Breaking down Huntington's disease one protein at a time Feb 5, 2008
-- Hoping to piece together the intricate series of interactions that lead to Huntington's disease, Indiana University Bloomington scientists have determined the shape and structure of a binding site that may prove useful in combating the neurodegenerative disease ... They learned that the potential binding surface of HIPPI in HIP1 has an unexpected shape for a binding site, a spiraling spiral called a "coiled coil." This finding was contrary to predicted results that the binding surface that... (EurekAlert!)
Penn researchers discover new target for preventing and treating flu Jan 31, 2008
Structure of amantadine inside viral binding site. PHILADELPHIA - Emerging subtypes of influenza A virus hold the potential to initiate a world-wide epidemic in the next few years, according to World Health Organization officials. (EurekAlert!)
New computational technique can predict drug side effects Dec 12, 2007
Drug molecules are designed to bind to targeted proteins in order to achieve a therapeutic affect, but if the small drug molecule that functions as a key attaches to an off-target protein that has a similar binding site, or lock, side effects can result ... The computer procedure we developed starts with an existing three-dimensional model of a pharmaceutical, showing the structure of a drug molecule bound to its target protein; in this case, the SERM bound to the estrogen receptor, said... (EurekAlert!)
New Computational Technique Predicts Side-effects Of Major Cancer Drug Nov 30, 2007
The identification of a secondary binding site with adverse effects opens the door to changing the drug to maintain binding to the intended target, but to reduce binding to the off-target ... By identifying new binding sites the computer analysis may also contribute to repositioning existing drugs to treat completely different diseases from those originally intended. (Science Daily)
Intervening In The Deadly Cycle Of HIV Reproduction Nov 7, 2007
This discharge is an active process carried out by a viral protein called Rev. For this process, many Rev units have to attach to a binding site on the viral RNA, called the Rev-responsive element (RRE) ... A small arginine-rich domain consisting of 17 amino acids allows the Rev protein to recognize its binding site, a furrow on the RNA. Once bound to the RNA, this domain adopts a helical form. (Science Daily)
Simple Measures Can Reduce Spread Of Respiratory Viruses Oct 19, 2007
6, 2007) Modest changes in the 1918 flu virus's hemagglutinin receptor binding site -- a molecular structure critical for the spread of infection -- stopped viral transmission in ferrets, according to a new. (Apr. (Science Daily)
Flavonoids Govern Cell Processes, Enhance Health Oct 16, 2007
The arrow shows the probable position of the binding site for flavonoids. The cutaway shows the predicted structure of the quercetin at the binding site. (Science Daily)
An AIDS-related virus reveals more ways to cause cancer, Penn researchers find Oct 9, 2007
LANA interferes with the degradation of ICN because it competes with ICN for the same binding site on Sel10. If LANA sits on Sel10, ICN cannot be degraded and cell growth and proliferation are no longer controlled. (EurekAlert!)
How Basil Gets Its Zing Oct 6, 2007
D. "A subtle change in the substrate binding site after natural selection during the course of plant evolution added the capability to form a reactive intermediate through a concerted push-pull mechanism, which facilitates the second chemical step, a classic reduction reaction carried out by many evolutionary relatives of eugenol synthase.". The next step for Noel, Pichersky and their research teams will be to compare eugenol synthases and closely related synthases making natural chemicals... (Science Daily)
Systematic identification of non-coding RNA 2,2,7-trimethylguanosine cap structures in Caenorhabditis elegans Sep 30, 2007
Further analysis showed that the SL RNAs and the Sm Y RNAs shared a very similar Sm binding site element (AAU45GGA), which sequence composition differed somewhat from those of other U snRNAs. There were also 16 ncRNAs without an Sm binding site element in the precipitate, suggesting that for these ncRNAs, TMG formation may occur independently of Sm proteins. (BioMed Central)
Variant of CTGF in Systemic Sclerosis Sep 21, 2007
We observed that the substitution of cytosine for guanine created a binding site of the transcriptional regulators Sp1 and Sp3. The C allele has high affinity for Sp3 and is associated with severely reduced transcriptional activity. (New England Journal of Medicine)
Solution structure of the second bromodomain of Brd2 and its specific interaction with acetylated histone tails Sep 12, 2007
Here we report the solution structure of human Brd2 BD2 determined by NMR. Although the overall fold resembles the bromodomains from other proteins, significant differences can be found in loop regions, especially in the ZA loop in which a two amino acids insertion is involved in an uncommon pi-helix, termed piD. The helix piD forms a portion of the acetyl-lysine binding site, which could be a structural characteristic of Brd2 BD2 and other BET bromodomains ... Surrounding the ligand-binding... (BioMed Central)
Happy Days: Unraveling the Mystery of How Antidepressants Work Aug 17, 2007
Maarten Reith, a professor of psychology and pharmacology at New York University School of Medicine and co-author of the Science study, says the V-shaped (like the mouth of an alligator) binding site on these proteins catches molecules that are in the synapse ... The researchers note that the antidepressants do not fit snuggly into the sites that proteins use to trap neurotransmitters; instead, the molecules stick to what Gouaux refers to as a "greasy vestibule" located just above the... (Scientific American)
How antidepressant drugs work as roadblocks for brain chemicals Aug 10, 2007
And when they mutated the same part in human versions of the protein, they found that the drug didn't stop cells taking in dopamine or serotonin, suggesting that it could not block the transporters on which its binding site had been modified as efficiently as it does the normal transporters. "We basically proved that the inhibitory mechanism and binding site is conserved in humans," Wang says ... "Drug discovery people have been studying these binding sites without knowing where they are.". (Nature News Service)
Nucleotide diversity and linkage disequilibrium in 11 expressed resistance candidate genes in Lolium perenne Aug 4, 2007
11 expressed disease resistance candidate (R) genes including 6 nucleotide binding site and leucine rich repeat (NBS-LRR) like genes and 5 non-NBS-LRR genes were analyzed for nucleotide diversity. For each of the genes about 1 kb genomic fragments were isolated from 20 heterozygous genotypes in ryegrass. (BioMed Central)
Nicotine rush hinges on sugar in neurons Jul 23, 2007
When nicotine binds to a neuron, how does the cell know to send the signal that announces a smokers high" As with other questions involving good sensations, the answer appears to be sugar. A University of Southern California study appearing with a commentary in Nature Neuroscience online proposes a role for sugar as the hinge that opens a gate in the cell membrane and brings news of nicotines arrival. Structural biologist Raymond Stevens of The Scripps Research Institute, who was not involved... (EurekAlert!)
New Way To Target And Kill Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Found Jul 13, 2007
The team suspected a chemical decoy -- a phosphate ion -- could plug this dual DNA binding site ... The drugs, called clodronate and etidronate, steal the DNA binding site, preventing relaxase from handling DNA. This wreaks havoc inside E. coli bacteria that are preparing to transfer their genes, the researchers found. (Science Daily)
YM BioSciences announces preclinical data confirming nimotuzumab binds to the EGF receptor and potentiates radiotherapy Jul 9, 2007
The authors noted that, "According to our models, nimotuzumab inhibits the EGFr signaling both by inhibiting the binding of EGF to domain III of EGFr and by a conformational change of EGFr that is necessary to shape the EGF binding site." "These two studies provide independent confirmation of earlier research indicating that nimotuzumab directly binds to the EGF receptor," said Dr. Igor Sherman, Director of Clinical Research at YM BioSciences. "The very rare incidence, in patients treated with... (PR Newswire)
Not A Relay Race, But A Team Game: New Model For Signal Transduction In Cells Jun 29, 2007
Following the docking of one of the numerous members of the Wnt protein family at its specific binding site on the cell membrane, a signaling cascade is triggered that transmits messages via the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The cell responds to the signals by switching on or off specific genes. (Science Daily)
Pairing Nanoparticles With Proteins: Engineering Molecules For Energy Conversion, Drug Delivery, And Medical Imaging Jun 28, 2007
Hu explains the steps: "First, we design the specific interactions between gold nanoparticles and the proteins by coating the gold nanoparticles with functional organic molecules using a biocompatible linker. Then we add a genetically engineered sequence of peptides, called a "tag," to the protein molecule, which acts as the binding site for the gold nanoparticles. Finally, we incubate the nanoparticles with the protein solution to allow the nanoparticles and proteins to bind, transfer the... (Science Daily)
Funds on Comtronic project expended Jun 21, 2007
Leases of land from the county to EBDA, and a lease of the building from EBDA to Comtronic, couldn t take place without the legally described parcels and a binding site plan ... Approximately 19,000 is being spent by the county for a comprehensive survey of the airport property that will lead to creation of binding site plans, according to Kelly Carlson, airport manager with the county Public Works Department. (Ellensburg Daily Record, WA)
Ambrilia Presents Data on its Novel HIV Integrase Inhibitors at the XVI International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop Jun 13, 2007
Preliminary inhibitor cross-competition studies showed that the pyrazolopyridine compounds did not compete kinetically with known competitive strand transfer inhibitors such as diketo acid compounds, suggesting a different mechanism of action or a different binding site. The findings suggest that these novel pyrazolopyridine integrase inhibitors have a potentially distinct mechanism of strand transfer inhibition, which may lead to a different resistance profile from known strand transfer... (CCNMatthews Press Releases)
Improved benchmarks for computational motif discovery Jun 9, 2007
An important step in annotation of sequenced genomes is the identification of transcription factor binding sites ... We use a machine learning perspective to analyze collections of transcription factors with known binding sites ... Algorithms are presented for finding position weight matrices (PWMs), IUPAC-type motifs and mismatch motifs with optimal discrimination of binding sites from remaining sequence. (BioMed Central)
Mice And Men Make Livers Differently May 23, 2007
To their surprise, they found that most of the binding sites--between 41 percent and 89 percent, depending on the transcription factor--were in different locations in humans and mice ... Unless the location of binding sites affects gene expression, it is not under any natural selection pressure ... All of that meaningless variation makes it harder to identify the small number of genes where binding site migrations do have an evolutionary impact, because they are being drowned out by all the... (Science Daily)
Engineered protein effective against Staphylococcus aureus toxin May 22, 2007
The team began by engineering a protein with the same structure as the binding site of the T-cell receptor targeted by SEB. The researchers expressed the engineered protein on the surface of yeast cells (using a process they helped develop, called "yeast display") and generated mutations meant to increase the protein's ability to bind SEB. After several rounds of mutagenesis and screening, graduate student Rebecca A. Buonpane developed a soluble protein with an affinity for SEB that was over a... (EurekAlert!)
MicroRNAs block translation machinery May 18, 2007
They inserted several copies of the miR2 binding site into a genetic construct based on the mRNA target and created a control construct that lacked the miR2 binding sites ... As expected, the mRNA with the miR2 binding sites was translated about 3 ... They next found that the assembly of polysomes is severely inhibited on mRNA with miR2 binding sites. (The Scientist)
Relating destabilizing regions to known functional sites in proteins May 1, 2007
The biologically relevant binding sites of these proteins were annotated using all available information, including structural data and literature curation, resulting in the largest hand-curated dataset of binding sites in proteins available to date. Comparing the destabilizing regions with the annotated binding sites in these proteins, we find that the overlap is on average limited, but significantly better than random ... Significant overlap is obtained for most polysaccharide- and small... (BioMed Central)
Jefferson researchers' discovery may change thinking on how viruses invade the brain Apr 20, 2007
"We saw that the virus was weakened if we removed the LC8 binding site and viral replication and transcription were affected. But we didnt find a difference in the initial viral entry in the central nervous system. We actually saw that the virus replicated better with the binding site than without it. LC8 is a transcription factor that helps the virus efficiently replicate in cells.". The researchers were surprised by the finding. (EurekAlert!)
Clues to molecular motor movement Apr 6, 2007
The other head is loosely tethered and cannot reach its next binding site until ATP induces a conformational change in kinesin that shifts it along the microtubule ... Instead of ATP releasing strain between the kinesin heads, the researchers suspect that the microtubule binding site on one kinesin head is masked until ATP binding to the other head unblocks the masked site ... "We think the other head may park against its partner. ATP binding unblocks the microtubule binding site on the second... (The Scientist)
New Molecule Involved In The Body's Processing Of Dietary Fat Identified Apr 5, 2007
The next step, according to investigators, will be to determine if GPIHBP1 provides the only binding site for chylomicrons and lipoprotein lipase within capillaries. In addition, investigators would like to define the molecular basis for how GPIHBP1 binds to chylomicron particles. (Science Daily)
HIV reveals site of vulnerability Feb 15, 2007
This means that the never-changing binding site is not locked away from antibodies after all. What's more, the team has succeeded in getting an antibody, called b12, to bind to gp120, and has studied the process to reveal the structure of the two molecules as they clamp together. (Nature News Service)
Protein Finding Bolsters AIDS Vaccine Hopes Feb 15, 2007
Back in 1998, Kwong's group first captured X-ray images of the gp120 binding site, which HIV uses to hook up with CD4 immune system T-cells, the virus' prime target. The team assumed that the virus protected itself throughout the CD4-gp120 binding process by a kind of molecular-level shape-shifting on its surface, called "conformational masking.". (Forbes)
Disposable Sensor Uses DNA To Detect Hazardous Uranium Ions Feb 14, 2007
In that single strand, the researchers fashion a specific binding site a kind of pocket that can only accommodate the metal ion of choice. In this case, the researchers chose to detect uranyl, the most soluble species of uranium ion and the one that poses the greatest threat to human life. (Science Daily)
Does A Component Of Niacin Point The Way To Anti-aging Drugs? Feb 11, 2007
The nicotinamide binding site may be a particularly attractive drug target for other reasons too, according to Marmorstein ... "This nicotinamide-binding site we've identified appears to be unique to the sirtuins, so that if we're able to design a molecule to target it, it should be very specific for these sirtuin molecules.". (Science Daily)
Hon-yaku: a biology-driven Bayesian methodology for identifying translation initiation sites in prokaryotes Feb 8, 2007
We combined the Ribosome Binding Site (RBS) sequence, the distance between the translation initiation site and the RBS sequence, the base composition of the start codon, the nucleotide composition (A-rich sequences) following start codons, and the expected distribution of the protein length in a Bayesian scoring function. To further increase the prediction accuracy, we also took into account the operon orientation. (BioMed Central)
Scientists Find Guardian Gene's Choices Crucial To Stopping Cancer Process Jan 9, 2007
Two enzymes, hMOF and TIP60, can chemically alter an amino acid, lysine 120, at the binding site, in turn influencing p53's decision on which target genes to turn on. The alteration can short-circuit p53's ability to cause the damaged cell to commit suicide, though it can still stop cell growth, suggesting that this change may help explain a mechanism behind p53's choice. (Science Daily)
Hairpins For Switches: Artificial RNA Ligands Differentiate Between On And Off States Of Riboswitches Dec 14, 2006
It turned out that the two hairpins bind to different locations: one to the TPP binding site and the other to a domain responsible for the change in structure of the riboswitch. Both hairpins are crowded when TPP molecules move the riboswitch to the off conformation. (Science Daily)
MorphoSys Presents New RapMAT Antibody Technology Dec 11, 2006
In the HuCAL libraries complementarity-determining regions (CDRs), which define the binding site of the antibody and thus its capabilities to bind a specific target molecule, can easily be exchanged in a simple cloning step. Using RapMAT(tm), the uncharacterized polyclonal output after two rounds of standard selection is used and diversity is increased by insertion of a pre-built CDR cassette library. (Primezone Releases)
Influenza nucleoprotein structure deciphered Dec 8, 2006
Welcome (Institutional Subscriber : Free Anniversary Access). The Daily: for The Scientist's daily e-mail. (The Scientist)
Common Antacids Could Help Keep Gingivitis At Bay Nov 7, 2006
When it's not secreting irritating chemicals itself, F. nucleatum acts as a binding site for other dangerous oral bacteria that cannot directly attach to tooth surfaces on their own. These bacteria, dubbed "secondary colonizers," rely on the help of F. nucleatum, which serves almost like an aircraft landing strip atop an aircraft carrier, allowing planes (or in this case, bacteria) to set down. (Science Daily)
Honey bee genome holds clues to social behavior Oct 24, 2006
The strings serve as binding sites for particular molecules, called transcription factors. For example, when the correct transcription factor latches into the binding site, the gene may be switched on ... If the transcription factor breaks away from the binding site, the gene is switched off. (EurekAlert!)
A Ruler Of Gold And DNA: New Tool Could Expedite Scientists' Push To Learn How Genetic Information Is Processed Oct 16, 2006
And this, in turn, allows the research team to zero in on the DNA s protein binding site ... This allows Chen and colleagues to measure how far the exonuclease travels down the DNA strand, which enables them to determine precisely where the protein binding site is located. (Science Daily)
LIGSITEcsc: Predicting ligand binding sites using the Connolly surface and degree of conservation Sep 25, 2006
Over the last ten years, many geometric methods for the prediction of ligand-binding sites have been developed ... The use of the Connolly surface leads to slight improvements, the prediction re-ranking by conservation to significant improvements of the binding site predictions. (BioMed Central)
Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: Plague Bacteria Reveal One Of Their Virulence Tricks Sep 22, 2006
Altering this binding site not only impairs the bacteria s ability to disrupt the host cytoskeleton, Stebbins says, but it decreases its virulence significantly. It s rare to find something that has such a strong effect that you can hit one protein so specifically, knock out essentially half its activity, and have such a dramatic result, he says. (Science Daily)
Brain Toxin Could Be Effective Brain Treatment Aug 22, 2006
"It is the picture of the binding site and the ability to distinguish one type of nicotinic receptor from another that makes the toxin so valuable," he adds. "The whole idea is to make the model of the nicotinic receptor so predictive that you can then really speed up the development of drugs," McIntosh says. (Science a Gogo)
A new tool against brain disease Aug 21, 2006
"By putting the two together, you can get a high-resolution picture of the binding site," says McIntosh ... "It is the picture of the binding site and the ability to distinguish one type of nicotinic receptor from another that makes the toxin so valuable," he adds ... "That generates a picture of the binding site the points of contact between the toxin and the binding protein.". (EurekAlert!)
Research Pinpoints West Nile Virus Antibody Binding Site Aug 17, 2006
The antibody is called a monoclonal antibody because it recognizes only a single binding site on the E protein. Each E protein has three "domains," or well-defined, folded segments. (Science Daily)
Detecting the limits of regulatory element conservation and divergence estimation using pairwise and multiple alignments Aug 14, 2006
Here we develop a molecular evolution simulation platform, CisEvolver, with models of background noncoding and transcription factor binding site evolution, and use simulated alignments to systematically examine multiple alignment accuracy and its impact on two key molecular evolutionary inferences: transcription factor binding site conservation and divergence estimation ... Conserved transcription factor binding sites align better than surrounding noncoding DNA yet are often found to be... (BioMed Central)
MatBase -- A new transcription factor knowledge base released by Genomatix Aug 9, 2006
It contains genomic TF binding sites and protein binding domains, related literature, more than 27. 000 known TF gene interactions, experimentally verified complexes with other TFs (promoter modules), and weight matrix descriptions for the DNA binding sites of TFs ... MatInspector employs the weight matrix descriptions as contained in MatBase for performing TF binding site search in regulatory DNA sequences. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Scientists discover a genetic code for organizing DNA within the nucleus Jul 20, 2006
The short binding sites themselves do not contain enough information for the transcription factors to discern between them. The scientists showed that basic information on the functional relevance of a binding site is at least partially encoded in the nucleosome positioning code: The intended sites are found in nucleosome-free segments, thereby allowing them to be accessed by the various transcription factors ... In contrast, spurious binding sites with identical structures that could... (EurekAlert!)
News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience Jul 12, 2006
The crystal structure of glutamate transporters suggests that the extracellular face is a water-filled bowl with glutamate binding sites sitting at the base ... Two mutations close to the glutamate binding site altered the dissociation constant and cooperativity of the anion current, unlike glutamate transport itself ... Thus, glutamate binding sites on different subunits must be occupied to generate the anion current, indicative of intersubunit interactions. (EurekAlert!)
Pernicious Anemia Jun 7, 2006
Binding antibodies bind to the intrinsic factor binding site and interfere with the absorption of intrinsic factor. Blocking antibodies bind to the receptor of cells in the ileum preventing intrinsic factor absorption. (Suite101.com)
Blood disease caused by SNP-built promoter May 27, 2006
This SNP changed the sequence AATA to GATA, thereby creating a potential binding site for GATA-1, a transcription factor essential for erythroid development and gene regulation ... In this case, the mutation "creates a transcription factor binding site and a promoter, and apparently creates it out of nothing. We know that that region otherwise doesn't normally do anything -- it's not conserved throughout evolution and we know that you can normally delete it from the alpha globin cluster without... (The Scientist)
Potential New Treatment Strategy For Alzheimer's Disease And Other Brain And Spinal Cord Damage May 19, 2006
In culture, the compounds bind with a receptor found in the brain and spinal cord called p75NTR. In the body, p75NTR is a binding site for molecules known as neurotrophins, which normally promote the growth and development of neurons and other brain cells but, according to other studies, can also kill them, depending on how and where they bind to a cell. Evidence suggests neurotrophins may play a role in Alzheimer's disease and other brain diseases and conditions, says lead and co-corresponding... (Science Daily)
Test For Dioxin Sensitivity In Wildlife Could Result From New Study May 19, 2006
The slight difference apparently changes the three-dimensional shape of the protein, known as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, allowing dioxin to bind more easily to the chicken receptor s dioxin-binding site, like a key in a lock, and trigger harmful effects. The dioxin key does not fit as smoothly into the tern receptor s binding site ... Somewhere in that folded shape is a region where the dioxin molecule fits the binding site. (Science Daily)
Nano Machine Switches Between Biological And Silicon Worlds Apr 26, 2006
"Knowing the speed of the motor, which is quite reliable and steady at any specific temperature, we could locate the position of the DNA-based fluor [molecule] relative to the binding site of the motor," says Firman. "More work needs to be done. However, the concept is sound and we now have enough evidence to indicate that this could be used to sequence single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that cause genetic disorders.". (Science Daily)
Study Holds Promise For A New Approach To Drug Therapy Apr 25, 2006
Past studies have mapped the surface of the G protein, but medical center researchers were the first to conceive that it includes a hotspot, a multi-purpose binding site, for protein-protein interaction. Such a hotspot would represent a crucial new target for anyone trying to manipulate the G protein subunit to fight disease. (Science Daily)
Walkersville student wins science award Apr 19, 2006
Emily said she focused on the molecular binding site of SEB to human blood cells ... She created a 3-D computer template to choose models, from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Chemical Information System database, of compounds that would best fit the binding site. (Frederick News-Post)
Convulsant bicuculline modifies CNS muscarinic receptor affinity. Apr 17, 2006
Previous work from this laboratory has shown that the administration of the convulsant drug 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MP), a GAD inhibitor, modifies not only GABA synthesis but also binding of the antagonist [3H]-quinuclidinyl benzilate ([3H]-QNB) to central muscarinic receptors, an effect due to an increase in affinity without modifications in binding site number. The cholinergic system has been implicated in several experimental epilepsy models and the ability of acetylcholine to regulate... (BioMed Central)
Anti-inflammatory Effects Of Omega 3 Fatty Acid In Fish Oil Linked To Lowering Of Prostaglandin Apr 5, 2006
Second, the omega 3 fatty acids compete with omega 6 fatty acids for the same binding site on the COX 1 enzyme that converts the omega 6 fatty acids to prostaglandin (which is why the COX 1 enzyme and its COX 2 cousin are the targets of anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen). The more omega 3 fatty acids present to block the binding sites, the fewer omega 6 fatty acids are able to be converted to prostaglandin. (Science Daily)
Minor mutations in avian flu virus increase chances of human infection Mar 18, 2006
Using a recently developed microarray technology-hundreds of microscopic assay sites on a single small surface-the study showed that relatively small mutations can result in switching the binding site preference of the avian virus from receptors in the intestinal tract of birds to the respiratory tract of humans. These mutations, the study noted, were already "known in [some human influenza] viruses to increase binding for these receptors.". (EurekAlert!)
Domain-based small molecule binding site annotation Mar 18, 2006
Accurate small molecule binding site information for a protein can facilitate studies in drug docking, drug discovery and function prediction, but small molecule binding site protein sequence annotation is sparse ... More importantly it provides a means to predict small molecule binding sites on proteins with a known or unknown structure and unlike prior approaches, removes large numbers of false positive hits arising from transitive alignment errors, non-biologically significant small molecules... (BioMed Central)
Comprehensive Strategy Seeks To Identify Structural Variation In Human Genome Mar 17, 2006
Six base pairs is roughly the size of a transcription factor binding site: a small DNA sequence occurring near a gene that is involved in switching the gene on or off. Sequencing efforts will be carried out by the NHGRI-supported, Large-Scale Sequencing Research Network, which consists of five centers: Agencourt Bioscience Corp., Beverly, Mass. (Science Daily)
'Looking' At Eyeless From Two Directions Mar 11, 2006
Of the 300 genes found by microarray and 10,000 or more by the binding site technique, only 21 were found by both. Because 11 of these were known to play a key role in eye development, he knew he was on the right track. (Science Daily)
Computer simulation hints at new HIV drug target Mar 11, 2006
Drug-binding sites that may be closed most of the time can be transiently exposed by an imperceptible atomic shudder ... "They helped in the discovery of the current HIV protease inhibitors, which bind to the active site of the enzyme. They were also key to the development of potential inhibitors of the third enzyme associated with HIV, the integrase enzyme. "Other simulations by our group discovered an unknown binding site on the integrase enzyme, " McCammon explained. "Merck's new... (EurekAlert!)
