All Articles Tagged As: enzymes

Researchers find new way to study how enzymes repair DNA damage (1/30/2010)

Researchers at Ohio State University have found a new way to study how enzymes move as they repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to new therapies for healing sunburned skin. Ultraviolet (UV) light damages skin by causing chemical bonds to form in the wrong places along the DNA molecules in our cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists are first to observe the global motions of an enzyme copying DNA (10/29/2009)

Scientists here have identified how the motions of an enzyme are related to correctly copying genetic instructions, setting the stage for studies that can uncover what happens when DNA copying mistakes are made. Perpetuation of DNA mistakes can cause mutations that lead to cancer and other diseases. ...> Full Article

Cell death occurs in the same way in plants, animals and humans (10/16/2009)

International research teams has shown that parts of the genetic programs that determine programmed cell death in plants and animals are actually evolutionarily related and moreover function in a similar way ...> Full Article

Researchers discover RNA repair system in bacteria (10/14/2009)

In new papers appearing this month in Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Illinois biochemistry professor Raven H. Huang and his colleagues describe the first RNA repair system to be discovered in bacteria. ...> Full Article

Researchers are developing an enzyme function database (8/31/2009)

Project seeks to link new genome data with decades of research ...> Full Article

New book, 'Untangling the Double Helix,' explores enzymes responsible for maintaining genome integrity (4/19/2009)

If it were not for a group of enzymes called topoisomerases, DNA would become a knotted, coiled, dysfunctional mess inside of a cell as it gets twisted, rolled, unzipped and pulled by the cellular machinery that reads and copies its sequence. James C. Wang, the discoverer of the first topoisomerase, has written a book that discusses the history of topoisomerases, their mechanisms of action and their use and potential as therapeutic targets. ...> Full Article

Scientists uncover mimicry at the molecular level that protects genome integrity (4/16/2009)

Mimicry is common in nature, where it is used as a key survival mechanism. Now scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered molecular mimicry in a genetic integrity pathway, which is implicated in many human diseases, from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. ...> Full Article

DNA repair mechanisms relocate in response to stress (3/29/2009)

Some DNA repair enzymes can relocate to the part of the cell that needs their help, a team of scientists has found. The signal that prompts relocation is oxidative stress, an imbalance of cellular metabolism connected with several human diseases. The study resulted in a new level of understanding of the cell's response to genetic damage ad could lead to new targets for anti-cancer drugs that interfere with DNA repair. ...> Full Article

Scientists develop first examples of RNA that replicates itself indefinitely (1/12/2009)

One of the most enduring questions is how life could have begun on Earth. Molecules that can make copies of themselves are thought to be crucial to understanding this process as they provide the basis for heritability, a critical characteristic of living systems. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover new way in which ubiquitin modifies transcriptional machinery (12/19/2008)

Recent evidence suggests that parts of the ubiquitin-proteasome system are involved in regulating gene expression. Ubiquitylation controls factors such as transcriptional activators, coactivators, and histones, but how precisely it modifies transcription is largely unknown. Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have now discovered that in yeast, the protein Asr1 "glues" ubiquitin to specific spots in RNA pol II -- the enzyme the copies DNA into RNA -- causing it be deactivated. ...> Full Article

Atomic-resolution views suggest function of enzyme that regulates light-detecting signals in eye (10/17/2008)

Enzyme undergoes large conformational change after small messenger molecule binds ...> Full Article

Study Unveils Structural Details of Enzyme Vital to DNA Repair (10/6/2008)

Working in close collaboration two groups of scientists have revealed for the first time details of the crucial role played by the enzyme Mre11 in DNA repair, a process critical to cell survival and good health. ...> Full Article

Lab Identifies Novel Mechanism for Regulation of Gene Expression (9/29/2008)

An enzyme called Uch37 is kept in check when it is part of a human chromatin remodeling complex, INO80 ...> Full Article

Researchers find new mode of gene regulation in mammals (7/10/2008)

Researchers have discovered a type of gene regulation never before observed in mammals--a "ribozyme" that controls the activity of an important family of genes in several different species. ...> Full Article

Purple extremist thrives under inhospitable conditions (6/27/2008)

scientists discovers new protein that repairs DNA under extreme conditions ...> Full Article

Scientists identify a key regulator of DNA mutations (6/11/2008)

Researchers have independently identified a tiny molecule that directly binds to and curbs the production of the potent gene mutator B lymphocyte. ...> Full Article

Researchers Build Model Protocell Capable of Copying DNA (6/5/2008)

Four billion years ago, modern cells were absent on our still-young planet. The simple protocells that are thought to have given rise to Earth's earliest life forms were plentiful, but likely no more than a bit of genetic material surrounded by a hollow membrane. ...> Full Article

X chromosome exposed (6/1/2008)

An enzyme that binds differently to male and female sex chromosomes helps males to make up for their X chromosome shortage ...> Full Article

New Technique Allows Targeted Inactivation Of Genes In Research Model (5/31/2008)

Finding has broad implications for genetic research ...> Full Article

Scientists Automate Molecular Evolution (4/28/2008)

Under the control of a computer, a population of billions of genes morphed through 500 cycles of forced adaptation to emerge as molecules that could grow faster and faster on a continually dwindling source of chemical fuel ...> Full Article

Zinc link made in barley breeding (4/23/2008)

Chromosomal regions conferring zinc efficiency in barley ...> Full Article

Plant researchers publish finding on enzyme, drought connection (4/20/2008)

A better understanding of how plants tolerate drought could result ...> Full Article

Molecular engineers design new enzymes from scratch (3/21/2008)

Many important chemical reactions are slow and unwieldy because no enzyme exists to prod them to greater efficiency. Designing new enzymes from scratch is of practical interest in biomedicine, biotechnology, environmental cleanup, and other industries. Precisely engineered enzymes, built to match the specific task at hand, could improve many processes in these fields by triggering, speeding up, and controlling the necessary chemical reactions. ...> Full Article

Lab characterizes novel regulator of chromosome function (3/12/2008)

Lab has shed new light on a novel histone acetyltransferase protein complex called ATAC ...> Full Article

Researchers probe a DNA repair enzyme (2/19/2008)

Researchers have taken the first steps toward understanding how an enzyme repairs DNA. ...> Full Article

New Control Mechanism For Genetic Code Translation Discovered In Bacteria (2/17/2008)

Almost all organisms, from bacteria to human beings, share the same genetic code, a group of universal instructions used to convert DNA or RNA sequences into proteins, the "building blocks" of life. Identification of the evolutionary differences between the system for the translation of the genetic code in humans and other organisms, such as bacteria in this case, are useful, for example, for the design of new antibiotics. ...> Full Article

Researchers Seek to Make Cavity-Causing Bacteria Self-Destruct (1/12/2008)

Larger Goal to Eliminate Key Enzyme's Contribution to all Strep and Staph Disease ...> Full Article

UCI and CODA Genomics collaborate to re-engineer yeast for biofuel production (9/4/2007)

Common fungus could increase ethanol output ...> Full Article