Fighting cancer with lasers and nanoballoons that pop

Chemotherapeutic drugs excel at fighting cancer, but they’re not so efficient at getting where they need to go.

They often interact with blood, bone marrow and other healthy bodily systems. This dilutes the drugs and causes unwanted side effects.

Now, researchers are developing a better delivery method by encapsulating the drugs in nanoballoons – which are tiny modified liposomes that, upon being struck by a red laser, pop open and deliver concentrated doses of medicine.

Read more here...

The image shows a nanoballoon before (left) and after (right) being hit by a red laser. The laser causes the balloon to pop open and release the anti-cancer drugs directly at a tumor. Credit: Jonathan Lovell

Scientists Discover a Better Way to Make Unnatural Amino Acids

Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have devised a greatly improved technique for making amino acids not found in nature. 

These “unnatural” amino acids traditionally have been very difficult to synthesize, but are sought after by the pharmaceutical industry for their potential medical uses.

 

“This new technique offers a very quick way to prepare unnatural amino acids, many of which are drug candidates or building blocks for peptide drugs,” said Jin-Quan Yu, a professor in TSRI’s Department of Chemistry.

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Artificial Cells and Salad Dressing

Researchers have made important discoveries regarding the behavior of a synthetic molecular oscillator, which could help create artificial cells.

A University of California, Riverside assistant professor of engineering is among a group of researchers that have made important discoveries regarding the behavior of a synthetic molecular oscillator, which could serve as a timekeeping device to control artificial cells.

For decades, scientists have been trying to figure out ways to make artificial, programmable oscillators with molecules. Artificial oscillators may help adjust timekeeping in cells and regulating artificial cells. They could also be used as components in molecular computers that could create a middle ground between computers and nature

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Micron-sized droplets of an emulsion form the reaction vessels for a complex, oscillating reaction.

Synthesised Sponge Chemical Shows Promise for Cancer

A promising compound for cancer treatment has been synthesised in a laboratory by an RMIT University researcher during his PhD research.

Dr Dan Balan, from the School of Applied Sciences at RMIT, said 15-aza-Salicylihalamide A analogue had demonstrated potent activity against several leukaemia cell lines.

"Salicylihalamide A is an interesting natural marine product that has been isolated from a marine sponge of the genus Haliclona, collected from waters around Rottnest Island, 18 km off the coast of southern Western Australia," Dr Balan said.

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Discovery of Quantum Vibrations in 'Microtubules' Inside Brain Neurons Supports Controversial Theory of Consciousness

A review and update of a controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness published in Physics of Life Reviews claims that consciousness derives from deeper level, finer scale activities inside brain neurons. The recent discovery of quantum vibrations in "microtubules" inside brain neurons corroborates this theory, according to review authors Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose. They suggest that EEG rhythms (brain waves) also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations, and that from a practical standpoint, treating brain microtubule vibrations could benefit a host of mental, neurological, and cognitive conditions.

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New Drug Approach Could Lead to Cures for Wide Range of Diseases

A team led by a longtime Oregon Health & Science University researcher has demonstrated in mice what could be a revolutionary new technique to cure a wide range of human diseases — from cystic fibrosis to cataracts to Alzheimer's disease — that are caused by "misfolded" protein molecules.

Misfolded protein molecules, caused by gene mutation, are capable of maintaining their function but are misrouted within the cell and can’t work normally, thus causing disease. The OHSU team discovered a way to use small molecules that enter cells, fix the misfolded proteins and allow the proteins to move to the correct place and function normally again.

Credit: http://www.ohsu.edu

Explore the World of Bedbugs - Some of the Greatest Invaders in History

 
Credit: https://www.youtube.com/user/minuteearth

Metalloenzymes

• Metals play roles in approximately one-third of the known enzymes. Metals may be a co-factor or they may be incorporated into the molecule, and these are known as metalloenzymes. 
• Amino Acids in peptide linkage posses groups that can form coordinate-covalent bonds with the metal atom. The free amino and carboxy group bind to the metal affecting the enzymes structure resulting in its active conformation.
• Metals main function is to serve in electron transfer. Many enzymes can serve as electrophiles and some can serve as nucleophilic groups. This versatility explains metals frequent occurrence in enzymes. Some metalloenzymes include hemoglobins, cytochromes, phosphotransferases, alcohol dehydrogenase, arginase, ferredoxin, and cytochrome oxidase.
• Carboxypeptidase A is a zinc metalloenzyme that breaks peptide linkages in the digestion of proteins. The zinc ion that the enzyme contains in its active site plays a key role in that function.

Structure of Fe(III)-peroxo complex, [Fe(TMC)(OO)]+. Hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity. Key bond distances are shown on the structure. Image Credit: http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/

Credit:  http://www.cs.stedwards.edu/

Researchers Identify Seventh and Eighth Bases of DNA

For decades, scientists have known that DNA consists of four basic units -- adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. Those four bases have been taught in science textbooks and have formed the basis of the growing knowledge regarding how genes code for life. Yet in recent history, scientists have expanded that list from four to six. 

Now, with a finding published online in the July 21, 2011, issue of the journal Science, researchers from the UNC School of Medicine have discovered the seventh and eighth bases of DNA. 

These last two bases – called 5-formylcytosine and 5 carboxylcytosine – are actually versions of cytosine that have been modified by Tet proteins, molecular entities thought to play a role in DNA demethylation and stem cell reprogramming. For more details click here.

The newly discovered seventh and eighth bases of DNA -- called 5-formylcytosine and 5 carboxylcytosine -- are actually versions of cytosine that have been modified by Tet proteins, molecular entities thought to play a role in DNA demethylation and stem cell reprogramming. (Credit: © Rodolfo Clix / Fotolia)

Credit: http://news.unchealthcare.org

Biosynthesis of Amino Acids

Click Here for the detailed description of Biosynthesis of Amino Acids

More about Amino Acids Here.

Courtesy: Dr. Bryant Miles and http://swift.cmbi.ru.nl

Cold viruses point the way to new cancer therapies

Cold viruses point the way to new cancer therapies 

Credit: Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

What is DNA?

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. For more click here.

Courtesy: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna

Amino Acid

In 1953, Harold Urey and Stanley Miller carried out an amazing experiment in which they produced "molecules of life" from a mixture of gases that they proposed existed in a primordial earth. The experiments simulated what would happen when lightning strikes provided energy for chemical reactions in the atmosphere and suggested a hypothesis for how life might have developed on our planet. Amino acids were the vital molecules that formed in this experiment and supported this hypothesis for the origin of life. 

Read more: Amino Acid - Chemistry Encyclopedia - structure, proteins, name, molecule, atom http://www.chemistryexplained.com/A-Ar/Amino-Acid.html#ixzz27AbTxSzr

Lipids

The lipids are a large and diverse group of naturally occurring organic compounds that are related by their solubility in nonpolar organic solvents (e.g. ether, chloroform, acetone & benzene) and general insolubility in water. For more click here.

Courtesy: reusch, http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of organic compounds found in living organisms. They originate as products of photosynthesis, an endothermic reductive condensation of carbon dioxide requiring light energy and the pigment chlorophyll. For more click here.

Courtesy:  http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/