Digesting New Elements in Peptide Transport

Digesting New Elements in Peptide Transport.

In this issue of Structure, Beale et al. (2015) define structurally and functionally a large extracellular domain unique to mammalian peptide transporters and its implications for the transport of basic di- and tri-peptides (Beale et al., 2015).

Digesting GWAS

nce upon a time, medical genetics was a relaOtively straightforward business: one gene—one protein—one disease was sufficient to explain most inherited disease and was neatly in keeping with Gregor Mendel’s discovery of alleles with his famous peas. The concept remains a good starting point but the biology of life is somewhat more complex, and increasingly we have become impressed and perplexed...

Energy transport in peptide helices.

We investigate energy transport through an alpha-aminoisobutyric acid-based 3(10)-helix dissolved in chloroform in a combined experimental-theoretical approach. Vibrational energy is locally deposited at the N terminus of the helix by ultrafast internal conversion of a covalently attached, electronically excited, azobenzene moiety. Heat flow through the helix is detected with subpicosecond time...

Digesting dietary miRNA therapeutics

Hippocrates famously advised, " Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food. " Numerous plant-derived compounds are used as cancer therapeutics including antimitotics, topoisomerase inhibitors, and kinase inhibitors. Here we will review emerging evidence suggesting that diet derived small RNAs may be an inexpenisive, non-invasive and affordable way to deliver cancer treatments. RNA in...

Studies of Agar-digesting Bacteria.