Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry Also Included In: Genetics;Cancer / Oncology Article Date: 18 Sep 2012 - 10:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Embryo-Critical Protein Modeled In 3D For First Time

Their findings are due to be published in a new journal called eLife, expected be launched this winter.

The team is led by biophysicist Eva Nogales, an electron microscopy expert with the US Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in Berkeley, California, and one of two corresponding authors on the journal paper.

"Our model should also be an invaluable tool for the design of new experiments aimed at asking detailed questions about the mechanisms that enable PRC2 to function and how those mechanisms might be exploited," says Nogales in a recent press statement.

For instance, mouse studies have shown deletion of any of its components either leads to death of the embryo or severe defects.

Scientists have also shown than PRC2 helps control differentiation of embryonic stem cells into other types of cell: the protein silences key genetic messages in the cell nucleus to effect this, as Nogales explains:

"PRC2 controls stem cell differentiation by regulating the expression of specific genes through the binding and methylation of histones, the proteins in chromatin that help bundle DNA into nucleosomes."

Such reasons are why the protein is what Nogales describes as one of the "top targets" for drug developers.

Nogales and colleagues produced their 3D model by painstakingly piecing together a jigsaw of data from many different sources, such as protein biochemistry, 3D electron microscopy, mass spectrometery, chemical cross-linking, and crystal structure docking.

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Embryo-Critical Protein Modeled In 3D For First Time