Category Archives: Biochemistry

Biochemistry

Hormones, the road to Damascus – Telangana Today

Many talk freely about hormones, but only a handful really know about them, their source, origin and still very few, if at all, have any clue on their function.All my fellow iron warriors, I need to address you that all of us are captives of our hormones. Our very existence and training progress and many bodily functions are totally controlled by our hormones. Hormones are secreted by various glands comprising the endocrine system.

The two types of hormones concerning our interests are steroids and polypeptides. They course through our bodies and eventually act on a target organ. The problem lies with the fact that, we, through our various researches, have only a minute clue about their individual potential and how they collaborate.

Steroidal hormones are a product of cholesterol, produced in the gonads (testis and ovaries) and the cerebral cortex (brain), and the second type the polypeptide hormones are manufactured by various other glands through different combinations of amino acids. The hormones regulate almost all of our bodily functions.

The endocrine system synergises with the nervous system to give the human body a comprehensive benefit. The direct effect of the hormones is a tad bit difficult to understand but the resultant effect is of the greatest concern to all physical culturists.

An analogy in this regard will reveal it all. In a game of carroms, the striker coin coincides the second coin to strike the third coin in the hole. A biochemical example in this regard would be insulin, a hormone released by the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in our pancreas, elevates cellular uptake of glucose, which, in turn, causes increased muscle glycogen synthesis and hence reduces blood-borne glucose which, again, causes a dip in insulin response.

During steady state activities like marathon running, this reduction in blood glucose and the resultant decrease in insulin production causes an increase in the mobilisation of stored fat. Phew! A lot of complex biochemistry one may say, but, instead, following our logic and reasoning ability we can easily comprehend and conclude that it is the demand that creates supply.

Taking few above-mentioned biochemical facts into consideration, one can easily conclude that workouts must necessarily exert the practitioner, stretching their physical thresholds, and, when the body undergoes this intensity of exercise, the systemic fatigue that accrues demands one to rest amply without which productivity becomes indirectly proportional.

Intensity, as the hard core proponents of this word would define, would be One has not any clue of high intensity exercise if one has not puked after performing one set of one single rep of a barbell bicep curl.

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Hormones, the road to Damascus - Telangana Today

Biochemistry

Children’s cancer researcher named Woman of the Year – UNSW Newsroom

Professor Maria Kavallaris, a leading childhood cancer researcher and a pioneer of nanomedicine in Australia, is the 2020 NSW Premier's Woman of the Year.

Professor Kavallaris is Head of Translational Cancer Nanomedicine at Childrens Cancer Institute and Founding Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW Sydney.

The prestigious award, announced a ceremony in Sydney this morning,recognises NSW women who have excelled in their chosen career, field or passion; are exceptional achievers who have made a significant contribution to NSW; and whose accomplishments make them a strong role model for other women.

I am truly honoured to have received this award and I hope it inspires young women to do what they love, grow and learn, and to lead with generosity and respect, Professor Kavallaris said.

Professor Kavallaris is internationally renowned for her research in cancer biology and therapeutics. She has been widely recognised for the innovation and impact of her research, her leadership as well as her mentoring of talented young scientists. She is passionate about training the next generation of research leaders.

Her personal journey with cancer began at the age of 21 and has driven her research to develop effective and less toxic cancer treatments.

As one of the original three scientists appointed at the Childrens Cancer Institute when its laboratories first opened in 1984, she has made important discoveries in relation to the mechanisms of clinical drug resistance and tumour aggressiveness in childhood cancer.

Her studies have not only identied how some tumours can grow and spread;she has also applied this knowledge to develop eective, less toxic cancer therapies using nanotechnology.

To be able to make a difference to the lives of children with cancer and their families by developing better treatments and improving survival rates is very humbling. Even if you can save one childs life, thats an incredible feat, Professor Kavallaris said.

As a conjoint professor in the UNSW Faculty of Medicine, Professor Kavallaris relishes her role of mentor and has supervised many Honours and PhD students, several of whom have become research leaders.

Professor Kavallariss extensive research and leadership contributions have been recognised withnumerous awards including the NSW Premiers Prize for Science and Engineering (Leadership in Innovation in NSW) in 2017, the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biologys Lemberg Medal in 2019 and she was made aMember of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medicine, and to medical research, in the field of childhood and adult cancerson Australia Day 2019.

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Children's cancer researcher named Woman of the Year - UNSW Newsroom

Biochemistry

University School of Medicine surpassed funding record with grants from NIH – University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily

During 2019, the University School of Medicine met multiple milestones. The Federal Drug Association approved an artificial pancreas for Type I diabetics developed over the past decade at the University. Another team of researchers discovered the protein that allows the bacteria species Geobacter sulfurreducens to conduct electricity, which could have implications for biomedical device development.

While commonalities between these projects may not be immediately apparent, they all are similar in that they have the same major source of funding the National Institutes of Health, a federal agency that conducts and supports medical research. In the past year, NIH awarded the University a record amount of funding $146.3 million, a $25.4 million increase from fiscal year 2018.

David S. Wilkes, dean of the School of Medicine, attributed the Universitys growing number of approved grant proposals from NIH, as well as the more than $400 million the School of Medicine received overall this year, to a targeted approach to research that focuses on specific areas of study. Emphasizing depth over sheer breadth, Wilkes claimed, served the School of Medicine well in terms of finances and achievements.

We put plans in place to reinvigorate the research enterprise at the medical school, Wilkes said. That was in part through finding specific areas of research to invest in, investing in current faculty and also making strategic hires of additional faculty.

Faculty and staff implemented these new strategies at the School of Medicine nearly five years ago when they committed to promoting seven core biological and medical fields cancer, cardiovascular medicine, metabolic disorders, neurosciences, organ transplant, precision medicine and regenerative medicine. In each of these key disciplines, researchers conduct basic, clinical and translational studies to learn how the body functions and develop novel treatments and therapies.

Were hoping for discoveries that enhance the care of patients, the way healthcare is delivered or novel techniques for diagnosing disease and testing how medicines work, Wilkes said. Were hoping for a better understanding of biology as it relates to human conditions.

One of the beneficiaries of numerous NIH grants is Boris Kovatchev director of the University Center for Diabetes Technology and a pioneer on the artificial pancreas, a device thousands already rely on for life-sustaining insulin. When explaining why he has stayed at the University for 28 years, Kovatchev noted that the Universitys Center for Diabetes Technology is well-respected when it comes to diabetes technology development. He also expressed gratitude for several colleagues at the University including Marc Breton, Sue Brown, Mark DeBoer and Stacy Anderson for their expertise on Type I diabetes treatments and the funding from NIH they contribute to the program.

When I came to U.Va. a long time ago, U.Va. already had a very strong endocrinology and diabetes program, Kovatchev said. Now, the U.Va. Center for Diabetes Technology is probably number one in the world.

Initial funding for Type I diabetes research for Kovatchev started over 20 years ago, and for almost 12 years, NIH has continuously awarded Kovatchev and his team grants. In 2016, they received over $12 million for clinical trials of the artificial pancreas. Not only did this sum significantly surpass the average amount of NIH research project grants in fiscal year 2018 $535,239 but it is also the largest given by NIH for research on Type I diabetes.

NIH has special diabetes funding, and that has been a reliable source of funding for specific areas of research related to Type I diabetes, Kovatchev said. They have been our major source.

Similarly, contributions from NIH subsidize the work of Edward H. Egelman, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics. Along with other scientists from Yale University and the University of California, Irvine, in 2019, Egelman discovered the structure that enables certain bacteria species to conduct electricity.

While it was commonly accepted that bacteria transported electrons via filamentous appendages that can cause infections, or pili, researchers found that distinct filaments encase molecules with metal and compose a nanowire to facilitate electron transfer. Egelman cited recent and past NIH grants as essential for this type of research, as well as for exploring novel topics that led him to unexpected conclusions.

I am very fortunate to have had sustained funding from the NIH for almost all of my career, and this has allowed my research to go off in unanticipated directions, Egelman said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. The point is that with fundamental or basic research we never quite know what the consequences will be but my NIH funding allowed me to pursue these studies that may have direct implications for everything from nanoelectronics to biomedical engineering.

NIH continues to support a variety of ongoing endeavors at the University. For example, researchers at the University and Virginia Tech recently accepted $3.4 million to develop a miniature model of a lymph node they hope will aid future studies of the organ. The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia, an initiative throughout the state to connect clinical researchers, disbursed $200,000 from NIH to four multi-institutional research projects several of which involve University faculty in its initial effort to sponsor combined biomedical and data-driven projects, such as the use of ultrasounds to help treat depression.

At the start of a new decade, the challenge for the School of Medicine, Wilkes said, is not necessarily if there will be adequate monetary resources for research, but rather if there will be adequate laboratory space. With a record year behind them, University researchers are looking forward now, as research expansion is likely on the horizon.

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University School of Medicine surpassed funding record with grants from NIH - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily

Biochemistry

New ammunition uncovered by U of T researchers to develop colorectal cancer treatment – Varsity

One in 14 Ontarians can expect to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in their lifetime. COURTESY OF ED UTHMAN/FLICKR

University of Toronto scientists have identified a key protein as a common factor in the growth of many different types of colorectal cancer tumours, according to research published in the Journal of Cell Biology. Colorectal cancer develops in the colon or rectum. In Ontario, it is also the second most fatal cancer, and one in 14 Ontarians can expect to be diagnosed with this form of cancer in their lifetime.

In past research, scientists have linked the excessive accumulation of beta-catenin, a protein with crucial functions in cell development, to the expression of genes that drive tumour proliferation. Research has associated 80 per cent of colorectal cancers with gene mutations that greatly increase the production of beta-catenin.

The co-authors of the study have identified another protein, Importin-11, as the compound that enables beta-catenin transportation to the nucleus of the human cell. Cancer therapies that inhibit this transport could be a promising way to treat colorectal cancer.

Fundamental research provides new knowledge for cancer therapies

The Varsity spoke to Dr. Stephane Angers, a co-author of the study and an associate professor at U of Ts Department of Biochemistry. Angers lab has spent a considerable amount of time studying biological pathways the series of chemical changes during cellular development that give cells their final functions.

Angers noted that Monika Mis, the lead author of the study and a PhD student, uncovered the role of Importin-11 in colorectal cancer in Angers lab. Mis used the gene-editing CRISPR-Cas9 technology to screen genes in colorectal cancer calls to identify a novel gene, IPO11, which encodes for the protein Importin-11.

Current treatment options for colorectal cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and other radiation therapy. Although this discovery is still in its fundamental stages, blocking the transport of beta-catenin holds great promise for developing new therapies.

As Angers put it, It provides new ammunition, new possibilities, and new knowledge that could lead in the future to new therapies, but it is very much at the discovery level at this point.

More research required to develop therapies

Further research could involve drug discovery and widen the scope of Importin-11 function in various cells. Researchers may also find it valuable to analyze existing data about colorectal cancer. The goal is to understand how the mutations affect tumour formation and develop therapies that harness this knowledge.

Angers lab is also investigating other potential applications of the Wnt pathway, a specific biological pathway associated with beta-catenin. A particularly interesting aspect is its role in regenerative medicine, which is the study of restoring human cells, tissues, and organs.

We think that with new molecules that we have developed we can now activate the pathway in order to promote the regenerative abilities of tissues, noted Angers.

Tags: biology, cancer, medicine, oncology

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New ammunition uncovered by U of T researchers to develop colorectal cancer treatment - Varsity

Biochemistry

Doctor of biochemistry worked at Loma Linda University – Redlands News

Dr. Ronald Henry Hillock of Las Vegas, who worked at Loma Linda University for 40 years as a clinical chemist and a professor of biochemistry, died with his family by his side on Feb. 2, 2020. He was 85.

Born on July 5, 1934, in Paris, Ontario, Canada, he lived in Loma Linda 41 years prior to moving to Las Vegas.

He was a U.S. Air Force veteran.

During his service, he became a clinical laboratory technician, leading to a distinguished career in academia and clinical medicine.

He is survived by his wife Thelma of 65 years; daughter Janet Hillock Barone of Longboat Key, Florida; son Ronald W. Hillock, M.D. of Las Vegas; daughter Dawn L. Hillock of Las Vegas; four grandchildren, Chris Johnson of Whittier, California, Andrea Barone of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Michael Barone of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and Zoe Hillock of Las Vegas.

A Memorial service will be scheduled. The family suggests donations to the American Diabetes Association.

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Doctor of biochemistry worked at Loma Linda University - Redlands News

Biochemistry

Team deciphers how myotonic dystrophy generates lethal heart dysfunctions – University of Illinois News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Roughly 80% of people with myotonic dystrophy a common form of muscular dystrophy experience dangerous heart ailments, and heart rhythm defects are the second-leading cause of death in those with the condition. In a new study, researchers traced the molecular events that lead to heart abnormalities in myotonic dystrophy and recreated the disease in a mouse model.

They report their findings in the journal Developmental Cell.

In this study, we discovered that the genetic abnormalities associated with myotonic dystrophy lead to the overproduction of an alternative-splicing factor that regulates how cells process other proteins, said Auinash Kalsotra, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who led the work. He is a faculty member in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and in the Cancer Center at Illinois.

The alternative-splicing factor comes in two forms, called muscle and nonmuscle RBFOX2. Both alter RNA transcripts by splicing them before they are translated into proteins. The nonmuscle form of the protein is elevated in the heart muscles of people with myotonic dystrophy, the researchers found.

When we engineered mice to express this wrong version of the protein in the heart, they developed the same heart irregularities seen in humans with myotonic dystrophy, Kalsotra said. We decided to investigate further why expression of the nonmuscle RBFOX2 variant in the heart triggers arrhythmias.

By looking at cardiac gene-expression data and focusing on which gene transcripts are altered by the nonmuscle RBFOX2 in myotonic dystrophy patients, we discovered that it induces abnormal splicing of proteins that make up the major potassium and sodium channels in heart cells, said Chaitali Misra, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Kalsotra laboratory and the first author of the study. These channels are essential to the propagation of electrical signals across heart muscle, and their aberrant splicing causes major cardiac conduction defects.

This disrupts the normal rhythm and function of the heart in individuals with myotonic dystrophy, Kalsotra said.

Our results have answered a long-standing question of why myotonic dystrophy patients develop cardiac dysfunctions and offers new insights into previously unknown mechanisms causing arrhythmias in the heart, he said. We expect these findings will help explore new approaches for treating cardiac arrhythmias and bring us closer to finding a cure for this disease.

The research team included U. of I. graduate student Sushant Bangru; undergraduate students Feikai Lin and Darren J. Parker; Thomas A. Cooper, of Baylor College of Medicine; Sara N. Koenig, Ellen R. Lubbers and Peter J. Mohler, of Ohio State University; and U. of I. postdoctoral fellow Jamila Hedhli, graduate student Kin Lam, bioengineering professor Lawrence W. Dobrucki and biochemistry professor Emad Tajkhorshid, all of whom are affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at Illinois.

The National Institutes of Health, Muscular Dystrophy Association and American Heart Association funded this research.

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Team deciphers how myotonic dystrophy generates lethal heart dysfunctions - University of Illinois News

Biochemistry

IISc.s biochemistry department turns 100 – The Hindu

The Department of Biochemistry of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) stepped into its centenary year in 2020. Established in 1921, it is said to be one of the oldest departments not only in India, but in all of Asia. Around 850 students have graduated from the department so far.

P.N. Rangarajan, Chairperson, Department of Biochemistry, told The Hindu that the major achievement has been its students, many of who are now leaders in industry and academia. One of them J. Padmanabhan alumni and faculty became the director of IISc. M.R.S. Rao went on to become the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, and Ram Rajasekharan became the Director of CFTRI-Mysuru, he said.

The department has planned a major conference and alumni reunion in December, as well as a centenary lecture series that will be held almost every month. On the IISc.s Open Day on Saturday, it is organising an exhibition highlighting its past and current activities.

Prof. Rangarajans own research has led to the development of the hepatitis B vaccine. At least four vaccines are currently in the market. The hepatitis B component in these vaccines came from the lab of the Department of Biochemistry, he added.

In a recent issue of the journal Current Science, Prof. Rangarajan lists out the progression of research in the department. This includes research of societal relevance in the early years which resulted in the development of methods for conversion of municipal waste into organic manure and fluoride removal from drinking water, to name a few.

The article makes note of key contributions in basic research such as the identification of yeast chromosomes and nuclear membrane.

Ongoing research

At present, a novel drug combination for extremely drug resistant and multi-drug resistant TB, as well as new blood-based biomarker signatures of host genes for diagnosis of tuberculosis and for detecting response to anti-tubercular therapy are being developed, he told The Hindu. A novel inhibitor of DNA repair enzyme called SCR7 has also been developed in our laboratory. It has the potential to develop as a cancer drug, said Prof. Rangarajan.

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IISc.s biochemistry department turns 100 - The Hindu

Biochemistry

What coronavirus’ shape-shifting structure tells us about the disease, and how to fight it – KUOW News and Information

Scientists at the University of Washington have a better picture of the coronavirus literally. The images help them understand the mechanism of the infection and help in designing a vaccine.

Ask Lexi Walls, a UW postdoctoral fellow, what the coronavirus looks like up close and shell tell you, Broccoli, like a head of a broccoli.

Washington state health officials are preparing for possible coronavirus spread

Walls and Young-Jun Park are part of a UW research team thats studying the virus. Using cryo-electron microscopy, they learned about the virus architecture; it has spikes.

Dr. David Veesler, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine, says the spikes change in shape as it invades a cell.

It changes shape to be able to attach to the host cell surface, Veesler said.

Once it latches onto the cell, it becomes a gateway for infections to start.

Because we know what it looks like, the goal is to take this knowledge forward and to design better vaccines, Walls said.

There are still many more steps before a vaccine is available in the market, but this is the first step in developing one.

To date there are 19 confirmed cases of infection in the U.S.

Globally, more than 82,000 people have been infected.

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What coronavirus' shape-shifting structure tells us about the disease, and how to fight it - KUOW News and Information

Biochemistry

Why COVID-19 is more insidious than other coronaviruses – Salon

Scientists around the world are racing to understandCOVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has infected more than 82,000 people worldwide and killed 2,817 people as of Thursday. While there are many known viruses in the same class of coronavirus as COVID-19, some of its peculiarities including its infectivity are perplexing researchers. Now, a recent research paper viewableon the Chinese research siteChinaxiv.organd previously reported on by theSouth China Morning Postnotes that the new coronavirus has an "HIV-like mutation" that gives it novel properties.

"Because of this mutation, the packing mechanism of the 2019-nCoV may be changed to being more similar to those of MHV, HIV, Ebola virus (EBoV) and some avian influenza viruses," the English abstract of the paper states.

Though the paper is yet to be peer-reviewed, the scientists involved hail from Nankai Unviersity in Tianjin, one of the top universities in the world's most populousnation.

The paper adds to the crucial body of research around COVID-19, which still includes more unknowns than knowns. Currently,scientists still do notknow COVID-19's origin, though suspect it is zoonotic, meaning it likely started in an animal before spreading to humans. As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)note on theirwebsite, COVID-19 is an "emerging disease," and much of what we do know is "based on what is known about similar coronaviruses." More recently,news surfaced today that there are new cases in Germany and California inwhich the patient had no known risk factors.

TheNankai University researchers suggestthat COVID-19's ability to bind tocells is as much as1,000 times greaterthan SARS' ability. Like COVID-19, SARSis also a coronavirus. As explained by the South China Morning Post, SARSand the novel coronavirus share about 80 percent of their genetic structure. However, COVID-19 attacksa proteincalled furin the same proteinthat is attacked byEbola andHIV, which are not coronaviruses. A 2014 research paper suggested that the key to finding a cure for Ebola lay in understanding the protein furin.

According tothe World Health Organization, SARS is more deadly than COVID-19, but the novel coronavirus is more infectious.

This echoes a separate finding from researchers at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine who analyzed the virus's spike architecture.

"The spike is the business part as far as viral entry is concerned," David Veesler, senior author of the report and assistant professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine, said in a media statement."It is in charge not only of attachment at the host cell surface, but also of fusing the viral and host cell membranes to allow the infection to start. The spike is also the main target of neutralizing antibodies, so it's very important for vaccine and therapeutic design."

In their analysis, the researchers found "a furin cleavage site at a boundary between two subunits of the spike protein in the newly emerged coronavirus," according to the media release.

Considering what we do know about the novel coronavirus' genetic makeup, researchers are repurposing drugs used to treat other viral infections in various clinical trials to treat COVID-19.

"The general genomic layout and the general replication kinetics and the biology of the MERS, SARS and [SARS-CoV-2] viruses are very similar, so testing drugs which target relatively generic parts of these coronaviruses is a logical step," Vincent Munster, chief of theViral Ecology Unit at the U.S. National Institute of Health, told Nature.

Americans are bracing for a potential outbreak or even pandemic. In the United States, the CDC said it wasn't a matter of if there will be a disruptive outbreak, but when. Markets in the United States dropped precipitously this week over fears of global economic disruption stemming from COVID-19.

Despite the widespread fear over COVID-19,the seasonal fluremains a greater public health threatin the United States.

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Why COVID-19 is more insidious than other coronaviruses - Salon