The prevalence of anxiety disorders, already the most common mental illness in many countries, including the U.S., has surged during the novel coronavirus pandemic. A study led by researchers in Berkeley Lab’s Biosciences Area provides evidence that taking care of our gut microbiome may help mitigate some of that anxiety.
New Insights into a Gene Silencing Complex
The multi-protein structure polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is involved in “silencing” genes so that they are not “read” by the cellular machinery that decodes genetic information, effectively keeping the genetic information in the “off” state. PRC2 silences genes by chemically depositing tri-methylation marks on histone H3 at lysine 27. Failure to regulate the activity of PRC2 not only impairs the process of development, but also contributes to the reversal of cell differentiation and the uncontrolled cell growth that are the hallmarks of cancer.
A team of scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have uncovered the molecular basis for the recruitment of PRC2 to certain locations of the genome and for the regulation of its activity. In a study published January 22 in Science, the researchers describe the structure of PRC2 while bound to a biologically relevant chromatin target. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), they uncovered crucial structural and functional information about this key regulator of cell differentiation and identity.
JGI, JBEI Part of Switchgrass Reference Genome Effort
In Nature, a team led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and DOE Joint Genome Institute has produced a high-quality reference sequence of the complex switchgrass genome. Building off this work, researchers at all four DOE Bioenergy Research Centers—the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, the Center for … Read more »
Inhalable COVID-19 Protection via Synthetic Nanobodies
Using protein structures obtained in part at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) produced simplified antibodies (“nanobodies”) engineered to be highly effective at blocking SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Because they are extremely stable, these nanobodies can be aerosolized, stored at room temperature, and self-administered as needed, directly to affected nasal or lung tissues using nasal sprays or inhalers.
To Find Mutated Sperm, Go FISH
Chemotherapy and radiation treatments can be life-saving for patients with cancer, but they have harsh side effects that can been felt and seen throughout the body. There can also be unseen consequences: These important treatments can mutate DNA and damage chromosomes in patients’ cancerous and noncancerous cells alike. When this occurs in a germline cell (eggs in women and sperm in men), it can lead to serious fetal and birth defects in a resulting pregnancy. In a study published in PLOS One, a team led by Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division senior scientist Andrew Wyrobek reported success adapting an established cellular DNA analysis technique called fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to probe sperm DNA for a wide variety of chromosomal defects simultaneously.
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