Sarah Braner

4 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Sarah Braner

While great strides have been made in exploring the world of RNA, mysteries remain-and one approach to solving them is to look at what exactly a strand of RNA is doing in a cell in real time.

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Sarah Braner

Neuroblastomas are the most common cancer in infants, with about 700-800 diagnoses per year in the US, according to the American Cancer Society. Some of the most high-risk cases are driven by elevated expression of the protein N-Myc, a transcription factor that causes increased cell proliferation. N-Myc is difficult to target in part because its structure is more malleable than that of a rigid protein.

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Sarah Braner

In the world of protein degradation, sometimes a spanner in the works isn't an inconvenience but the desired result. Paris-based Enodia Therapeutics has launched out of France's Pasteur Institute and the Argobio Studio to design small molecules that strategically throw a wrench in the processing of undesired proteins. Protein synthesis involves multiple steps that scientists can target to get rid of unwanted proteins. Enodia focuses on one of the earlier steps.

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Sarah Braner

Skatole is an infamously smelly molecule that, in some anaerobic bacteria, is synthesized from ʟ-tryptophan in a four-step process. Now, researchers have found that certain aerobic bacteria only need one enzyme to get a similar job done. Bradley Moore and his team at the University of San Diego have discovered a diiron oxidase enzyme in cyanobacteria called SktA, which converts 5-bromo-ʟ-tryptophan into 5-bromoskatole, cyanide, and carbon dioxide in one step ( J. Am. Chem. Soc.

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Sarah Braner

While protein design is experiencing a period of rapid development and advancement, there's one particularly challenging class of proteins that's giving researchers a hard time: enzymes. Now researchers from David Baker's group at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design have made a significant step forward. According to results published in Science Feb.