- Email: [email protected]
Perfect timing
204
News & Comment
Ribosome structure
TRENDS in Biotechnology Vol.19 No.6 June 2001
World Wide Web
The entire atomic structure of one of the most important cellular machines, the ribosome, has been elucidated by workers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. The structure reveals the relationship between the 30S and 50S subunits, and the hollow between them, in which protein synthesis takes place (reported on-line at Sciencexpress, 29 March). Harry Noller and co-workers studied the ribosome of the thermophilic organism Thermus thermophilus, bound with mRNA and tRNA, and observed three tRNA binding sites in contact with the ribosome, providing an explanation for the conservation of tRNA structure during protein synthesis. MJD
DNA by post Using DNA ‘barcodes’ as a means of identifying personal property or valuable documents is not a new idea – in the film Judge Dredd, Sylvester Stallone’s character used bullets labelled with his own DNA – but Jonathon Cox, at the University of Bath, UK has proven the viability of such a technique by labelling a letter with a mixture of different DNA template molecules and sending it to himself through the post. Upon receipt, the DNA is washed from the envelope, and amplified using PCR to produce a DNA ‘barcode’, which can be analysed using standard agarose gel electrophoresis. Cox says that the template molecules are stable on paper for at least six months and the work will be published in a forthcoming edition of The Analyst. MJD
Proteomics’ most wanted With attention now turning to mapping the Human Proteome, new predictive and analytical tools are needed to understand the structure and role of the proteins coded for by the 30 000 or so genes in the human genome. A team of structural biologists at UCLA have described a set of tools and molecular dynamic models for predicting the structures of small proteins (Journal of the American Chemical Society, February issue). Two peptides of 36 and 65 residues’ length were modelled and the predicted structures corresponded well with experimental results obtained from NMR studies. The team has now asked for submissions to the ’10 most wanted’ list of proteins to test their predictive tools on (see http://www.doembi.ucla.edu/TMW/index.html.). MJD
Spiders’ web silk, weight for weight, is much stronger than steel and more resilient to snapping than synthetic polymers such as Kevlar. Fritz Vollhart and David Knight at the University of Oxford have unraveled the secrets of spiders’ silk and how it is spun, a process that, as yet, cannot be mimicked in industrial fibre spinning (Nature, 29 March). The Oxford team found that the starting material, or ‘dope’ from which spiders weave their webs is a liquid crystalline solution, containing the silk proteins; it is free-flowing and easily spun through the arachnid’s spinning abdomen. The dope solution is 50% protein by weight, concentrations that ordinarily prove too viscous to ‘spin’ in the laboratory. However, spiders seem able to overcome this problem by keeping the proteins in a coiled conformation during spinning – later the proteins uncoil and stick together to give the final elastic thread. Several biotechnology companies are interested in developing genetically engineered transgenic spiders’ silk proteins for incorporation in new materials. MJD
Celltech sells One of the UK’s leading biotechnology companies, Celltech, has announced a deal with US pharmaceutical company Pharmacia, to market its antibody fragment treatment CDP-870 for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease (Chemistry in Britain, April). Pharmacia will make a down payment of US$ 50 million, plus a further US$ 230 million in future payments based on sales of CDP-870. MJD
Perfect timing Using microarray techniques to monitor gene expression, researchers at the University of Arizona have studied stress response of different strains of rice and discovered that although both salt-tolerant and salt-intolerant strains have many genes in common, it is the timing of gene expression that is important for the plants’ response to stress (The Plant Cell, April). In a salt-sensitive strain, IR29, the researchers discovered that genes needed by the plant to withstand ‘salt shock’ were activated more slowly than those in a salttolerant strain known as Pokkali. In this strain, genes expressing proteins rich in glycine, serine and calcium dependent protein kinase were activated within 15 minutes of salt shock, suggesting a calcium-dependent signal transduction pathway. Further study and breeding of such crops could lead to development of new salt-tolerant strains that could be grown in conditions of high salinity, such as drought. MJD
Antisense tumour treatment Researchers at the Jefferson Medical College, PA, USA, have observed unexpected improvements in patients suffering from fatal brain tumours, after treatment with an antisense DNA drug targetted against the type1 insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1R (Journal of Clinical Oncology, April issue). In phase I clinical trials on a small number of patients, the majority showed improvements owing to tumour shrinkage, or even temporary disappearance. However, the team must await further Food and Drug Administration approval and supply of the antisense agent before continuing the study. MJD
Plasmodium database An Internet and CD-ROM-based database of the genome of the parasite responsible for the majority of worldwide malaria deaths, Plasmodium falciparum, has been made publicly available. The Plasmodium database project has developed new bioinformatics and data-mining tools to allow analysis of the genome before the entire sequence is known (see http://www.PlasmaDB.org). MJD
David McKay ([email protected]) and
http://tibtech.trends.com 0167-7799/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Martin J. Davies ([email protected])
News & Comment
Ribosome structure
TRENDS in Biotechnology Vol.19 No.6 June 2001
World Wide Web
The entire atomic structure of one of the most important cellular machines, the ribosome, has been elucidated by workers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. The structure reveals the relationship between the 30S and 50S subunits, and the hollow between them, in which protein synthesis takes place (reported on-line at Sciencexpress, 29 March). Harry Noller and co-workers studied the ribosome of the thermophilic organism Thermus thermophilus, bound with mRNA and tRNA, and observed three tRNA binding sites in contact with the ribosome, providing an explanation for the conservation of tRNA structure during protein synthesis. MJD
DNA by post Using DNA ‘barcodes’ as a means of identifying personal property or valuable documents is not a new idea – in the film Judge Dredd, Sylvester Stallone’s character used bullets labelled with his own DNA – but Jonathon Cox, at the University of Bath, UK has proven the viability of such a technique by labelling a letter with a mixture of different DNA template molecules and sending it to himself through the post. Upon receipt, the DNA is washed from the envelope, and amplified using PCR to produce a DNA ‘barcode’, which can be analysed using standard agarose gel electrophoresis. Cox says that the template molecules are stable on paper for at least six months and the work will be published in a forthcoming edition of The Analyst. MJD
Proteomics’ most wanted With attention now turning to mapping the Human Proteome, new predictive and analytical tools are needed to understand the structure and role of the proteins coded for by the 30 000 or so genes in the human genome. A team of structural biologists at UCLA have described a set of tools and molecular dynamic models for predicting the structures of small proteins (Journal of the American Chemical Society, February issue). Two peptides of 36 and 65 residues’ length were modelled and the predicted structures corresponded well with experimental results obtained from NMR studies. The team has now asked for submissions to the ’10 most wanted’ list of proteins to test their predictive tools on (see http://www.doembi.ucla.edu/TMW/index.html.). MJD
Spiders’ web silk, weight for weight, is much stronger than steel and more resilient to snapping than synthetic polymers such as Kevlar. Fritz Vollhart and David Knight at the University of Oxford have unraveled the secrets of spiders’ silk and how it is spun, a process that, as yet, cannot be mimicked in industrial fibre spinning (Nature, 29 March). The Oxford team found that the starting material, or ‘dope’ from which spiders weave their webs is a liquid crystalline solution, containing the silk proteins; it is free-flowing and easily spun through the arachnid’s spinning abdomen. The dope solution is 50% protein by weight, concentrations that ordinarily prove too viscous to ‘spin’ in the laboratory. However, spiders seem able to overcome this problem by keeping the proteins in a coiled conformation during spinning – later the proteins uncoil and stick together to give the final elastic thread. Several biotechnology companies are interested in developing genetically engineered transgenic spiders’ silk proteins for incorporation in new materials. MJD
Celltech sells One of the UK’s leading biotechnology companies, Celltech, has announced a deal with US pharmaceutical company Pharmacia, to market its antibody fragment treatment CDP-870 for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease (Chemistry in Britain, April). Pharmacia will make a down payment of US$ 50 million, plus a further US$ 230 million in future payments based on sales of CDP-870. MJD
Perfect timing Using microarray techniques to monitor gene expression, researchers at the University of Arizona have studied stress response of different strains of rice and discovered that although both salt-tolerant and salt-intolerant strains have many genes in common, it is the timing of gene expression that is important for the plants’ response to stress (The Plant Cell, April). In a salt-sensitive strain, IR29, the researchers discovered that genes needed by the plant to withstand ‘salt shock’ were activated more slowly than those in a salttolerant strain known as Pokkali. In this strain, genes expressing proteins rich in glycine, serine and calcium dependent protein kinase were activated within 15 minutes of salt shock, suggesting a calcium-dependent signal transduction pathway. Further study and breeding of such crops could lead to development of new salt-tolerant strains that could be grown in conditions of high salinity, such as drought. MJD
Antisense tumour treatment Researchers at the Jefferson Medical College, PA, USA, have observed unexpected improvements in patients suffering from fatal brain tumours, after treatment with an antisense DNA drug targetted against the type1 insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1R (Journal of Clinical Oncology, April issue). In phase I clinical trials on a small number of patients, the majority showed improvements owing to tumour shrinkage, or even temporary disappearance. However, the team must await further Food and Drug Administration approval and supply of the antisense agent before continuing the study. MJD
Plasmodium database An Internet and CD-ROM-based database of the genome of the parasite responsible for the majority of worldwide malaria deaths, Plasmodium falciparum, has been made publicly available. The Plasmodium database project has developed new bioinformatics and data-mining tools to allow analysis of the genome before the entire sequence is known (see http://www.PlasmaDB.org). MJD
David McKay ([email protected]) and
http://tibtech.trends.com 0167-7799/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Martin J. Davies ([email protected])