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George Bennett, the Dell Butcher Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, has been selected as this year's Veteran's Day honoree. (Link)
Nov 4, 2009
Rice University will honor the more than 100 veterans among its faculty, staff and students at an 11 a.m. ceremony at Rice Memorial Center's Ray Courtyard.
Each year a Rice faculty or staff member is recognized based on his or her outstanding contributions to Rice and military service. George Bennett, the Dell Butcher Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, has been selected as this year's honoree.
Rice University will honor the more than 100 veterans among its faculty, staff and students at an 11 a.m. ceremony at Rice Memorial Center's Ray Courtyard.
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A new $1.5 million grant from the NIH will support influenza A research in the Jane Tao Lab. (Link)
Oct 21, 2009
Rice University scientists have won a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to scrutinize the influenza A virus for clues that could lead to more-effective antiviral drugs. Strains of influenza A include this year's pandemic H1N1 variety, some seasonal varieties and the much-feared H5N1 bird flu.
Based on previous research -- including an influential 2006 report by Tao and University of Texas at Austin colleague Robert Krug -- scientists know the flu can replicate only when all eight genes are packaged in a particular way. Tao, who first deciphered the atomic structure of NP for that study, said the new research program will go a step further by systematically investigating NP's role in building the RNA package that's so critical for the virus to reproduce.
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Sequence and expression of the zebrafish alpha-actinin gene family reveals conservation and diversification among vertebrates.
Sep 24, 2009
Christopher K. Holterhoff, Rebecca H. Saunders, Erika E. Brito and Daniel S. Wagner. Developmental Dynamics, in press.
Here we identify five zebrafish actinin genes
including two paralogs of ACTN3. We describe the temporal and spatial
expression patterns of these genes through embryonic development. All
zebrafish actinin genes have unique expression profiles, indicating specialization
of each gene.
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The Role of Alpha-Hemoglobin Stabilizing Protein in Redox Chemistry, Denaturation, and Hemoglobin Assembly. (Link)
Sep 24, 2009
Mollan T, Yu X, Weiss MJ, Olson JS.
Recent work has implicated a conserved erythroid protein known as Alpha-Hemoglobin Stabilizing Protein (AHSP) as a participant in these events. Current evidence suggests that AHSP enhances alpha subunit stability and diminishes its participation in harmful redox chemistry. There is also evidence that AHSP facilitates one or more early-stage post-translational hemoglobin biosynthetic events.
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Tetramer opening in LacI-mediated DNA looping. (Link)
Sep 21, 2009
Danielis Rutkauskas, Hongli Zhan, Kathleen S. Matthews, Francesco S. Pavone, and Francesco Vanzia. PNAS online. September 21, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0904617106.
We address, specifically, the role of protein opening in loop formation by employing the single-molecule tethered particle motion method on LacI protein mutants chemically cross-linked at different positions along the cleft between the two dimers. Measurements on the wild-type and uncross-linked LacI mutants led to the observation of two distinct levels of short tether length, associated with two different DNA looping structures. Restricting conformational flexibility of the protein by chemical cross-linking induces pronounced effects. These observations lead to the conclusion that tetramer opening plays a definite role in at least a subset of LacI/DNA loop conformations.
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Yousif Shamoo is awarded a grant from the NIAID to use molecular evolution to study antibiotic resistance. (Link)
Sep 21, 2009
The four-year study will follow two common pathogens, E. coli and E. faecalis, as they adapt to become antibiotic-resistant.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) study will follow two common pathogens, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, as they adapt to front-line antibiotics. The researchers will identify the network of genetic adaptations that allow the pathogens to become increasingly drug-resistant.
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Homotypic fusion of ER membranes requires the dynamin-like GTPase Atlastin. (Link)
Jul 30, 2009
Orso G, Pendin D, Liu S, Tosetto J, Moss TJ, Faust JE, Micaroni M, Egorova A, Martinuzzi A, McNew JA, Daga A. Nature. 2009 Jul 26. [Epub ahead of print]
This article demonstrates that Atlastin mediates membrane tethering and fusion and strongly suggests that it is the GTPase activity that is required for ER homotypic fusion.
Additional online articles can be viewed at the following URLS:
- http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=12866&SnID=1650653784
- http://www.dailyindia.com/show/325626.php
- http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rare-Genetic-Disorder-Protein-Plays-Critical-Role-in-the-Body-117903.shtml
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Tom Guu in the Tao Lab has created an atomic resolution model of the HEV capsid. (Link)
Jul 24, 2009
Researchers at Rice University and their international colleagues have for the first time described the atomic structure of the protein shell that carries the genetic code of hepatitis E (HEV).
See additional articles at the following URLS:
- http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=12844
- http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2009/07/structure_of_hep_e_decoded_through_xray_crystallography.html
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Structure of the hepatitis E virus-like particle suggests mechanisms for virus assembly and receptor binding. (Link)
Jul 21, 2009
Tom S. Y. Guu, Zheng Liub, Qiaozhen Ye, Douglas A. Mata, Kunpeng Lic, Changcheng Yin, Jingqiang Zhang, and Yizhi Jane Tao.
Our 3.5 angstrom structure of a HEV-like particle (VLP) shows that each capsid protein contains 3 linear domains that form distinct structural elements: S, the continuous capsid; P1, 3-fold protrusions; and P2, 2-fold spikes. The S domain adopts a jelly-roll fold commonly observed in small RNA viruses. The P1 and P2 domains both adopt β-barrel folds.
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BCB alumna Erica Ollmann Saphire (Matthews Lab) wins a Presidential Early Career Award. (Link)
Jul 17, 2009
A biology and biochemistry double-major, Erica Ollmann Saphire was an undergraduate researcher in Kathy Matthew's Lab and is now an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute.
Erica Ollmann Saphire, front, has been selected to receive a prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She is pictured with her research assistant Dafna Abelson.
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Joff Silberg and Mike Covington receive Rice Faculty Initiative Fund awards. (Link)
Jul 15, 2009
Joff's project involves engineering light-triggered bionanoparticles for cellular reprogramming, and Mike's project studies seed-to-seed chemical signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Ramon Gonzalez, the William W. Akers Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Michael Wong, associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in chemistry; and Jonathan Silberg, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, will look into engineering light-triggered bionanoparticles for cellular reprogramming. These would be useful for controlling protein and cellular functioning. Kenneth Whitney, assistant professor in ecology and evolutionary biology, and Michael Covington, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, are studying seed-to-seed chemical signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. The newly discovered process involving the small, flowering plant has implications for evolutionary ecology and molecular mechanisms.
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Andria Denmon of the Nikonowicz Lab attended the 2009 Meeting of Nobel Laureates at Lindau. (Link)
Jul 4, 2009
After a multi-stage international selection procedure, Andria Denmon was selected to participate as a young researcher in the 2009 Nobel Laureates Meeting in Lindau, Germany.
Approximately 600 students were selected internationally. Andria is pictured listening to one of the nobel laureate lectures.
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Conformational Dynamics of Metal-Binding Domains in Wilson Disease Protein: Molecular Insights into Selective Copper Transfer. (Link)
Jun 30, 2009
Agustina Rodriguez-Granillo, Alejandro Crespo and Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede.
Here, we investigated the dynamic behavior of the individual metal-binding domains (MBDs) WD1−WD6 in the ATP7B ATPase in apo forms using molecular dynamic simulations. We also performed simulations of three Cu-bound forms (WD2c, WD4c, and WD6c). Our results reveal molecular features that vary distinctly among the MBDs.
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Pseudosymmetry, high copy number and twinning complicate the structure determination of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (ATCC 29577) flavodoxin. (Link)
Jun 30, 2009
M. Guelker, L. Stagg, P. Wittung-Stafshede and Y. Shamoo.
The refined model shows flexibility of the flavin mononucleotide coordinating loops indicated by the isolation of two loop conformations and provides a starting point for the elucidation of the mechanism used for protein-partner recognition.
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Peter Nguyen is awarded a Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship by the Office of Graduate Studies.
Jun 19, 2009
The Rice Graduate Council selected Peter Nguyen for one of this year's special graduate fellowships for continuing students.
The Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship is designed to provide a fellowship for a
graduate student whose record at Rice shows evidence of outstanding
achievement and promise.
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Weiwei Zhong is awarded a 2009 Searle's Scholarship for exceptional young scientists. (Link)
Jun 19, 2009
The Searle Scholars Program makes grants to selected academic institutions to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who have recently begun their first appointment at the assistant professor level.
15 individuals are selected each year by the Searle's Scholars Program, which is designed to support the independent research of new tenure-track faculty.
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Celine Santiago and Sol Gomez de la Torre Canny from the Wagner Lab win honors at the Texas and Southern Plains Regional Zebrafish Conference.
Jun 17, 2009
The 5th Biennial Texas and Southern Plains Regional Zebrafish Meeting June 5-7, 2009 - University of North Texas in Denton, TX
Celine Santiago received the award for best presentation by an undergraduate and Sol Gomez de la Torre Canny won best presentation by a graduate student recently at the Regional Zebrafish Meeting. Both students are members of the Dan Wagner Lab.
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High-resolution viral shell image produced by Jane Tao and Junhua Pan is featured on popsci.com. (Link)
Jun 12, 2009
Pan, Junhau and Tao, Yizhi Jane
After three years of piecing together hundreds of individual x-ray images, researchers were able to produce the first high-resolution picture of the five million atoms that make up a virus's protective shell.
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Analysis of human α globin gene mutations that impair binding to the α hemoglobin stabilizing protein. (Link)
Jun 4, 2009
Xiang Yu, Todd L. Mollan, Andrew Butler, Andrew J. Gow, John S. Olson, and Mitchell J. Weiss.
We analyzed 6 human α globin variants with altered AHSP contact surfaces. Alpha globin amino acid substitutions H103Y, H103R, F117S, and P119S impaired interactions with both AHSP and β globin. These mutations are destabilizing in biochemical assays and are associated with microcytosis and anemia in humans.
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Biochemistry and Cell Biology senior, Mary Mao, receives a trainee award from the American Society of Hematology for her summer research project.
Jun 2, 2009
The award will fund her summer internship in the Goodell Lab at BCM and will pay for her to attend the ASH meeting in December.
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Mike Covington, Joff Silberg and Laura Segatori were awarded 2009 IBB Hamill Innovation Grants. (Link)
May 28, 2009
The Hamill Award Grants program is funded by a grant from the Hamill Foundation, which has supported IBB since its founding in 1986. The 2009 Hamill Award winners will be formally recognized at the fifth annual IBB Symposium July 15.
Kenneth Whitney, assistant professor in ecology and evolutionary biology, and Michael Covington, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, for "Seed-seed Signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana: Evolutionary Ecology and Molecular Mechanisms of a Newly Discovered Process.” Michael Wong, associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering and in chemistry; Ramon Gonzalez, the William W. Akers Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Jonathan Silberg, assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, for "Synthesis and Characterization of Bionanoparticles for Light-triggered Control of Protein Function."
Sibani Lisa Biswal, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Laura Segatori, the T.N. Law Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, for "Engineering a Nanomechanical Sensor to Translate Protein Conformations for Disease Detection."
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Flexibility in the Inducer Binding Region Is Crucial for Allostery in the Escherichia coli Lactose Repressor. (Link)
Apr 15, 2009
Jia Xu, Kathleen S. Matthews. Biochemistry 2009 48 (22), 4988-4998.
Jia Xu, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the Matthews Lab, is first author on an article featuring targeted molecular dynamics simulations of LacI mutants.
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The Drosophila Transcription Factor Ultrabithorax Self-Assembles into Protein-Based Biomaterials with Multiple Morphologies (Link)
Apr 13, 2009
Alexandra M. Greer, Zhao Huang, Ashley Oriakhi, Yang Lu, Jun Lou, Kathleen S. Matthews, Sarah E. Bondos Biomacromolecules 2009 10 (4), 829-837. Graduate student George Huang, working with advisors Sarah Bondos and Kathy Matthews, is second author on a new UBX paper.
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Increased Insulin/Insulin Growth Factor Signaling Advances the Onset of Metamorphosis in Drosophila. (Link)
Apr 7, 2009
Magdalena A. Walkiewicz, Michael Stern.
Here we show that blocking the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway in the insulin producing cells (IPCs) increases IIS. This increased IIS increases larval growth rate and also advances the onset of metamorphosis, which is accompanied by precocious ecdysone synthesis and increased transcription of at least one ecdysone biosynthetic gene.
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