Biochemistry – May 2022 Newsletter
Click here to read the full edition: Newsletter – May 2022 – FINAL
April Newsletter 2022
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Characterization of a new heme piracy pathway in Acinetobacter baumannii
The latest study from the Moraes lab characterized a novel heme uptake pathway in A. baumannii, which is listed by the WHO and CDC as one of the top priority pathogens for research and development of new therapeutics. In response to being in iron restricted environments such as a human host during infection, A. baumannii produces a heme binding protein (HphA) secreted by an outer membrane protein called Slam. This […]
September Newsletter 2021
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New Method to Detect Protein-Protein Interactions Developed by the Stagljar Lab
In a new publication that was published in Nature Communications, the Stagljar lab describe a new technique, called Split Intein-Mediated Protein Ligation (SIMPL), where two test proteins are fused to two halves of intein, a protein that promotes “protein splicing”. When the two test proteins interact, the intein protein activates a splicing reaction, resulting in the fusion of the two test proteins. This technique can help to detect […]
First high resolution structure of a mammalian V-ATPase by the Rubinstein Lab
In the latest issue of Science, Professor John Rubinstein‘s lab reports the first high-resolution structure of a mammalian V-ATPase. These ATP-hydrolysis–driven proton pumps are essential for acidification of endosomes, lysosomes, and the trans Golgi network, as well as for acid secretion by osteoclasts, kidney intercalated cells, and some tumor cells.
ATP hydrolysis in the V-ATPase catalytic V1 region drives rotation of a central rotor subcomplex and leads to […]
Using image-based learning to localize proteins
In the latest issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, the Andrews lab acquired >1.2 million confocal micrographs of EGFP fusion proteins localized at key cell organelles in murine and human cells from which morphology and statistical features were measured. Machine learning algorithms they developed that use these features to permit automated assignment of the localization of other proteins and dyes in both cell types with higher accuracy […]
New potential anti-cancer compounds discovered by the Stagljar lab
In the latest issue of Nature Chemical Biology, the Stagljar lab used the mammalian membrane two-hybrid drug screening (MaMTH-DS), a technique that they previously pioneered, to identify new compounds that inhibit the activity of oncoproteins that cause breast cancer. In this case they found four compounds that inhibit the dimerization of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is commonly mutated in non-small-cell lung cancers that have become […]