Energy-dependent structure and function: Until death (2) The COMT Val158Met polymorphism supposedly is not found in species other than humans See: Global variation in the frequencies of functionally different catechol-O-methyltransferase alleles This is also the first study establishing the COMT*L allele as the derived allele unique to humans. Other organisms do not commit suicide. That […]
Energy-dependent structure and function: Until death (1) Terry Crews details alleged sexual assault by ‘high level’ Hollywood exec “This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD. Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME…” Crews tweeted Tuesday. This claim helps to link the celebrity status of Hollywood victims like Robin Williams to […]
The structure-energy landscape of NMDA receptor gating …using single-molecule Forster resonance energy transfer (smFRET), we map the energy landscape of the first transmembrane segment of the Rattus norvegicus NMDA receptor under resting and various liganded conditions. These results show kinetically and structurally distinct changes associated with apo, agonist-bound, and inhibited receptors linked by a linear […]
National Academies Revise Conflict of Interest Policy The proposed changes follow revelations in recent years that committee members preparing reports for the Academies did not disclose industry relationships. By Ashley P. Taylor | May 3, 2017 Excerpt: They are also thinking about including not only current activities and relationships, as they do now, but past […]
Editing and methylation at a single site by functionally interdependent activities …cytosine 32 in the anticodon loop of Trypanosoma brucei tRNAThr is methylated to 3-methylcytosine (m3C) as a pre-requisite for C-to-U deamination. Formation of m3C in vitro requires the presence of both the T. brucei m3C methyltransferase TRM140 and the deaminase ADAT2/3. Once formed, m3C […]
Nascent, innate, intrinsic, and biofunctional are among the “weasel words” used by theorists who ignore the fact that all life-sustaining energy comes from the sun via hydrogen-atom transfer in DNA base pairs in solution. See how Jon Lieff continues to misrepresent that fact, by placing everything known about RNA-mediated cell type differentiation back into the […]
NIH Awards $1.4M Grant to Support Optogenetics Research Excerpt: Synaptic plasticity, learning and memory are regulated by protein signaling in the brain. Many forms of learning disabilities and other mental diseases may be caused by abnormal protein signaling. To address these brain disorders and diseases, it is crucial to understand on a molecular level the […]
Autophagy: cellular and molecular mechanisms Excerpt: Autophagy is a self-degradative process that is important for balancing sources of energy at critical times in development and in response to nutrient stress. Autophagy also plays a housekeeping role in removing misfolded or aggregated proteins, clearing damaged organelles, such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes, as well as […]