Discovering functional small molecules in the gut microbiome

The human microbiome has emerged as a source of bacterially produced, functional small molecules that help regulate health and disease, and their discovery and annotation has become a popular research topic. Identifying these molecules provides an essential step in unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying biological outcomes. The relevance of specific bacterial members of the microbiome has been demonstrated in a variety of correlative studies, and there are many possible paths from these correlations to the responsible metabolites. Herein, we summarize two studies that have recently identified gut microbiome metabolites that modulate immune responses or promote physical activity. Aside from the deep insights gained, these studies provide blueprints for successfully uncovering the molecules and mechanisms that control important physiological pathways.     

Intercellular communication, NO and the biology of Chinese medicine

New multiple categories of health disciplines have become popular in the west and integration between the medicinal approaches has become essential. The hypothesis presented here suggests a novel integrative view that combines Western biochemistry with the Chinese medicinal concept of qi. The core for this hypothesis is that transmission of qi along the meridians is based on informational molecules that travel via an intercellular communication system. Acupuncture at specific points enhances the flow of the signaling molecules through this communication system. Nitric oxide is suggested as a prime candidate for such a signaling molecule in the meridian system. The biochemistry of nitric oxide can shed light on the biology underlying Chinese medicine while Chinese medicinal data can provide a clue to the sought after framework for nitric oxide.     

New developments in umami (enhancing) molecules

As health has become one of the main drivers in nutrition, the scientific interest in taste receptors and taste molecules has increased considerably. Academia as well as flavor and food companies are searching for molecules that make food more healthy but not less appetizing. In the savory area, salt and umami taste are being investigated. This review deals with the progress made in umami tasting molecules. Umami taste has been known as a separate taste for a long time in Asian countries and has been generally accepted as the fifth basic taste in the last decade of the previous century. In this review, first the current level of understanding of the umami receptors will be described. The main part of the paper will deal with the umami-tasting molecules that have been published recently, including the work that has been performed within Givaudan itself. Lactoyl amides of GMP (guanosine monophosphate) appeared to have remarkably strong umami-tasting properties.     

New anti-inflammatory agents to reduce atherosclerosis

The concept that inflammation plays a major role in atherogenesis has become accepted in recent years (Hansson 2005). As a result, anti-inflammatory agents may become increasingly important in the treatment of atherogenesis, atherosclerosis, and possibly even acute coronary or ischemic syndromes. This presentation reviews two types of molecules associated with the diagnosis, development, or treatment of atherosclerosis: C-reactive protein (CRP), and cannabis.     

用DNA内在分子电荷来探测DNA

随着生命科学的发展,DNA的标记和检测已经成为关键的瓶颈技术。利用DNA内在的分子电荷,并结合半导体传感器技术,可以对DNA分子电荷状态进行快速检测,为基因诊断开辟全新的技术途径。     

噬菌体展示库筛选细胞特异分子的进展

介绍噬菌体展示技术的原理和发展,尤其是噬菌体展示技术在筛选细胞特异分子的策略方面的进展。该技术通过20年的发展已成为一种研究抗原一抗体作用、蛋白质相互作用、蛋白一药物相互作用甚至蛋白质一核酸作用的分析手段,但涉及到以完整细胞、器官或组织等复杂的生物活性分子表面为靶标则筛选效果尚不理想。关键是要减少噬菌体展示分子与靶标的非特异性结合,利用更为严格的经过改进的筛选策略。该技术的优势预示着它将广泛被应用于基础理论和研究实践中。     

Zinc sensing for cellular application

Numerous tools for Zn2+ sensing in living cells have become available in the past three years. Among them, fluorescence imaging using fluorescent sensor molecules has been the most popular approach. Some of these sensor molecules can be used to visualize Zn2+ in living cells. Some of the biological functions of Zn2+ have been clarified using these sensor molecules, especially in neuronal cells, which contain a high concentration of free Zn2+.     

Molecular aspects of the human somatomedins

The primary structure of the somatomedins (SM) IGF-I and IGF-II has been known for some years. Both from isolation of the SMs from plasma and from the study of cDNAs it has become evident that there are more SMs, needing further study. In plasma the SMs are present in larger molecules of two size-classes: 150 kD and 40 kD, behaving as specific SM-binding proteins. The possibility that such protein classes are heterogeneous and also contain precursor molecules undergoing proteolytic processing is considered. The somatomedin genes are discontinuous and span large regions of the human genome.     

Functionalized carbon nanotubes as emerging nanovectors for the delivery of therapeutics

Functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNT) are emerging as a new family of nanovectors for the delivery of different types of therapeutic molecules. The application of CNT in the field of carrier-mediated delivery has become possible after the recent discovery of their capacity to penetrate into the cells. CNT can be loaded with active molecules by forming stable covalent bonds or supramolecular assemblies based on noncovalent interactions. Once the cargos are carried into various cells, tissues and organs they are able to express their biological function. In this review, we will describe the potential of f-CNT to deliver different types of therapeutic molecules.     

Egg and sperm recognition systems during fertilization

Fertilization is a programmed process that has many molecules and sequential events amenable to study. The biochemistry of fertilization has identified cellular and acellular components fundamental to the interactions between sperm and egg. Recent studies highlight the molecular details of the species-specificity of fertilization that involve protein–protein and protein–carbohydrate interactions. Although the diversity of structure and mechanism may imply rapid evolution of fertilization proteins, understanding the structure–function relationships has become important. Here, we introduce the molecules controlling the sperm AR, sperm attachment to, and penetration through, the egg investments.     

RNA in the axonal domain: a new dimension in neuronal functioning?

Summary In the last three decades it has become evident that in a wide variety of animals, the axonal compartment of neurons harbours a variety of RNA molecules, such as transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA and messenger RNA. In this paper data will be reviewed on the origin, the selective transport, subcellular localization and functional aspects of the occurrence of RNA molecules in the axonal domain.     

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis: a versatile tool for analysis of fungal genomes. A review

The separation of chromosome-size DNA molecules by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has become a well-established technique in recent years. Although it has very wide-ranging applications, it made a real breakthrough for fungal genome analysis. Because of the small size of fungal chromosomes, their investigation was not possible earlier. Different PFGE approaches allowed the separation of DNA molecules larger than 10 megabase pairs in size, and electrophoretic karyotypes for numerous previously genetically uncharacterized fungal species could be established. This review discusses the applicability of these electrophoretic karyotypes for the investigation of genome structure, for strain identification and for species delimitation.     

Neuronal development: sorting out motor neurons

In the developing spinal cord, motor neurons become segregated into important functional units termed motor pools. Now it has been discovered that repertoires of cadherin surface molecules play key roles in motor pool sorting.     

A Comparative Analysis of the Molecular Interaction Techniques for In Silico Drug Design

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Computer Aided Drug Discovery (CADD) has become a vital tool for the rapid identification of new candidate molecules prior to their...     

介导硫化氢生理/病理学效应的靶分子及其分子开关调节的原子生物学机制

硫化氢(H_2S)作为继一氧化氮和一氧化碳后的第三种气体信号分子,日渐受到人们的关注,检测技术的发展为研究提供了帮助。H_2S在人体各系统中发挥着重要的作用,如心血管系统、神经系统、呼吸系统等,其与高血压、动脉粥样硬化、神经退行性疾病、哮喘等疾病的发生发展有着密切的联系,具有作为疾病治疗药物的潜能。对于H_2S作用于靶分子机制的阐述深化了小分子物质调控大分子功能的研究,提供了对多种疾病进行干预的新手段。     

植物耐盐的分子生物学基础

植物分子水平的耐盐研究是近年的研究热点,通过综述与耐盐有关的几种重要分子的性质和作用,总结了几种与植物耐盐有关的基因以及它们在盐分胁迫下的表达和调控。     

A general method for permeabilizing monolayer and suspension cultured animal cells

A wide variety of animal cells have been successfully permeabilized to non-penetrating molecules, using lysolecithin. The sizes of molecules that can enter the cells can be controlled by varying the concentration of lysolecithin. The cells become permeable to small molecules and maintain viability following treatment with low lysolecithin concentrations. At higher concentrations the cells become permeable to proteins but do not retain viability. Lysolecithin permeabilization should permit many studies of the effects of non-penetrating compounds on cellular processes.     

Functionalized carbon nanotubes as emerging nanovectors for the delivery of therapeutics

Functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNT) are emerging as a new family of nanovectors for the delivery of different types of therapeutic molecules. The application of CNT in the field of carrier-mediated delivery has become possible after the recent discovery of their capacity to penetrate into the cells. CNT can be loaded with active molecules by forming stable covalent bonds or supramolecular assemblies based on noncovalent interactions. Once the cargos are carried into various cells, tissues and organs they are able to express their biological function. In this review, we will describe the potential of f-CNT to deliver different types of therapeutic molecules.     

真菌中的群体感应系统

以胞间通讯信号分子介导的细菌群体感应参与细菌多种生理功能的调控是非常普遍的。近年的研究表明,真菌中也存在类似于细菌群体感应信号分子的调节分子,并且介导着真菌某些生理行为的调节。这一过程也称为真菌的群体感应系统。文中简要介绍真菌群体感应系统的研究进展,并讨论了真菌群体感应系统作为抗真菌感染靶点的可能性。     

Brownian dynamics simulation of knot diffusion along a stretched DNA molecule

Manipulation of individual DNA molecules by optical tweezers has made it possible to tie these molecules into knots. After stretching the DNA molecules the knots become highly localized. In their recent study, Quake and co-authors investigated diffusion of such knots along stretched DNA molecules. We used these data to test the accuracy of a Brownian dynamics simulation of DNA bending motion. We simulated stretched DNA molecules with knots 3(1), 4(1), and 7(1), and determined their diffusion coefficients. Comparison of the simulated and experimental results shows that Brownian dynamics simulation is capable of predicting the rates of large-scale DNA rearrangements within a factor of 2.