Molecular Awards

  Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center have solved a cellular mystery that may lead to better therapies for colorectal and other types of cancer. Peter Dempsey, PhD, professor of pediatrics–developmental biology in the  CU School of Medicine , and  Justin Bru mbaugh, PhD, assistant professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at CU Boulder, recently published a paper in the journal Nature Cell Biology showing the importance of the H3K36 methylation process in regulating plasticity and regeneration in intestinal cells. “The intestine has an enormous ability to regenerate itself after injury, and it does this through a model of dedifferentiation,” Dempsey explains. “The cells dedifferentiate back into a type of regenerative stem cell after injury, and those stem cells eventually recover the intestine and turn back to normal cells.” Finding the switch Scientists have been looking for a long time for the “...

  With their recently-developed neural network architecture, MIT researchers can wring more information out of electronic structure calculations. At present, most of the machine-learning models that are used to characterize molecular systems are based on density functional theory (DFT), which offers a quantum mechanical approach to determining the total energy of a molecule or crystal by looking at the electron density distribution — which is, basically, the average number of electrons located in a unit volume around each given point in space near the molecule. (Walter Kohn, who co-invented this theory 60 years ago, received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for it in 1998.) While the method has been very successful, it has some drawbacks, according to Li: “First, the accuracy is not uniformly great. And, second, it only tells you one thing: the lowest total energy of the molecular system.” His team is now relying on a different computational chemistry technique, also derived from quant...

  Alternative RNA splicing is like a movie editor cutting and rearranging scenes from the same footage to create different versions of a film. By selecting which scenes to keep and which to leave out, the editor can produce a drama, a comedy, or even a thriller—all from the same raw material. Similarly, cells splice RNA in different ways to produce a variety of proteins from a single gene , fine-tuning their function based on need. However, when cancer rewrites the script, this process goes awry, fueling tumor growth and survival. In a recent study  reported  in the Feb. 15 issue of  Nature Communications , scientists from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and UConn Health not only show how cancer hijacks this tightly regulated splicing and rearranging of RNA but also introduce a potential therapeutic strategy that could slow or even shrink aggressive and hard-to-treat tumors. This discovery could transform how we treat aggressive cancers, such as  triple-negativ...

  In the crucial moment before producing  oxygen , the water molecules performed an unexpected trick: They flipped. Because these acrobatics are energy intensive, the observations help explain why water splitting uses more energy than theoretical calculations suggest. The findings also could lead to new insights into increasing the efficiency of water splitting, a process that holds promise for generating clean hydrogen fuel and for producing breathable oxygen during future missions to Mars. "When you split water, two half-reactions occur," said Northwestern's Franz Geiger, who led the study. "One half-reaction produces hydrogen and the other produces oxygen. The half-reaction that produces oxygen is really difficult to perform because everything has to be aligned just right. It ends up taking more energy than theoretically calculated. If you do the math, it should require 1.23 volts. But, in reality, it requires more like 1.5 or 1.6 volts. "Providing that ex...

  Mutations in specific genes often lead to cancer — but not always. Researchers have long wondered what biological mechanisms drive tumor development in one person with a high-risk of cance r but not another.  In a recent study in  Nature Cancer , scientists at the Van Andel Institute discovered that variations in epigenetics — DNA modifications that determine whether a gene is expressed or not — during development may determine cancer risk later in life. It's really nice,” said Chao Lu, an epigenetics researcher at Columbia University who was not involved in the study. “In a very controlled way, [they’re] showing something that the field has long suspected but [been] unable to demonstrate.” To investigate how epigenetic differences during development might affect cancer susceptibility later in life, the researchers, led by epigenetics researcher J. Andrew Pospisilik, introduced a single copy of the epigenetic gene regulator tripartite motif protei...

  Metabolites play important roles in human health especially at early stages of life.  Researchers at  McMaster University  have discovered small blood molecules that could significantly impact early childhood development. This finding highlights the influence of diet, early experiences, and gut health on a child’s growth and cognitive milestones. The McMaster team partnered with Brazilian scientists to analyze blood samples from over 5,000 children aged six months to five years. These samples were part of the Brazilian National Survey of Child Nutrition study. The researchers identified several metabolites, small molecules from human metabolism and microbial activity, known as uremic toxins, which were linked to poorer developmental outcomes. Metabolites play vital roles in human health, especially in early life stages. Our findings reveal the complex connections between diet, gut health, and a child’s development,”  says Philip Britz-McKibbin, a professor at...