Molecular biologists commonly use bioinformatics to map and analyze DNA and protein sequences and to align different DNA and protein sequences for comparison. Additionally, biologists can create and view 3D models of protein structures to further understand intramolecular interactions. The primary goal of this 10-week laboratory was to introduce the importance of bioinformatics in molecular biology. Students employed multiprimer, site-directed mutagenesis to create variant colors from a plasmid expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Isolated mutant plasmid from Escherichia coli showing changes in fluorescence were sequenced. Students used sequence alignment tools, protein translator tools, protein modeling, and visualization to analyze the potential effect of their mutations within the protein structure. This laboratory linked molecular techniques and bioinformatics to promote and expand the understanding of experimental results in an upper-level undergraduate laboratory course.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmb.20554 | DOI Listing |
J Phys Chem B
January 2025
Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan.
The light-harvesting pigment-protein complex II (LHCII) from plants can be used as a component for biohybrid photovoltaic devices, acting as a photosensitizer to increase the photocurrent generated when devices are illuminated with sunlight. LHCII is effective at photon absorption in the red and blue regions of the visible spectrum, however, it has low absorption in the green region (550-650 nm). Previous studies have shown that synthetic chromophores can be used to fill this spectral gap and transfer additional energy to LHCII, but it was uncertain whether this would translate into an improved performance for photovoltaics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
Memory and Aging Center, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Women account for almost two-thirds of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases, yet evidence significantly less clinical benefit from recently deployed amyloid-lowering therapies. To close this disparity gap, there is an urgent need to identify biological drivers of sex differences in the manifestation and clinical response to AD therapeutics. A recent review of multi-omic studies of AD reported >75% of studies showed female-specific changes at the molecular level (vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem A
January 2025
Key Lab of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control System, Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province, College of Physics and Optoelectronics, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China.
Plasmon resonance plays an important role in improving the detection of biomolecules, and it is one of the focuses of research to use metal plasmon resonance to achieve fluorescence enhancement and to improve detection sensitivity. However, the problems of nondynamic tuning and fluorescence quenching of metal plasmon resonance need to be solved. Graphene surface plasmon resonance can be dynamically controlled, and the graphene adsorption of fluorescent molecules can avoid fluorescence quenching and greatly improve the fluorescence emission intensity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug Deliv
December 2025
Biomedical Materials and Devices for Revolutionary Integrative Systems Engineering (BMD-RISE) Research Unit, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Biopolymers, such as collagens, elastin, silk fibroin, spider silk, fibrin, keratin, and resilin have gained significant interest for their potential biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical properties. This review focuses on the design and integration of biomimetic peptides into these biopolymer platforms to control the release of bioactive molecules, thereby enhancing their functionality for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) and silk fibroin repeats, for example, demonstrate how engineered peptides can mimic natural protein domains to modulate material properties and drug release profiles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMini Rev Med Chem
January 2025
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology, DAFAB Department, Splaiul Independentei 91-95, Bucharest, R-050095, Romania.
The use of biomaterials in treating and managing chronic wounds represents a significant challenge in global healthcare due to the complex nature of these wounds, which are slow to heal and can lead to complications such as frequent infections and diminished quality of life for patients. Chronic wounds, which can arise from conditions like diabetes, poor circulation, and pressure sores, pose distinct challenges in wound care, necessitating the development of specialized dressings. The pathophysiology of chronic wounds is thoroughly examined in this article, with particular attention paid to the cellular and molecular defects at work and the therapeutic guidelines.
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