843 results match your criteria: "Carlson School of Chemistry & Biochemistry[Affiliation]"

Salts of 2-amino-5-iodo-pyridinium.

Acta Crystallogr E Crystallogr Commun

October 2024

Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610, USA.

Reaction of 2-amino-5-iodo-pyridine (5IAP) with concentrated HBr at room temperature yielded 2-amino-5-iodo-pyridinium bromide, CHIN ·Br or (5IAPH)Br. The complex formed pale-yellow crystals, which exhibit significant hydrogen bonding between the amino and pyridinium N-H donors and bromide ion acceptors. Halogen bonding is also observed.

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Experimental approaches to investigate biophysical interactions between homeodomain transcription factors and DNA.

Biochim Biophys Acta Gene Regul Mech

December 2024

Gustaf H. Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, United States of America. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • Homeodomain transcription factors (TFs) bind to specific DNA sequences, influencing target gene expression, but their binding affinity and specificity remain largely unclear.
  • Various qualitative methods like DNA footprinting and EMSAs are commonly used to study TF-DNA interactions, while bioinformatics also plays a role in discovering TF binding sites.
  • The text highlights the pros and cons of these methods and suggests that more quantitative approaches, such as MITOMI and MST, could enhance our understanding of the biophysical aspects of TF-DNA binding and improve predictive models.
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  • The study aimed to find protein signatures in blood that could help identify individuals at high risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), specifically Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis.
  • Researchers analyzed blood samples from a large population, utilizing machine-learning methods to identify and validate these protein signatures across multiple cohorts.
  • A specific combination of 29 proteins was effective in differentiating preclinical CD cases from controls, achieving a high accuracy, while the prediction for ulcerative colitis was less robust but still significant.
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Homologous to the C-terminus of E6AP (HECT) and RCC1-like domain (RLD)-containing protein 2 (HERC2) is a large, 528 kDa E3 ubiquitin ligase that is associated with cancer, oculocutaneous albanism type 2, Prader-Willi syndrome, and other neurological diseases. HERC2 has been found to contribute to double-stranded DNA break repairs, tumor suppression, maintaining centrosome architecture, and ubiquitylation. The C-terminal portion of the HECT domain (C-lobe) of HERC2 is responsible for transferring ubiquitin to a substrate but the precise function of the other eight domains in HERC2 are unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Antibodies are generated by naive B cells turning into plasma cells in germinal centers (GCs) of lymphoid tissues, and patients with B cell lymphoma undergoing immunotherapy have reduced antibody production, leading to higher infection rates and weaker vaccine responses.
  • - Current research models struggle to effectively mimic long-term GC functions and assess B cell responses, prompting the development of synthetic hydrogels that replicate the lymphoid tissue environment to support human GCs from various blood sources.
  • - The new immune organoid systems maintain critical B cell functions longer and offer unique immune programming features; however, they show less effectiveness with lymphoma-derived B cells, indicating a rapid method for studying immune responses and B cell-related disorders.
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  • * Advanced techniques like genome analysis and optical tweezers were used to isolate and study these microorganisms, revealing their rapid assimilation of C-starch in sediments.
  • * The study proposes a taxonomic reclassification of the Fervidibacteria, highlighting their important role in polysaccharide degradation within a newly defined class of the Armatimonadota phylum.
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Effective phase diffusion for spin phase evolution under random nonlinear magnetic field.

Phys Rev E

September 2024

Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA.

The general theoretical description of spin self-diffusion under a nonlinear gradient magnetic field is proposed, which extends the effective phase diffusion method for a linear gradient field. Based on the phase diffusion, the proposed method reveals the general features of phase evolutions in nonlinear gradient fields. There are three types of phase evolutions: phase diffusion, float phase evolution, and shift evolution based on the starting position.

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  • A novel model simulating microbial processes in a 1 mL three-dimensional cube addresses gaps in existing ecosystem models by resolving individual microbes and their interactions at a 50 µm resolution.
  • Key findings reveal that copiotrophic bacteria largely depend on eukaryotic phytoplankton for carbon, while oligotrophic bacteria rely on cyanobacterial exudates, highlighting distinct growth and substrate patterns in aquatic environments.
  • The study also shows that attached bacteria lower carbon flux efficiency compared to free-living ones, indicating the importance of attachment and chemotaxis in optimizing bacteria's carbon acquisition in marine ecosystems.
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Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 growth in the lungs of mice by a peptide-conjugated morpholino oligomer targeting viral RNA.

Mol Ther Nucleic Acids

December 2024

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.

Article Synopsis
  • Scientists are focused on creating new medicines to fight the virus that causes COVID-19, called SARS-CoV-2.
  • They tested a special treatment called 5'END-2, which is good at stopping the virus from growing in lab cells and mice.
  • The results showed that using 5'END-2 in mice helped reduce the virus in their lungs, suggesting it might be a promising way to treat COVID-19.
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The isotopic compositions of samples returned from Cb-type asteroid Ryugu and Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites are distinct from other carbonaceous chondrites, which has led to the suggestion that Ryugu/CI chondrites formed in a different region of the accretion disk, possibly around the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. We show that, like for Fe, Ryugu and CI chondrites also have indistinguishable Ni isotope anomalies, which differ from those of other carbonaceous chondrites. We propose that this unique Fe and Ni isotopic composition reflects different accretion efficiencies of small FeNi metal grains among the carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies.

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Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) is a unique DNA polymerase capable of template-independent extension of DNA. TdT's DNA synthesis ability has found utility in DNA recording, DNA data storage, oligonucleotide synthesis, and nucleic acid labeling, but TdT's intrinsic nucleotide biases limit its versatility in such applications. Here, we describe a multiplexed assay for profiling and engineering the bias and overall activity of TdT variants with high throughput.

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Scission-Enhanced Molecular Imaging (SEMI).

Bioconjug Chem

September 2024

Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN 5206, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States.

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging methods have advanced our understanding of human biology, while targeted radiotherapeutic drug treatments are now routinely used clinically. The field is expected to grow considerably based on an expanding repertoire of available affinity ligands, radionuclides, conjugation chemistries, and their FDA approvals. With this increasing use, strategies for dose reduction have become of high interest to protect patients from unnecessary and off-target toxicity.

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Bioorthogonal bond-cleavage reactions have emerged as a powerful tool for precise spatiotemporal control of (bio)molecular function in the biological context. Among these chemistries, the tetrazine-triggered elimination of cleavable trans-cyclooctenes (click-to-release) stands out due to high reaction rates, versatility, and selectivity. Despite an increasing understanding of the underlying mechanisms, application of this reaction remains limited by the cumulative performance trade-offs (i.

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Di-chloridotetra-kis-(3-meth-oxy-aniline)nickel(II).

IUCrdata

August 2024

Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610, USA.

The reaction of nickel(II) chloride with 3-meth-oxy-aniline yielded di-chlorido-tetra-kis-(3-meth-oxy-aniline)nickel(II), [NiCl(CHNO)], as yellow crystals. The Ni ion is pseudo-octa-hedral with the chloride ions to each other. The four 3-meth-oxy-aniline ligands differ primarily due to different conformations about the Ni-N bond, which also affect the hydrogen bonding.

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Unravelling large-scale patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry rivers.

Nat Commun

August 2024

Water Research Institute, National Research Council (IRSA-CNR), Area della Ricerca RM1, via Salaria km 29.300, Monterotondo, Rome, Italy.

More than half of the world's rivers dry up periodically, but our understanding of the biological communities in dry riverbeds remains limited. Specifically, the roles of dispersal, environmental filtering and biotic interactions in driving biodiversity in dry rivers are poorly understood. Here, we conduct a large-scale coordinated survey of patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry riverbeds.

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Background: A trial performed among unvaccinated, high-risk outpatients with COVID-19 during the delta period showed remdesivir reduced hospitalization. We used our real-world data platform to determine the effectiveness of remdesivir on reducing 28-day hospitalization among outpatients with mild-moderate COVID-19 during an Omicron period including BQ.1/BQ.

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Liver cancer is a complex disease that involves various oncoproteins and the inactivation of tumor suppressor proteins (TSPs). Gankyrin is one such oncoprotein, first identified in human hepatocellular carcinoma, that is known to inactivate multiple TSPs, leading to proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. Despite this, there has been limited development of small molecule gankyrin binders for the treatment of liver cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Faecal biomarkers are significant for assessing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the study focusing on their role in diagnosing and predicting disease progression.
  • The study included 65 Crohn's disease patients, 90 ulcerative colitis patients, symptomatic controls, and healthy controls, analyzing various biomarkers in faecal samples.
  • Key findings showed that calprotectin and myeloperoxidase were the most accurate in distinguishing IBD from other groups, and their levels could predict an aggressive disease course, especially with myeloperoxidase showing the strongest association.
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Acetone (CHCOCH), the simplest ketone, has recently attracted considerable attention for its important role in atmospheric chemistry and in the formation of ices in extraterrestrial sources that contain complex organic molecules. In this study, we employed a combination of experimental rotational spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations to investigate the structure and dynamics of the acetone-water complex. Our aim was to understand how non-covalent interactions with water affect the methyl internal rotation dynamics of acetone, and how water-centered large amplitude motions alter the observed physical properties compared to those predicted at the equilibrium position.

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The cytotoxic necrotizing factor (CNF) family of AB-type bacterial protein toxins catalyze two types of modification on their Rho GTPase substrates: deamidation and transglutamination. It has been established that CNF1 and its close homolog proteins catalyze primarily deamidation and dermonecrotic toxin (DNT) catalyzes primarily transglutamination. The rapidly expanding microbial genome sequencing data have revealed that there are at least 13 full-length variants of CNF1 homologs.

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Determining the balance between DNA double strand break repair (DSBR) pathways is essential for understanding treatment response in cancer. We report a method for simultaneously measuring non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), homologous recombination (HR), and microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ). Using this method, we show that patient-derived glioblastoma (GBM) samples with acquired temozolomide (TMZ) resistance display elevated HR and MMEJ activity, suggesting that these pathways contribute to treatment resistance.

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Impacts of phosphorus amendments on legacy soil contamination from lead-based paint on a California, USA university campus.

Chemosphere

August 2024

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA. Electronic address:

Lead (Pb) is one of the most common heavy metal urban soil contaminants with well-known toxicity to humans. This incubation study (2-159 d) compared the ability of bone meal (BM), potassium hydrogen phosphate (KP), and triple superphosphate (TSP), at phosphorus:lead (P:Pb) molar ratios of 7.5:1, 15:1, and 22.

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Tetrazine cyclized peptides for one-bead-one-compound library: Synthesis and sequencing.

Methods Enzymol

June 2024

Carlson School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, MA, United States. Electronic address:

While most FDA-approved peptide drugs are cyclic, robust cyclization chemistry of peptides and the deconvolution of the cyclic peptide sequences using tandem mass spectrometry render cyclic peptide drug discovery difficult. In this chapter, the protocol for the successful synthesis of tetrazine-linked cyclic peptide library in solid phase, which shows both robust cyclization and easy sequence deconvolution, is described. The protocol for the linearization and cleavage of cyclic peptides from the solid phase by simple UV light irradiation, followed by accurate sequencing using tandem mass spectrometry, is described.

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Objective: In this pilot study, we used untargeted metabolomics to identify biochemical mechanisms or biomarkers potentially underlying SLE-related fatigue.

Methods: Metabolon conducted untargeted metabolomic plasma profiling using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry on plasma samples of 23 Black females with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 21 no SLE controls. Fatigue phenotypes of general fatigue, physical fatigue, mental fatigue, reduced activity, and reduced motivation were measured with the reliable and valid Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI).

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Improved biomarkers are needed for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Here we identify a diagnostic lipidomic signature for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease by analyzing blood samples from a discovery cohort of incident treatment-naïve pediatric patients and validating findings in an independent inception cohort. The lipidomic signature comprising of only lactosyl ceramide (d18:1/16:0) and phosphatidylcholine (18:0p/22:6) improves the diagnostic prediction compared with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

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