views
Design guidlines for tandem fluorescent timers
by Gal Haimovich in Green Fluorescent Blog
Almost 4 years ago, I wrote a post on tandem fluorescent timers (tFTs). The idea is to have two different fluorescent proteins fused together to the protein of interest. In the paper from 4 years ago, it was superfolder GFP … Continue reading →... Read more »
Khmelinskii A, Meurer M, Ho CT, Besenbeck B, Füller J, Lemberg MK, Bukau B, Mogk A, & Knop M. (2016) Incomplete proteasomal degradation of green fluorescent proteins in the context of tandem fluorescent protein timers. Molecular biology of the cell, 27(2), 360-70. PMID: 26609072
- June 15, 2016
- 08:05 AM
- 363 views
Tricky Little Buggers
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Evolution brings wisdom with age – and bacteria are ancient. Bacteria have evolved defenses ranging from evasion or inhibition of immune systems to protecting crucial functions from environmental injury. New studies have identified spring-loaded spikes that can be assembled and disassembled for puncturing other bacteria and delivering toxins, while other work is focused on using those same toxins to kill antibiotic resistant organisms, with E. coli have been engineered to produce toxins ag........ Read more »
Basler, M., Pilhofer, M., Henderson, G., Jensen, G., & Mekalanos, J. (2012) Type VI secretion requires a dynamic contractile phage tail-like structure. Nature, 483(7388), 182-186. DOI: 10.1038/nature10846
Saeidi, N., Wong, C., Lo, T., Nguyen, H., Ling, H., Leong, S., Poh, C., & Chang, M. (2011) Engineering microbes to sense and eradicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a human pathogen. Molecular Systems Biology. DOI: 10.1038/msb.2011.55
- June 1, 2016
- 08:10 AM
- 304 views
The Dirt On Staying Healthy
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Triclosan is the active ingredient in many anti-bacterial products, but does it make our environment too clean? The hygiene hypothesis states that early childhood exposure to certain antigens can help to balance and control the immune system, and therefore result in lower levels of food and seasonal allergies. One particularly important antigen seems to be arabinogalactan, a fiber/sugar molecule found on farms – maybe that’s why farmers’ kids have lower levels of food and other........ Read more »
Gennady Cherednichenkoa, Rui Zhanga, Roger A. Bannisterb,Valeriy Timofeyevc, Ning Lic, Erika B. Fritscha, Wei Fenga, Genaro C. Barrientosa, Nils H. Schebbd, Bruce D. Hammockd, Kurt G. Beame, Nipavan Chiamvimonvatc, and Isaac N. Pessaha. (2012) Triclosan impairs excitation–contraction coupling and Ca2 dynamics in striated muscle. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211314109
- May 25, 2016
- 09:00 AM
- 447 views
Are our gut bacteria the key to immortality?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
The fight against aging Ever since the ancient Sumerians, men has sought eternal life. We still do. Anti-aging science has become quite an industry. As we dive deeper and deeper into our biological foundations, we’re learning more and more about how and why we age. A lot of mysteries remain, but there’s still talk about […]... Read more »
De Winter, G. (2014) Aging as Disease. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 18(2), 237-243. DOI: 10.1007/s11019-014-9600-y
Biagi E, Franceschi C, Rampelli S, Severgnini M, Ostan R, Turroni S, Consolandi C, Quercia S, Scurti M, Monti D.... (2016) Gut Microbiota and Extreme Longevity. Current biology : CB. PMID: 27185560
- May 18, 2016
- 09:15 AM
- 487 views
Ironing Out The Black Death
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The black plague has taken the lives of millions over the centuries. Recent evidence shows that a small number of genetic changes were required to allow Y. pestis to use fleas as a vector. This increased Y. pestis virulence in humans, and might have wiped us out if it weren't for a genetic disease called hereditary hemochromatosis.... Read more »
Chouikha I, Hinnebusch BJ. (2012) Yersinia-flea interactions and the evolution of the arthropod-borne transmission route of plague. Curr Opin Microbiol. . DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2012.02.003
- May 11, 2016
- 06:50 AM
- 396 views
Viva La Evolution
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
In our continuing story of how being sick can save you, how about three genetic diseases and a genetic condition that can save you from malaria. The genetic diseases might kill you, but usually after you procreate, and that is better for the species than being killed by malaria as a child. Evolution is an emotionless mistress.... Read more »
Chootong P, Panichakul T, Permmongkol C, Barnes SJ, Udomsangpetch R, et al. (2012) Characterization of Inhibitory Anti-Duffy Binding Protein II Immunity: Approach to Plasmodium vivax Vaccine Development in Thailand. PLoS ONE , 7(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035769
- April 27, 2016
- 08:35 AM
- 552 views
Your Body Has A Photographic Memory
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
For the first time anywhere - an easy explanation of your immune system in 1500 words! For the low, low price of zero dollars you can find out how your body protects you better the second time you are exposed to a disease. Special bonus offer – we’ll throw in how vaccines work and why you need one every year for the flu, although your old flu vaccines might still be helping you. ... Read more »
Mathews, J., McBryde, E., McVernon, J., Pallaghy, P., & McCaw, J. (2010) Prior immunity helps to explain wave-like behaviour of pandemic influenza in 1918-9. BMC Infectious Diseases, 10(1), 128. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-10-128
Kash, J., Qi, L., Dugan, V., Jagger, B., Hrabal, R., Memoli, M., Morens, D., & Taubenberger, J. (2010) Prior infection with classical swine H1N1 influenza viruses is associated with protective immunity to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 4(3), 121-127. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2010.00132.x
Cowling, B., Ng, S., Ma, E., Cheng, C., Wai, W., Fang, V., Chan, K., Ip, D., Chiu, S., Peiris, J.... (2010) Protective Efficacy of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination against Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Virus Infection during 2009 in Hong Kong. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 51(12), 1370-1379. DOI: 10.1086/657311
- April 15, 2016
- 09:12 AM
- 445 views
Rewriting life: Adding letters to the ABC of DNA
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(Also appeared on United Academics.) The alphabet of life The grand tale of life is long and complicated. Storylines intertwine and many subplots twist and turn unexpectedly. Amazingly, this billion-year-spanning story is written in an alphabet that contains only four letters, the alphabet of DNA. A for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine, and […]... Read more »
Malyshev DA, Dhami K, Lavergne T, Chen T, Dai N, Foster JM, Corrêa IR Jr, & Romesberg FE. (2014) A semi-synthetic organism with an expanded genetic alphabet. Nature, 509(7500), 385-8. PMID: 24805238
- April 13, 2016
- 07:10 AM
- 536 views
Ivy League Climber
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
English ivy doesn’t send out entwining tendrils, it doesn’t burrow into cracks as an anchor. It doesn’t have hooked thorns like a climbing rose – no, English ivy can grow up the side of Wrigley Field because its millions of adventitious roots secrete the strongest glue in the world. However, it doesn’t work like most glues – it works like a gecko’s feet. Oh, and it will help protect you from skin cancer too!... Read more »
Lijin Xia, Scott C Lenaghan, Mingjun Zhang, Zhili Zhang and Quanshui Li. (2010) Naturally occurring nanoparticles from English ivy: an alternative to metal-based nanoparticles for UV protection. Journal of Nanbiotechnology. DOI: 10.1186/1477-3155-8-12
- February 29, 2016
- 07:30 AM
- 480 views
I love thial-S-oxides so much I cry
by Shane Caldwell in Helical Translations
What exactly is behind the tear-inducing chemical in onions?... Read more »
Eady CC, Kamoi T, Kato M, Porter NG, Davis S, Shaw M, Kamoi A, & Imai S. (2008) Silencing onion lachrymatory factor synthase causes a significant change in the sulfur secondary metabolite profile. Plant physiology, 147(4), 2096-106. PMID: 18583530
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.