Synthetic chemistry approach yields new compounds with potential biomedical applications

The study marks a significant advancement in chemical synthesis techniques, leveraging modern organic chemistry and engineered enzymes

10-May-2024 - Researchers at Rice University have successfully synthesized a group of natural compounds known as fusicoccanes. The molecules, found in various living organisms, exhibit diverse biological activities, including the ability to modulate protein-protein interactions within biological systems. The ...

Bird’s enzyme points toward novel therapies

Rice University scientists imbue cells with ‘noncanonical’ pathway to make own drugs

21-Sep-2022 - Thank the rarecrested ibisfor a clue that could someday help our bodies make better drugs. The species of bird is the only one known to naturally produce an enzyme able to generate a noncanonicalamino acid; that is, one not among the 20 necessary to encode most proteins. That it exists -- a ...

Crystal study may resolve DNA mystery

Rice lab captures unseen details of replication, clues to how mutations can happen

12-May-2022 - When cells reproduce, the internal mechanisms that copy DNA get it right nearly every time. Rice University bioscientists have uncovered a tiny detail that helps understand how the process could go wrong. Their study of enzymes revealed the presence of a central metal ion critical toDNA ...

Nanoscale virus delivers peptide drugs to cells, tissues

11-Jan-2018 - By chipping away at a viral protein, Rice University scientists have discovered a path toward virus-like, nanoscale devices that may be able to deliver drugs to cells. The protein is one of three that make up the protective shell, called the capsid, of natural adeno-associated viruses (AAV). By ...

Synthetic enzymes could help ID proteins

'Smart' catalysts programmed to recognize specific molecular shape

03-May-2010 - Using a rare metal that's not utilized by nature, Rice University chemists have created a synthetic enzyme that could help unlock the identities of thousands of difficult-to-study proteins, including many that play key roles in cancer and other diseases. The research was published online in the ...

Scientists aim for green production of medications via cell engineering

Rice University researchers would speed process, cut costs

27-Aug-2008 - Bringing medications to the marketplace faster and at lower prices is the goal of a production process being developed by two Rice University professors. Their work to develop an environmentally friendly bacterial process that would also speed the production of pharmaceuticals and lower costs has ...