Browsing: Biochemistry

Northwestern Medicine scientists demonstrated the ability of a protein, Cas2, in Legionella pneumophila to cleave nucleic acids resulting in increased infectivity in amoebae, its host organism and transmission vehicle for human infection of Legionnaires’ disease.

Sparks literally fly when a sperm and an egg hit it off. The fertilized mammalian egg releases from its surface billions of zinc atoms in “zinc sparks,” one wave after another, a Northwestern University-led interdisciplinary research team has found.

The Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases has revealed the crystal structure of Enterococcus faecalis protein EF1143, a previously uncharacterized protein that is important for the growth of this life-threatening antibiotic-resistant pathogen.

Dipal Patel, a sixth-year Medial Scientist Training Program student, studies a protein called desmoplakin to better understand the causes of diseases associated with sudden cardiac death during athletic events.