External structure can affect the function of enzymes

A research team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and from South Africa has analysed two enzymes with identical substrate binding pockets that nevertheless convert different substrates. In the process, it emerged that changes ...

Anti-aging molecule NAD+ gets a boost from blocking an enzyme

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a major player in nutrition today. Studies have shown that NAD+ concentrations decrease during aging and that recovering the body's levels of NAD+ can prolong both health span and ...

Mapping biological functions of NUDIX enzymes

In a large multidisciplinary project, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have explored different properties of an enzyme family called NUDIX hydrolases. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals novel insights ...

Understanding key enzyme's role in embryonic development

The catalytic activity of an enzyme called Set1A—a protein that is essential to the viability of embryonic stem cells (ESCs)—is not required for ESC self-renewal, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in ...

Engineering the P450 enzyme to perform new reactions

Enzymes, the micro machines in our cells, can evolve to perform new tasks when confronted with novel situations. But what if you want an enzyme to do an entirely different job—one that it would never have to do in a cell? ...

Study finds new moves in protein's evolution

Highlighting an important but unexplored area of evolution, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found evidence that, over hundreds of millions of years, an essential protein has evolved chiefly by changing ...

Chemists slide a splitting catalyst over DNA for the first time

Chemists from Nijmegen, The Netherlands, have developed a catalyst that binds to DNA, slides over it and splits the molecule in particular places. The researchers were able to do this by synthetically modifying a natural ...

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