• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, October 30, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

A new way to discover structures of membrane proteins

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 7, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

University of Toronto scientists have discovered a better way to extract proteins from the membranes that encase them, making it easier to study how cells communicate with each other to create human health and disease.

Scientists are very interested in understanding how membrane proteins work and why they malfunction under certain circumstances. Looking at their 3D structures is a particularly useful way to do this. Currently, researchers use detergents to separate proteins from their fatty membrane casing for further in-detail studies. But detergent strips the fat molecules away from the proteins, which very often destabilizes the proteins and makes them useless for study. As a result, new 3D structures are rarely discovered and published.

Dr. Jana Broecker, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Professor Oliver P. Ernst, discovered that she could use a type of plastic, or polymer, originally developed by the auto industry, to better stabilize these crucial proteins and thereby make them available for 3D structure determination.

The polymers don't strip off fat molecules from the proteins, instead wrapping themselves around the protein, with the fat molecules still attached, says Broecker, of the Department of Biochemistry. Using the new substance, she was able to keep these necessary fat molecules attached while she studied the protein's 3D structure using X-ray crystallography.

"We believe this approach can be applied to many more membrane proteins, which would drastically speed up structure discovery of currently unknown membrane proteins," says Broecker. "With more and better structures at hand, it will be easier to develop new drugs for the treatment of human diseases in the near future."

Broecker and colleagues published their findings Feb. 7 on the cover of the journal Structure.

###

Media Contact

Heidi Singer
[email protected]
416-571-7569
@UofTNews

http://www.utoronto.ca

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Hexaploid Oat: Pangenome and Pantranscriptome Unveiled

October 30, 2025
Impact of Fluorine Content on Dianionic Ionic Liquids

Impact of Fluorine Content on Dianionic Ionic Liquids

October 30, 2025

Plant Flavonoids Disrupt Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms

October 30, 2025

Controlling NMDA Receptors: Conductance and Neurosteroids

October 30, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1290 shares
    Share 515 Tweet 322
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    311 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    200 shares
    Share 80 Tweet 50
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    136 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Hexaploid Oat: Pangenome and Pantranscriptome Unveiled

Impact of Fluorine Content on Dianionic Ionic Liquids

Plant Flavonoids Disrupt Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.