Biosensors to detect small molecule ligands (e.g., metabolites) have applications in synthetic biology, medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, bioremediation and bioenergy. Protein-based biosens...
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Plant biomass represents a vast and renewable source of energy. However, harnessing this energy requires breaking down tough lignin and cellulose cell walls. In nature, certain microbes can deconstruc...
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Mass spectrometry is a broadly applicable analysis tool for detecting and characterizing molecules and other chemical species, including complex mixtures of biomolecules such as peptides, proteins or ...
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Extraction and isolation of nucleic acids from biological samples is an essential prerequisite for further amplification, detection and quantification of specific genetic sequences. The first step in ...
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Mass spectrometry is a highly selective and quantitative technique that is widely used to determine the chemical composition of a sample. Applications of this analytical tool include measuring isotope...
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Interspecies yeast hybrids are critical for producing commercially important fermentation products such as Belgian ale, certain ciders and cold-fermented wines. As one major example, lager beer, the m...
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Chemoselective transformations are of key importance in modern chemical biology. Protein esterification can, for example, be employed for labeling, enhanced cellular uptake and other useful protein mo...
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Titin is a sarcomeric protein expressed primarily in striated muscles. It is responsible for maintaining the structure and biomechanical properties of muscle cells. In the heart, cardiac titin under...
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Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) or brittle bone disease is an incurable genetic disorder that causes fragile bones and a lifetime of breaks and fractures. Recently, mutations in the gene for bone morphog...
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To produce pulp from wood, harsh chemicals are applied during cooking and bleaching mainly because lignin is tough to break down. To make it easier to degrade, Wisconsin researchers discovered how che...
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Two estrogen receptor isoforms regulate normal mammary cells in response to estrogen: ERα and ERβ. ERα is currently a therapeutic target in breast cancer, and breast cancers expressing ERα are com...
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Assays currently used to detect neutralizing antibodies to influenza virus or measure virion binding to cells, antibodies or receptors require multiple steps. These steps are destructive, low sensitiv...
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The therapeutic and biochemical properties of proteins including antibodies can be enhanced by custom chemical functionalization that enables modifications, such as small molecule drug conjugation, PE...
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Approximately 20 percent of human proteins – including many of high pharmaceutical relevance – are believed to contain disulfide bonds critical for proper structure and function. However, producin...
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The utility of many biologic drugs is limited by inefficient cellular delivery. There is a particular need for methods and reagents that facilitate delivery of peptides and proteins into the interior ...
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Influenza infections in humans, from the common seasonal flu to the deadly pandemics of the 20th century, are caused chiefly by influenza A and influenza B viruses. Understanding the in vivo dynamics ...
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Gram-negative bacterial infections are an ongoing challenge to health care providers worldwide. Detection, treatment and control of such pathogens have gained increasing importance in the context of a...
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Macrophages are white blood cells that ingest foreign material and play a crucial role in the immune system. Presently, there is no bovine macrophage cell line available for research and testing purpo...
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Regenerative medicine requires a practical, high throughput method of assessing the cellular components of multicellular entities before transplantation. Such a method would have many clinical and res...
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In addition to the common cold, human rhinoviruses (RV) trigger nearly half of all cases of asthma exacerbation. Wheezing illnesses in infancy caused by RV are associated with a high risk of developin...
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Human rhinoviruses (species A, B and C) encompass more than 160 types that are responsible for the majority of upper respiratory tract infections (common colds) and many of the lower respiratory tract...
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Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disease afflicting up to 1 percent of the worldwide population. It affects perception, behavior and thinking and can have devastating social ramifications. ...
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Fluorescent proteins can be found today in most molecular biology laboratories. Since the discovery of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) in the early 1960s, fluorescent molecules have revolutionized man...
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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to generate copies of a particular DNA sequence. The technique is common and indispensable in many research applications. Unfortunately, methods for isolating/p...
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Fatty acids generally can be classified as straight-chain or non-straight-chain. Non-straight-chain fatty acids are less abundant and highly valued in dietary supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, ...
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