The potential of thiol-ene chemistry as a selective strategy to functionalize silicon materials for DNA microarraying is demonstrated and applied to discriminate genetic variations.

Multiple carbon-nitrogen distances can be measured in natural abundant solids using Rotary Resonance Echo Saturation Pulse Double Resonance (R-RESPDOR) solid state NMR experiment.

Branched nucleic acid strands exist as intermediates in certain biological reactions, and bifurcating DNA also presents interesting opportunities in biotechnological applications. We describe here how T4 DNA ligase can be used for efficient construction of DNA molecules having one 5' end but two distinct 3' ends that extend from the 2' and 3' carbons, respectively, of an internal nucleotide. Th...

Cheol-Min Yang*, Young-Jung Kim, Dong Young Kim, Jin Miyawaki, Hirofumi Kanoh, Masako Yudasaka, Sumio Iijima, and Katsumi Kaneko* Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi, Inage, Chiba 263-8522, Japan Institute of Carbon Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553, Japan SORST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, NEC Corporation...

Low voltage-activated calcium channels (CaV3.1-CaV3.3) serve critical physiological roles, especially in the cardiovascular, nervous, and endocrine systems. CaV3 dysregulation resulting from mutations that alter channel gating, trafficking, and/or expression underlies diverse devastating diseases including hypertension, epilepsy, chronic pain. The biophysical properties patterns of can be tuned...

Based on the crystal structure of human DNA ligase I complexed with nicked DNA, computer-aided drug design was used to identify compounds in a database of 1.5 million commercially available low molecular weight chemicals that were predicted to bind to a DNA-binding pocket within the DNA-binding domain of DNA ligase I, thereby inhibiting DNA joining. Ten of 192 candidates specifically inhibited ...

L-Amino acid ligase (EC 6.3.2.28) is a microbial enzyme catalyzing formation of an alpha-peptide bond from unprotected L-amino acids in an ATP-dependent manner. The YwfE protein from Bacillus subtilis 168 was the first reported L-amino acid ligase, and it synthesizes various dipeptides. Thereafter, several L-amino acid ligases were newly obtained by in silico analysis using the ATP-grasp motif....

A balance between synthesis and degradation of cellular proteins is of natural importance to regulation of protein levels and necessary to retain viability of living cells. Protein degradation often occurs via targeting through ubiquitination and subsequent decomposition in the cellular proteasome [1]. Some other pathways may either not utilize ubiquitination or degrade proteins via lysosomal c...

RATIONALE Impaired degradation of misfolded proteins is associated with a large subset of heart diseases. Misfolded proteins are degraded primarily by the ubiquitin-proteasome system, but the ubiquitin ligases responsible for the degradation remain largely unidentified. The cullin deneddylation activity of the COP9 signalosome (CSN) requires all 8 CSN subunits (CSN1 through CSN8) and regulates ...

Recent studies demonstrated expression and activity of the intracellular cortisone-cortisol shuttle 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) in skeletal muscle and inhibition of 11beta-HSD1 in muscle cells improved insulin sensitivity. Glucocorticoids induce muscle atrophy via increased expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligases Atrogin-1 (Muscle Atrophy F-box (MAFbx)) and MuRF-1 (M...