PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Cellular team players

New insights into energy generation by heat shock protein Hsp90

Cellular team players
2014-06-30
(Press-News.org) This news release is available in German.

As in a successful football match, all actors in a cell must play in perfect coordination. A typical example for this kind of cooperation can be seen in the heat shock protein Hsp90, which controls the proper folding of other proteins. Together with a second molecule, the co-chaperone P23, it splits the energy source ATP to release the energy it needs to do its work.

However, while normal enzyme reactions often are easy to follow because the involved proteins alter their conformations clearly, the interaction between P23 and ATP involves significantly less conspicuous changes in state.

Using a sophisticated methodology, a team led by Professor Thorsten Hugel, head of the Department for Molecular Machines at the TU Muenchen and member of the Excellence Cluster Nanosystemns Initiative Munich (NIM), has now managed to observe this reaction in detail for the first time – step for step in an Hsp90 molecule, P23 protein and ATP.

Live transmission of molecular processes

To this end, the team adapted the so-called FRET (Foerster resonance energy transfer) methodology to suit their requirements. The approach works by using a variety of fluorescent pigment molecules bonded to specific sites in the involved components. When these complexes are excited with light of a specific wavelength, the pigments start to fluoresce in a kind of chain reaction. The emitted fluorescent light reveals the precise distance between the marked sites, right down to the nanometer.

To determine exactly how the components Hsp90, P23 and ATP interact with each other, the biophysicists observed the positions and bonding sequences of the individual molecules over a span of several minutes. From the resulting data they could deduce even the smallest of changes, as well as the biological function of the overall complex.

Energy production as a team effort

Using this approach, the Munich researchers successfully demonstrated in detail that the P23 protein strengthens ATP bonding, thereby significantly increasing the amount of energy exploited. They also showed that the two substances bond with Hsp90 this effectively only as a team, thereby allowing ATP splitting to be used so successful.

"Without P23 the heat shock enzyme effectively runs on idle," explains Bjoern Hellenkamp their results. "When P23 joins the game, it is like shifting into gear. The energy is released and the reaction moves clearly in one direction. This is referred to as directionality."

In the near future the biophysicists want to investigate in detail how Hsp90 uses the exploited energy. The newly established methodology also allows them to investigate other multicomponent systems with mechanisms that have eluded study because of their minimal conformational alterations. INFORMATION:

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Cellular team players

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Progress in the fight against tuberculosis

2014-06-30
Leading immunologists expect to see some clear advances in the fight against tuberculosis, an infectious disease that is widespread the world over. Professor Stefan Kaufmann, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, echoed these sentiments at today's launch of the scientific programme for the 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting at Lindau, Germany. "In the past ten years, numerous attempts have been made to develop an improved vaccine. We are now justified in hoping that our vaccine will be effective," explained Professor Kaufmann. The vaccine ...

Artificial enzyme mimics the natural detoxification mechanism in liver cells

2014-06-30
Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany have discovered that molybdenum trioxide nanoparticles oxidize sulfite to sulfate in liver cells in analogy to the enzyme sulfite oxidase. The functionalized Molybdenum trioxide nanoparticles can cross the cellular membrane and accumulate at the mitochondria, where they can recover the activity of sulfite oxidase. Sulfite oxidase is a molybdenum containing enzyme located in the mitochondria of liver and kidney cells, which catalyzes the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate during the protein and lipid metabolism ...

The chemistry of fireworks: Fourth of July science (video)

The chemistry of fireworks: Fourth of July science (video)
2014-06-30
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2014 — The Fourth of July is just days away, and that means millions of Americans will soon enjoy eye-popping fireworks displays around the country. These dazzling light shows are actually carefully crafted chemical reactions. This week's Reactions episode features John Conkling, Ph.D., the professor who literally wrote the book on pyrotechnics. In the video, Conkling explains the chemistry that creates those amazing fireworks displays. The video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPHegSulI_M. Subscribe to the series at Reactions YouTube, ...

Study finds low hand hygiene compliance rates during anesthesia administration

2014-06-30
Washington, DC, June 30, 2014 – Anesthesia providers are missing opportunities to clean their hands during surgical procedures, according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). In the study, researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center used video observation to map patterns of anesthesia provider hand contact with anesthesia work environment surfaces to assess hand hygiene compliance. Researchers observed an average ...

Forelimb bone data predicts predator style

Forelimb bone data predicts predator style
2014-06-30
At the start of their research, paleobiologists Christine Janis and Borja Figueirido simply wanted to determine the hunting style of an extinct marsupial called Thylacine (also known as the "marsupial wolf" or the "Tasmanian tiger"). In the end, the Australian relic, which has a very dog-like head but with both cat- and dog-like features in the skeleton, proved to be uniquely unspecialized, but what emerged from the effort is a new classification system that can capably predict the hunting behaviors of mammals from measurements of just a few forelimb bones. "We realized ...

A key component of cell division comes to light

A key component of cell division comes to light
2014-06-30
VIDEO: This is a video of the study about the dynamics of microtubule minus ends in the human mitotic spindle. Click here for more information. The division of a cell in two requires the assembly of the mitotic spindle, an extremely complex structure, which is the result of the coordinated action of a multitude of proteins and a finely tuned balance of their activities. A large part of the time that a cell requires to divide is devoted to assembling the mitotic spindle, which, ...

Study: Four Habits Model prepares pediatric nurses for emotionally difficult discussions

Study: Four Habits Model prepares pediatric nurses for emotionally difficult discussions
2014-06-30
INDIANAPOLIS -- A child's illness and hospitalization are extremely stressful for both the child and the parents. A new study reports that the Four Habits Model of Highly Effective Clinicians, a core set of communication skills developed to help physicians communicate with patients, can successfully prepare inexperienced nurses for emotionally difficult conversations with parents of pediatric patients. The evidence-based Four Habits Model was co-developed 20 years ago by Regenstrief Institute investigator Richard Frankel, Ph.D., a sociologist and medical educator whose ...

Potential drug target for PTSD prevention

2014-06-30
Scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University have identified a drug that appears to make memories of fearsome events less durable in mice. The finding may accelerate the development of treatments for preventing PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The drug, called osanetant, targets a distinct group of brain cells in a region of the brain that controls the formation and consolidation of fear memories. The results were published in the journal Neuron. "Potentially, drugs that act on this group of cells could be used to block fear memory ...

Green planning needed to maintain city buildings

2014-06-30
Green spaces in towns and cities need extra consideration as they may be damaging buildings in the area, according to new research from the Universities of Southampton and Surrey. When organic chemicals from trees and vegetation mix with air pollutants the resulting corrosive gas can increase the erosion of building materials, including stone, concrete and steel. Southampton's Dr Abhishek Tiwary, who is based within the Centre for Environmental Sciences, and Dr Prashant Kumar, from the University of Surrey, found that heritage buildings, built from limestone and sandstone, ...

Interlayer distance in graphite oxide gradually changes when water is added

2014-06-30
Physicists from Umeå University and Humboldt University in Berlin have solved a mystery that has puzzled scientists for half a century. They show with the help of powerful microscopes that the distance between graphite oxide layers gradually increases when water molecules are added. That is because the surface of graphite oxide is not flat, but varies in thickness with "hills" and "valleys" of nanosize. The new findings are published in the scientific journal Nano Letters. "Now we can better understand the mechanisms of solvent insertion between layers of graphene oxide. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Public take the lead in discovery of new exploding star

What are they vaping? Study reveals alarming surge in adolescent vaping of THC, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids

ECMWF - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

Brazilian neuroscientist reveals how viral infections transform the brain through microscopic detective work

Turning social fragmentation into action through discovering relatedness

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Study reveals most common medical emergencies in schools

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

[Press-News.org] Cellular team players
New insights into energy generation by heat shock protein Hsp90