Biochemistry, University of Toronto – Nature Communications

SickKids-led team discovers a drug that disarms a deadly hospital superbug

7 December 2018|

In a new study that was published in Nature Communications, a team led by Roman Melnyk, Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto and Senior Scientist in the Molecular Medicine program at SickKids, screened thousands of small-molecule drugs to find any that might block the effects of the deadly toxins – without affecting the gut bacteria. Niclosamide, a drug that was approved decades […]

SickKids scientists and collaborators identify structure of key malaria protein with blocking antibody

21 November 2018|

SickKids scientists have taken an important step forward on the path to finding effective biomedical interventions to halt the spread of malaria, a disease that affected an estimated 216 million people worldwide in 2016 alone.

Jean-Philippe Julien, Canada Research Chair in Structural Immunology, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Immunology at the University of Toronto, and Scientist in the Molecular Medicine program at SickKids, and his colleagues […]

Tipping Cell Signaling Pathways by Salts

11 April 2018|

Mechanistic Insights into Allosteric Regulation of the A_2A Adenosine G protein-Coupled Receptor by Physiological Cations

Libin Ye¹^,², Chris Neale³, Adnan Sljoka⁴, Brent Lyda⁵, Dmitry Pichugin¹^,², Nobuyuki Tsuchimura⁴, Sacha T. Larda¹^,², Régis Pomès^2,6, Angel E. García³, Oliver P. Ernst^2,7, Roger K. Sunahara⁵, R. Scott Prosser¹^,²^,*

In a recent paper appearing in Nature Communications, Libin Ye (Prosser lab) and co-authors reveal the delicate balance between inactive states and activation intermediates by allosteric […]

How RNA decay promotes transcriptional rewiring during DNA replication stress

13 December 2017|

Raphael Loll-Krippleber from the Brown lab describes how yeast cells exposed to DNA replication stress induced by the anti-cancer drug hydroxyurea use RNA decay to reprogram gene expression. Using complementary functional genomics approaches Raphael found that a specific mRNA encoding the transcriptional repressor Yox1 is degraded at P-bodies sites to prevent accumulation of the Yox1 repressor in the nucleus. Up-regulation of YOX1 expression, as observed when P-body function is […]

Crystallographers celebrate 1,000th protein structure

4 December 2017|

Scientists have solved 1,000 protein structures using data collected at the Canadian Light Source CMCF beamlines. The Canadian Light Source (CLS) is a national research facility, producing the brightest light in Canada. The Canada Foundation for Innovation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan fund the CLS operations, which allows hundreds […]

SickKids scientists obtain blueprint of molecular target for blood cancer and autoimmune therapies

4 October 2017|

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have been exploring the molecular structure of immune cell components, and how gaining an understanding of their anatomical organization can help develop future targeted therapies for blood cancers and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien and co-authors, Dr. June Ereño-Orbea and Taylor Sicard provide the details of their study, “Molecular basis of human CD22 function and therapeutic targeting”, published October 2 in […]

Howell lab deduces the mechanism of type IV pilus motors

5 May 2017|

Howell lab

The type IV pilus is a long and sturdy grappling hook that bacteria use to attach to a surface and then pull themselves closer to the surface. They are important for virulence in many pathogens, including those that cause cholera, gonorrhoea, food-borne diseases, and multi-drug resistant hospital acquired infections. The molecular mechanism of the motors involved in throwing out and pulling […]

New genetic disease discovered by Drs. Aleixo Muise and Walter Kahr

7 April 2017|

Two of Biochemistry’s professors, Drs. Aleixo Muise and Walter Kahr have discovered a brand new genetic disease through their research at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Their research article is published on Nature Communications.

Their story was also highlighted on the Hospital for Sick Children, CBC The National and CBC News Network, and the Globe and Mail websites:

http://www.sickkids.ca/AboutSickKids/Newsroom/Past-News/2017/SickKids-team-identifies-new-disease-solves-medical-mystery.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/new-disease-discovered-1.4054061

[…]

New advances in phagocytosis by the Grinstein lab published in Nature Communications

6 January 2016|

Sergio Grinstein’s lab studies phagocytosis –the mechanism responsible for the clearance of pathogens, dead cells and macromolecular debris. The formation of the phagosome and its internalization requires tightly coordinated, localized actin assembly and disassembly. While mechanisms of actin assembly to drive advancing pseudopodia are well studied, the mechanism of actin disassembly was unknown. Screening a library of RhoGAP fluorescent fusion proteins, the Grinstein lab found 3 RhoGAPs that were […]

Two-dimensional slither swimming of sperm within a micrometre of a surface

7 December 2015|

Human sperm swim faster and straighter when aligned close to a surface than when there is no surface nearby, reports a study in Nature Communications authored by members of the Sinton and Yip Labs. This may reflect a strategy adapted to a confined reproductive system.

Sperm swim by beating a long tail, called a flagellum, in a helical pattern. In aquatic animals, this propels sperm through the water, but internal […]

Crystal structure of the outer membrane protein ZnuD

Charles Calmettes and other members of the Moraes, Pomès, and Gray-Owen labs publish paper in Nature Communications

25 August 2015|

The conserved outer-membrane zinc transporter ZnuD is utilized by bacteria to overcome nutritional restriction imposed by the host organism during infection. In this Nature Communications paper (Calmettes et al.), Post doctoral fellow Dr. Charles Calmettes and other members of the Moraes Lab, Pomès Lab and Gray-Owen lab demonstrate that ZnuD is required for efficient systemic infections by the causative agent of bacterial meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis. They combined X-ray crystallography […]

Recent Graduates, Ruth Milkereit and Avinash Persaud, publish paper in Nature Communications

2 June 2015|

Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) is a master regulator of energy metabolism, protein synthesis, cell and animal growth, and it is implicated in numerous diseases, including cancer. Influx of essential amino acids such as Leu into cells is mediated by the LAT1-4F2hc (SLC7A5-SLC3A2) transporter in exchange for Gln, and results in the recruitment of the mTORC1 complex to the lysosomal membrane. Intracellular Leu then enters the lysosome to […]

Nature Communications