Artificial Intelligence tools shed light on millions of proteins

AI as a valuable tool in research

22-Sep-2023 - A research team at the University of Basel and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics uncovered a treasure trove of uncharacterized proteins. Embracing the recent deep learning revolution, they discovered hundreds of new protein families and even a novel predicted protein fold. The study has ...

Quantum Computer Solves Protein Puzzle

Interview with Dr. Sandipan Mohanty of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre

24-Jan-2023 - Physicist and code specialist Dr. Sandipan Mohanty has been working on molecular biology simulations for the world's fastest supercomputers for 20 years. Such simulations help to unravel the building blocks of life and provide new insights into cellular machinery. Together with researchers at ...

A Quality-Conscious Protein

Discovery could lead to new therapeutic approaches for Alzheimer’s and other protein-misfolding diseases

06-Dec-2022 - Researchers have identified a new function of a well-known enzyme: the signal peptidase complex is responsible for the quality control of membrane proteins. The discovery of this new function for a key enzyme in cell biology has been published in ‘Science’ and could lead to new therapeutic ...

Most complex protein knots

Theoretical physicists put Google's artificial intelligence AlphaFold to the test and find the most complex protein knots so far

20-Jul-2022 - The question of how the chemical composition of a protein, the amino acid sequence, determines its 3D structure has been one of the biggest challenges in biophysics for more than half a century. This knowledge about the so-called "folding" of proteins is in great demand, as it contributes ...

Magnetic resonance makes the invisible visible

Hyperpolarised water boosts signal intensities of proteins, DNA, and membranes

20-May-2022 - A small group of researchers including Dennis Kurzbach from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna just published in "Nature Protocols" an advanced NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) method to monitor fast and complicated biomolecular events such as protein folding. For example, ...

New advances in the protein folding process thermodynamics

Optical tweezers to unravel the complexity of living matter

25-Mar-2022 - In biophysics, the kinetic states of molecules play a determining role in the metabolic and physiological processes in which they take part. Now, a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) specifies for the first time the levels of energy, the entropy and the ...

Help for stressed-out cells in a crisis

Biologists discover a new function of mitochondria as the "patron saints" of protein folding

31-Jan-2022 - According to a team of researchers at the University of Münster, mitochondria provide unexpected help for cells in a crisis by respiring away harmful substances. A current study produced by the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Plants (IBBP) shows three things: that this mechanism can be ...

Genetic cause of congenital malformation discovered

Study reveals that genetic information controls development of the urinary tract, rectum and genitals

10-Aug-2020 - Spontaneous mutations of a single gene are likely to cause serious developmental disorders of the excretory organs and genitalia. This is shown in an international study led by the University of Bonn and published in the journal "Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology". The researchers also ...

Sensing Protein Wellbeing

Molecular probe maps misfolded proteome state in live cells

13-Jan-2020 - The folding state of the proteins in live cells often reflect the cell’s general health. Australian scientists have developed a molecular probe that senses the state of the proteome—the entire set of the proteins—by measuring the polarity of the protein environment. The fluorescence signal of the ...

Breakthrough Prize 2020 for biochemist Hartl and geneticist Horwich

09-Sep-2019 - F.-Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, is awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences 2020 together with Arthur L. Horwich of Yale School of Medicine/HHMI. They are honored for discovering functions of molecular chaperones in mediating protein ...