(Press-News.org) Now that the human genome is sequenced, University of Notre Dame researchers are focusing on the study of the proteome, which is the protein content of an organism, tissue or cell. Bioanalytical chemist Norman Dovichi and molecular biologist Paul Huber have successfully tracked the changing patterns of protein expression during early development of Xenopus laevis, or African clawed frog, embryos. They have developed the largest data set on developmental proteomics for any organism, and have included the single-cell zygote.
Their research has uncovered an unexpected amount of discordance between the levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) and its corresponding protein. Their findings are published in Scientific Reports in an article titled, "Quantitative proteomics of Xenopus laevis embryos: expression kinetics of nearly 4000 proteins during early development."
The Notre Dame team based in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science has identified and measured the levels of about 4,000 proteins, which exhibited patterns of expression that reflect key events during early Xenopus development. For example, the appearance of organ- and tissue-specific proteins, such as those found exclusively in cardiac muscle cells, accurately reflects imminent anatomical changes taking place in the embryo. The research could lead to insight into congenital birth defects that result from the misregulation of gene expression.
The research also contradicted a widely held assumption that the levels of mRNA, which encodes proteins, would be directly related to protein levels. While that was true in most cases, there were a surprisingly high number of exceptions, demonstrating that the amounts of a particular protein can be controlled by multiple mechanisms.
Because development takes place in well-defined stages outside the mother, Xenopus is a favored model. Embryogenesis can be easily monitored in real time; fate maps for organ development have been determined and major regulators of these processes have been identified and characterized, providing an abundance of tissue- and organ-specific markers to track embryo formation. Additionally, embryos develop rapidly, achieving a nearly fully developed nervous system within four days. "It's easy to manipulate the embryos to mimic certain disease states, making Xenopus extremely valuable to biologists," Huber said.
"The collaborative, ground-breaking work of Norm Dovichi, Paul Huber and their team is crucial to helping us understand the complexity of life. We are proud of this important milestone," said Greg Crawford, dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame.
INFORMATION:
Dovichi and Huber co-authored the article with Liangliang Sun, Michelle Bertke, Matthew Champion and Guijie Zhu.
Notre Dame scientists develop largest developmental proteomic data set for any animal
2014-03-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
The circadian clock is like an orchestra with many conductors
2014-03-27
ANN ARBOR—You've switched to the night shift and your weight skyrockets, or you wake at 7 a.m. on weekdays but sleep until noon on weekends—a social jet lag that can fog your Saturday and Sunday.
Life runs on rhythms driven by circadian clocks, and disruption of these cycles is associated with serious physical and emotional problems, says Orie Shafer, a University of Michigan assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology.
Now, new findings from Shafer and U-M doctoral student Zepeng Yao challenge the prevailing wisdom about how our body clocks ...
Scientists synthesize first functional 'designer' chromosome in yeast
2014-03-27
An international team of scientists led by Jef Boeke, PhD, director of NYU Langone Medical Center's Institute for Systems Genetics, has synthesized the first functional chromosome in yeast, an important step in the emerging field of synthetic biology, designing microorganisms to produce novel medicines, raw materials for food, and biofuels.
Over the last five years, scientists have built bacterial chromosomes and viral DNA, but this is the first report of an entire eukaryotic chromosome, the threadlike structure that carries genes in the nucleus of all plant and animal ...
New way to filter light
2014-03-27
CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Light waves can be defined by three fundamental characteristics: their color (or wavelength), polarization, and direction. While it has long been possible to selectively filter light according to its color or polarization, selectivity based on the direction of propagation has remained elusive.
But now, for the first time, MIT researchers have produced a system that allows light of any color to pass through only if it is coming from one specific angle; the technique reflects all light coming from other directions. This new approach could ultimately lead ...
Quality early childhood programs help prevent chronic diseases in later life
2014-03-27
Disadvantaged children who attend high-quality early childhood development programs including healthcare and nutrition have significantly improved health as adults, reports a new study.
The study was led by researchers from UCL (University College London), the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina. These findings build upon existing evidence that high-quality early childhood programs produce better economic and social outcomes for disadvantaged children.
Based on more than three decades of studying children involved in the Abecedarian program ...
Study shows promise of preserving fertility in boys with cancer
2014-03-27
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – March 27, 2014 – Scientists have moved a step closer to being able to preserve fertility in young boys who undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer. The new research, published in Fertility and Sterility, the journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, addresses the safety of an option scientists are developing for boys who aren't sexually mature and cannot bank sperm.
Scientists aim to freeze a sample of the boys' testicular tissue so that when they reach adulthood, spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) found in the ...
Research from CHORI scientists demonstrates first genome methylation in fruit fly
2014-03-27
March 27, 2013, Oakland, CA – A group of scientists from Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and UC Berkeley report the first mapping of genome methylation in the fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster in their paper "Genome methylation in D. melanogaster is found at specific short motifs and is independent of DNMT2 activity," published this month in Genome Research.
This paper represents a major advance in the study of DNA methylation in insects. No previous study has succeeded in pinpointing the location of DNA methylation in the fly genome. The common opinion ...
Natural history dying of neglect
2014-03-27
Natural history provides essential knowledge for human wellbeing, yet its research, use and instruction in academia, government agencies and non-government organizations is declining drastically.
Simon Fraser University ecologist Anne Salomon is among 17 authors of a new paper that claims this decline in the developed world could seriously undermine the world's progress in research, conservation and management.
The paper, Natural History's Place in Science and Society, evaluates the state of natural history research and use today. The journal BioScience has just published ...
Antidepressants during pregnancy linked to preterm birth
2014-03-27
BOSTON -- Antidepressant medications taken by pregnant women are associated with increased rates of preterm birth. This finding reinforces the notion that antidepressants should not be used by pregnant women in the absence of a clear need that cannot be met through alternative approaches, say researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Vanderbilt University, MetroWest Medical Center, and Tufts Medical Center.
"Preterm birth is a major clinical problem throughout the world and rates have been increasing over the past two decades. At the same time, rates of antidepressant ...
Patient satisfaction scores in the ER are not affected by receipt of painkillers
2014-03-27
WASHINGTON — Factors other than receipt of painkillers – including opiates – in the emergency department appear to be more important to patient satisfaction, as reflected in an analysis of Press Ganey® patient surveys to be published online today in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Lack of Association between Press Ganey® Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction Scores and Emergency Department Administration of Analgesic Medications").
"The lack of connection between painkillers and patient satisfaction is frankly the opposite of what we expected to find," said lead ...
Adult cancer drugs show promise against an aggressive childhood brain tumor
2014-03-27
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – March 27, 2014) The quest to improve survival of children with a high-risk brain tumor has led St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators to two drugs already used to treat adults with breast, pancreatic, lung and other cancers. The study was published today online ahead of print in the journal Cancer Cell.
Researchers demonstrated that the drugs pemetrexed and gemcitabine killed cells from mouse and human brain tumors, called group 3 medulloblastoma, growing in the laboratory. Medulloblastoma is diagnosed in about 400 children annually in ...