Mina Bissell and Ana Correia of the Life Sciences Division have provided new evidence to support earlier findings that cancer therapy drugs based on the catalytic activity of metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes failed because they were aimed at the wrong target. Bissell and Correia showed that MMP3, a secreted protein, promotes invasion via extracellular interaction with the protein HSP90b. Earlier research by Bissell’s group found that MMP14, a membrane-bound protein, promotes invasion through its association with integrin. These results point to non-catalytic MMP sites as new therapy targets. Also working on this study were Hidetoshi Mori, Emily Chen and Fernando Schmitt. More>
Posts Tagged ‘Science/Research’
New Hope for MMP Cancer Therapies
Friday, May 3rd, 2013Using Gold to Boost Power of Chromatography
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
Frantisek Svec, a chemist with the Materials Sciences Division and director of the Organic and Macromolecular Synthesis facility at the Molecular Foundry, described a technique for boosting the power of chromatography for separating proteins and peptides. Speaking at the recent national meeting of the American Chemical Society, Svec explained how the addition of gold nanoparticles to the surfaces of polymer monoliths in chromatographs creates a universal ligand that can be used to fish out thiol-containing proteins and peptides and opens new avenues to the functionalization and control of pore surface chemistry. More>
Termite Diets Dictate Microbes in Their Guts
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
Realtors and homeowners cringe at the thought of termites on their properties, but for bioenergy researchers, these insects are rich harbors of microbial communities that can break down woody lignocellulose. Previously, the Joint Genome Institute sequenced the microbes in the hindgut of termites from Costa Rica to identify the genes and enzymes involved in the process of breaking down plant biomass. Following up on this project several years later, a team including JGI researchers wanted to find out how the phrase “you are what you eat” might be applied to a termite’s dietary lifestyle in influencing the composition of the microbial community in its gut. More>
Does Antimatter Fall Up or Down? Direct Evidence from ALPHA
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
While it seems sensible to suppose that antimatter interacts with gravity the same way ordinary matter does, there’s never been any direct evidence that this is so. In fact some theorists speculate that antimatter might experience antigravity and fall “up” instead of “down.” Joel Fajans and Jonathan Wurtele of the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division, members of the ALPHA Collaboration at CERN, have used ALPHA data to make the first direct measurements of the gravitational mass of atoms of antihydrogen, testing how they fall and in what direction. More>
Comparing Proteins at a Glance
Monday, April 29th, 2013
John Tainer and Cynthia McMurray of the Life Sciences Division, working with Greg Hura and Helen Budworth, have developed a revolutionary structural comparison map for the study of proteins and other biological macromolecules with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The map enables researchers at a glance to identify structural similarities and differences between multiple proteins under a variety of conditions. It has already been used at the Advanced Light Source to gain valuable new insight into a prime protein target for cancer chemotherapy. Also contributing to this effort were Kevin Dyer, Robert Rambo and Michal Hammel. More>
New Metrics for SAS Analysis of Flexible Macromolecules
Friday, April 26th, 2013
John Tainer of the Life Sciences Division and Rob Rambo of the Physical Biosciences Division have developed a new set of metrics for analyzing data from small angle scattering (SAS) experiments that should dramatically improve the ability of scientists to study the structures of macromolecules such as proteins and nanoparticles in solution. Among other advantages, the new SAS metrics will reduce the time required to collect data by up to 20 times and could be a game-changer for accurate high-throughput and objective analyses of flexible macromolecules. More>
Lab Researchers Enable Alexander Graham Bell’s Voice to be Heard for First Time
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
Berkeley Lab’s sound-restoration experts have done it again. They’ve helped to digitally recover a 128-year-old recording of Alexander Graham Bell’s voice, enabling people to hear the famed inventor speak for the first time. The recording ends with Bell saying “in witness whereof, hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell.” The Physics Division’s Carl Haber and the Engineering Division’s Earl Cornell conducted the work. The project involved a collaboration between Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the Library of Congress, and Berkeley Lab. More>
Bert and Ernie Blast Through IceCube
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
The IceCube neutrino telescope, built deep in the ice at the South Pole using rugged, sophisticated detectors designed at Berkeley Lab, hopes to find neutrinos from deep space that can reveal otherwise hard-to-see processes like gamma-ray bursts. When researchers combed through two years of data, events nicknamed “Bert” and “Ernie,” recorded in August 2011 and January 2012, popped out. They signaled the most energetic neutrinos ever observed anywhere, with quadrillion electron volt (1 PeV) energies. A slim chance that the signals are background noise prevents a claim of discovering astrophysical neutrinos, but more analysis is on the way. More>
From Molecules to Gallons: Scaling Up Fuels Created by Artificial Photosynthesis
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
Artificial photosynthesis is a dream technology that mimics a natural leaf, converting water and carbon dioxide into fuels with sunlight. But before this technology can take flight, scientists like Berkeley Lab’s Kenny Lee will have to solve a fundamental plumbing problem: how to gather molecules of fuel from microscopic reaction sites to pipes that will pour it out by the gallon. More>
Scientists Find New Ways to Catch Greenhouse Gas Methane
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Berkeley Lab materials scientists Berend Smit, Jihan Kim, and Li-Chiang Lin, along with a team of Livermore Lab researchers, have discovered new ways of capturing the greenhouse gas methane. The team found some solid, porous substances called zeolites, which could be used to scrub methane from the air. Methane has characteristics that are different from carbon dioxide, making it more difficult to capture. More>
