Showing papers in "Current Opinion in Chemical Biology in 2002"

TL;DR: The recent generation of mouse-knockout models, deficient in a high-affinity copper transporter, or in copper chaperones, has demonstrated the importance of copper uptake and targeted distribution in both predicted and fascinating unanticipated ways in growth and development.

TL;DR: Research is leading to the identification of a range of molecular markers for predisposition testing, disease screening and prognostic assessment, as well as markers used to predict and monitor drug response.

TL;DR: Several self-assembling peptide and protein systems that form nanotubes, helical ribbons and fibrous scaffolds have recently emerged as biological materials, inspiring the design of new materials for a wide range of applications in nano-biotechnology.

TL;DR: Property associated with these dendrimers such as uniform size, water solubility, modifiable surface functionality and available internal cavities make them attractive for biological and drug-delivery applications.

TL;DR: Recent methodological advancements regarding practical factors affecting lipase activity and enantioselectivity are reviewed and select practical examples concerning the use of lipases in the production of chiral intermediates are highlighted.

TL;DR: Application of glycodendrimers to the study of carbohydrate-protein and protein-protein interactions has facilitated the understanding of these processes and shows great promise as DNA- and drug-delivery systems.

TL;DR: Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) provide a powerful tool towards the one-pot synthesis of diverse and complex compounds on the one hand and small and 'drug-like' heterocycles on the other hand.

TL;DR: As the structures of more and more proteins and nucleic acids become available, molecular docking is increasingly considered for lead discovery and the 'drug-likeness' and specificity of docking hits is also being examined.

TL;DR: A thorough knowledge of noncovalent interactions is crucial to the understanding of biological complexity and the influence of electrostatic and solvophobic components on the selectivity of aromatic interactions has been demonstrated.

TL;DR: Approaches for illuminating tissues and monitoring the re-emitted fluorescence for tomographic reconstruction, strategies for developing fluorescent dye constructs, and clinical opportunities for fluorescence-enhanced NIR optical imaging are highlighted.

TL;DR: TSR is used to reconcile the dilemma of the consensus 'rebound mechanism' of alkane hydroxylation, which emerged from experimental studies of ultra-fast radical clocks.

TL;DR: The most advanced methods for computer-aided drug design and database mining incorporate protein flexibility, which is critical for dealing with the growing body of information from structural genomics.

TL;DR: Despite the development of promising alternatives, 2D PAGE is likely to remain in extensive use for the foreseeable future, because the technology is now simple and readily available to many laboratories.

TL;DR: The impressive speed combined with the unmatched control over reaction parameters justifies the growing interest in this application of microwave heating.

TL;DR: Comparison of the primary sequence of the pyrococcal pullulanase with other members of the glucosyl hydrolase family revealed that significant differences are responsible for the mode of action of these enzymes.

TL;DR: MALDI MS imaging mass spectrometry can be used to map the distribution of targeted compounds in tissue sections with a spatial resolution currently of about 50 microm, providing important molecular information in many areas of biological research.

TL;DR: Non-natural, sequence-specific peptidomimetic oligomers are being designed to mimic bioactive peptides, with potential therapeutic application, including HIV-Tat protein, lung surfactant proteins, collagen, and somatostatin.

TL;DR: Novel techniques in finding novel methods of tRNA aminoacylation and in extending genetic codes for directing the positions have opened the possibility of synthesising non-natural mutant proteins in living cells.

TL;DR: New bacterial enzymes and reactions involved in oxidation of aromatic and hydrocarbon compounds to CO(2) in the complete absence of molecular oxygen have been discovered and of special interest are two reactions: the reduction of the aromatic ring of benzoyl-coenzyme A and the addition of fumarate to hydrocarbons.

TL;DR: Results indicate new possibilities for the development of effective human therapeutics based on antimicrobial peptides and partially disclosed the biotechnological potential of these molecules.

TL;DR: Microarrays of immobilized functional proteins have the potential to increase dramatically the throughput of proteomic analysis and protein function can be elucidated by performing binding and enzymatic assays on arrays of biologically active proteins.

TL;DR: A method to characterize this receptor heterogeneity with phage display random peptide libraries has been developed and several peptide ligands have been isolated that home to tissue-specific endothelial cell receptors following intravenous administration.

TL;DR: Spectroscopic and crystallographic studies have provided critical insights into catalysis, and self-hydroxylation reactions, commonplace in these proteins, reveal important features of metallocenter reactivity.

TL;DR: The need for developing truly biocompatible materials for sensor fabrication remains the most significant challenge for achieving robust and reliable sensors capable of monitoring the real-time physiological status of patients.

TL;DR: Fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy provide complementary information useful for pre-cancer diagnosis, and tissue engineering provides three-dimensional cell cultures that can be used to further explore the relationship between tissue structure and biological events important in cancer development and progression.

TL;DR: Advances include the development of methods to prepare substrates having ligands immobilized in controlled densities and patterns, and recent work that is developing dynamic substrates which can modulate, in real-time, the activities of ligands.

TL;DR: Introduction of double-stranded RNAs into cells can suppress gene expression by mechanisms such as mRNA degradation or inhibition of translation and these two responses intersect, and new tools were successfully applied to inhibit tumorigenicity and viral replication.

TL;DR: This work can improve existing enzyme activity, change enzyme selectivity and evolve function de novo using directed evolution.

TL;DR: Optizing activity, which can include subtle alterations in backbone conformation and protein motion, is better suited to directed evolution, which is highly effective at scaling fitness landscapes towards maxima.

TL;DR: Vibrational circular dichroism provides alternative views of protein and peptide conformation with advantages over electronic (UV) CD (ECD) or IR spectroscopy, with detailed prediction of helix, sheet and hairpin spectra and site-specific application of isotopic substitution for structure and folding.