Tag: protein

Factors that influence patterns in protein distribution — ScienceDaily

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In plants, many proteins are found at only one end of a cell, giving them a polarity like heads and tails on a coin.

Often, cells next to each other have these proteins at the same end, like a stack of coins with heads all facing up. This protein patterning is critical for how plant cells orient and coordinate themselves to produce the leaves, flowers, stems and roots that adorn our gardens and provide us with all our food and the oxygen we breathe.

Previously it’s been unclear how this head-to-tail protein patterning is produced: can it arise within each cell, or does it depend on a collective effort of many cells working together?

A new paper, published in Current Biology has found that even cells in isolation can become polarised to create the head to tail pattern, and that this polarity can orient how the cell grows.

The team,

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Researchers identify a new source of protein for humans — ScienceDaily

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Rapeseed has the potential to replace soy as the best plant-based source of protein for humans. In a current study, nutrition scientists at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), found that rapeseed protein consumption has comparable beneficial effects on human metabolism as soy protein. The glucose metabolism and satiety were even better. Another advantage: The proteins can be obtained from the by-products of rapeseed oil production. The study was published in the journal Nutrients.

For a balanced and healthy diet, humans need protein. “It contains essential amino acids which can not be synthesized in the body,” says Professor Gabriele Stangl from the Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences at MLU. Meat and fish are important sources of high-quality proteins. However, certain plants can also provide valuable proteins. “Soy is generally considered the best source of plant protein as it contains a particularly beneficial composition of amino acids,” says Stangl.

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Glycans in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein play active role in infection

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Glycans in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein play active role in infection
In this illustration, glycans (dark blue) coat the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (light blue), which is anchored in the viral envelope (colorful bilayer on bottom). Credit: Adapted from ACS Central Science 2020, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c01056

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, researchers are working overtime to develop vaccines and therapies to thwart SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease Many efforts focus on the coronavirus spike protein, which binds the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on human cells to allow viral entry. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have uncovered an active role for glycans—sugar molecules that can decorate proteins—in this process, suggesting targets for vaccines and therapies.


Before the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can interact with ACE2 on a human cell, it changes shape to expose its receptor binding domain (RBD), the part of the protein that interacts with ACE2. Like many viral proteins, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has a thick coat

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