• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

New methods for exploring the ‘dark matter’ of biology

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 4, 2021
in Chemistry
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

New tools and methods have been described by WEHI researchers to study an unusual protein modification and gain fresh insights into its roles in human health and disease.

IMAGE

Credit: WEHI

New tools and methods have been described by WEHI researchers to study an unusual protein modification and gain fresh insights into its roles in human health and disease.

The study – about how certain sugars modify proteins – was published today in Nature Chemical Biology. Led by WEHI researcher Associate Professor Ethan Goddard-Borger, this work lays a foundation for better understanding diseases like muscular dystrophy and cancer.

At a glance

  • WEHI researchers have developed new tools and methods to determine how ‘tryptophan C-mannosylation’, an unusual protein modification, impacts the stability and function of disease-relevant proteins.
  • These tools have been used to map the prevalence of this protein modification in healthy tissue.
  • This work lays the foundation for future studies into the role this protein modification plays in diseases as diverse as muscular dystrophy and cancer.

    The ‘dark matter’ of biology

    Glycosylation is the process by which proteins are modified with sugars. About 90 per cent of proteins on the surface of human cells – and half of the cells’ total proteins – are modified with sugars. These modifications can range from the addition of a single sugar, to long complex polymer chains. They’ve been described as the ‘dark matter’ of biology because their distribution, variability and biological functions are, for the most part, not well understood.

    Associate Professor Goddard-Borger said his team, and the glycobiology field more generally, are making concerted efforts to build a better understanding of the roles that glycosylation plays in health and disease.

    “There are a whole range of diseases that feature aberrant cellular glycosylation – a change in ‘normal’ glycosylation patterns,” he said.

    “These changes may yield new therapeutic strategies, however a better understanding of what constitutes ‘normal’ glycosylation is required before we can further develop drugs targeting protein glycosylation.”

    “It’s a scenario that is akin to the ‘dark matter’ of the universe: we know that all of this protein glycosylation exists in the body, but we don’t fully appreciate its composition and function.”

    Shedding light on a sweet process

    Glycosylation usually occurs on the nitrogen or oxygen atoms of a protein. However, it can also occur on carbon atoms through the process of ‘tryptophan C-mannosylation’. This latter protein modification is particularly poorly understood and so the WEHI team set out to develop tools and methods to shed light on this aspect of the biological ‘dark matter’.

    “We’ve developed methods that will enable researchers to easily install this unusual modification on nearly any protein they want, allowing them to investigate its effect on protein stability and function,” Associate Professor Goddard-Borger said.

    “In this work, we’ve shown that a common feature of tryptophan C-mannosylation is that it stabilises proteins. Diverse, unrelated proteins all appear to be more stable once modified. However, we’ve also demonstrated for the first time that some proteins’ functions can be modulated by tryptophan C-mannosylation’. There is clearly much left to learn about this process and now we have the means to perform these studies.”

    Mapping the prevalence of tryptophan C-mannosylation

    Associate Professor Goddard-Borger said the tools developed by his team also enable the abundance of this poorly understood protein modification to be determined in healthy and diseased tissues, which will fortify efforts by scientists around the world to map and understand protein glycosylation in health and disease.

    “The methods we describe combine state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques with recombinant antibody tools generated at WEHI,” he said.

    “We’ve reported some really unexpected results regarding the prevalence of this modification in healthy brain tissue. At present, we are extending this to map the modification across most tissues in the body to better understand the biology of this weird and wonderful form of protein glycosylation, as well as its role in cancer and muscular dystrophies.”

    ###

    This research was funded by the Brian M Davis Charitable Foundation, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Victorian Government.

  • Media Contact
    Samantha Robin
    [email protected]

    Related Journal Article

    http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-00727-w

    Tags: BiochemistryBiologyCell Biology
    Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

    Related Posts

    IMAGE

    Engineering platform offers collaborative cloud options for sustainable manufacturing

    March 9, 2021
    IMAGE

    Research pinpoints unique drug target in antibiotic resistant bacteria

    March 8, 2021

    How fast is the universe expanding? Galaxies provide one answer.

    March 8, 2021

    Lights on for silicon photonics

    March 8, 2021

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published.

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    POPULAR NEWS

    • IMAGE

      Terahertz accelerates beyond 5G towards 6G

      709 shares
      Share 284 Tweet 177
    • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

      86 shares
      Share 34 Tweet 22
    • Global analysis suggests COVID-19 is seasonal

      39 shares
      Share 16 Tweet 10
    • Scientists model a peculiar type of breast cancer

      35 shares
      Share 14 Tweet 9

    About

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

    Follow us

    Tags

    cancerCell BiologyClimate ChangeTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceInfectious/Emerging DiseasesChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesEcology/EnvironmentGeneticsMedicine/HealthBiologyMaterialsPublic Health

    Recent Posts

    • Engineering platform offers collaborative cloud options for sustainable manufacturing
    • Research pinpoints unique drug target in antibiotic resistant bacteria
    • How fast is the universe expanding? Galaxies provide one answer.
    • Young white-tailed deer that disperse survive the same as those that stay home
    • Contact Us

    © 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

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

    © 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

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

    Log In