Tag Archives: structure

Advances in electron microscopy reveal secrets of HIV and other viruses

The envelope (or Env) protein of HIV is a key target for vaccine makers: it is a key component in RV144, an experimental vaccine that is so far the only candidate to show promise in clinical trials. Also called gp120, the Env protein associates with another protein called gp41 and three gp120/gp41 units associate to form the final trimeric structure. The gp120 trimer is the machine that allows HIV to enter and attack host cells. …

Furin: The answer to the ebola crises?

Furin is responsible for activating certain proteins and is involved in the processing and maturation of viral and bacterial preproteins. Indeed, the strength of Furin activity has already been recognised, and used previously by scientists to propose broad anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer treatments. This study used the binding site of human Furin in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Author of the study, Omotuyi Olaposi, a lecturer in Biochemistry at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria, explains that the experiment ‘may provide further insight to the design of novel drugs for Ebola virus disease treatment’…

How cells defend themselves against antibiotics, cytostatic agents

For the first time, the group led by Robert Tamp�, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco, succeeded in determining the structure of an asymmetrical ABC transporter complex with the aid of a high-resolution cryo-electron microscope. “Over a period of five years, we have successfully implemented a number of innovative, methodological developments. …

Molecular ‘breadcrumb trail’ that helps melanoma spread found

The team at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute at the University of Glasgow, revealed that melanoma cells give themselves the ‘green light’ to move using the molecule — a type of fatty chemical called lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). This signal prompts them to travel and spread in the body. The researchers showed in cancer cell lines and mice that tumour cells start their journey by first breaking down a nearby source of LPA molecules…

Mystery of brain cell growth unraveled by scientists

How a single protein can exert both a push and a pull force to nudge a neuron in the desired direction is a longstanding mystery that has now been solved by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and collaborators in Europe and China. Jia-huai Wang, PhD, who led the work at Dana-Farber and Peking University in Beijing, is a corresponding author of a report published in the August 7 online edition of Neuron that explains how one guidance protein, netrin-1, can either attract or repel a brain cell to steer it along its course. Wang and co-authors at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, Germany, used X-ray crystallography to reveal the three-dimensional atomic structure of netrin-1 as it bound to a docking molecule, called DCC, on the axon of a neuron…