By computationally combining incomplete imaging information with bits and pieces of structural data from all sorts of different experiments, researchers have worked out the protein-by-protein structure of an important cellular assembly called the nuclear pore complex.
Like puzzles? Here’s a tough one: Try figuring out the construction of a nearly 500-piece machine without blueprints or a complete picture. Biologists have now accomplished just such a feat,...
Apr, 01, 2008
Central repository of information on genes and proteins requires participation by the scientific community
If you build it, will they come? That’s the question on everyone’s mind after the launch of two pioneering initiatives in community annotation: WikiProteins and Gene Wiki, announced,...
Oct, 01, 2008
Models of healthy and diseased lipid profiles could prove valuable diagnostically.
When it comes to heart disease risk, “bad” and “good” cholesterol—also known as low density lipoproteins [LDL] and high density lipoproteins [HDL]—do not tell...
Oct, 01, 2008
Using Rosetta@Home, a program that runs on the personal computers of 150,000 volunteers worldwide, David Baker’s team predicted the structure of a 112-amino-acid protein from scratch.
When nature folds an amino acid sequence into a protein, it usually knows that just one conformation is the right one. But when a computer tries to do the same thing, it often predicts multiple...
Jan, 01, 2008
Predicting protein localization
Joe works in a factory; Jane works in a hospital; protein X works in the Golgi apparatus. Just as one might guess a worker’s job by knowing where he or she is employed, biologists can guess a...
Apr, 01, 2006
Knot-detecting algorithm discovers that proteins are rarely knotted
When you accidentally twist a shoelace, garden hose, or necklace, it can get annoyingly tangled into intractable knots. On the microscopic level, biopolymers—string-like molecules such as DNA...
Oct, 01, 2010
As algorithms evolve, computing power explodes, and scientists solve a greater number of 3-D protein structures, computer-aided design has the potential to dramatically cut the cost and time of drug discovery
Once upon a time, not long ago, HIV/AIDS was a scourge, killing anyone who contracted the deadly virus. Now, many people are living with the disease, which they control with drugs initially developed...
Jul, 01, 2007
A combination of genomics data and molecular dynamics modeling is sufficient to predict protein complex structure
The zone where two proteins interact presents a possible target for drug design. But identifying possible drugs requires a detailed understanding of the interface between the proteins. Computer...
Apr, 01, 2010
A model of chromatin explores how it folds and unfolds
To fit an organism’s DNA into a single cell, it has to be tightly compacted, first wound around proteins to form chromatin fibers, then further coiled into chromosomes. Computer simulations by...
Sep, 01, 2005
Structure-prediction algorithm searches for most likely conformation
If you want to find a Tab ‘A’ that will fit into a Slot ‘B’, you’ll waste a lot of time if you don’t know the shape of the slot. For scientists trying to design...
Jul, 01, 2006
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