Crystallography

Insulin (from the Latin, insula meaning island) is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets, and it is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein by promoting the absorption of, especially, glucose from the blood into fat, liver and skeletal muscle cells. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen via glycogenesis or fats (triglycerides) via lipogenesis, or, in the…

have been established to develop novel synthetic approaches. A significant impact of structure-based drug design has emerged over recent years in the discovery of novel peptidomimetics and nonpeptides. Such reesearch has been catalyzed by X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy as well as computational chemistry methodologies. Many drugs that we use are proteinic in nature,…

The current standard for the kilogram is the International Prototype Kilogram. The International Prototype Kilogram, also known as Le Grand K, is a platinum-iridium bar made in the 1880’s. This official Kilogram is kept in a vault in Paris under two glass domes. The reason it is under 2 glass domes it to prevent dust from obstructing from the weight of the Kilogram. However according to Sandia National Laboratories, a government organization under the Department of Energy, “Of the seven units of…

1 enzyme Enzymes are biological catalysts. A protein compound Energy can reduce the carbon reaction. Enzymes to accelerate specific types of reactions. And the kind of substance that reacts. 2.1.1 catalysis of enzymes E is a catalyst (enzyme). S is a precursor called chop, nitrates and substance P is a product. E + S ---------------> E S ---------------> E + P. Complexometry 2.1.2 Factors affecting the enzyme. 1) What type of controlled…

properties. LSD is unique among other hallucinogen drugs; its effects are last the longest, clocking in at 12 to 18 hours. Roth and his colleagues have found that LSD has this unique trait due to its interaction with brain receptors. The team has used crystallography images to better understand LSD's peculiarities. They found that, when bound to serotonin receptors, LSD…

For instance, Furthermore, the point sources in the experiment could represent atoms. In X-ray crystallography, X-rays (electromagnetic waves), diffract off the surface of a molecule, which allows for the understanding of its structure. This method uses diffraction patterns, as well as areas of constructive interference to determine the physical characteristics…

Rational Drug Discovery Drug companies are continuously discovering new compounds to add to the pharmaceutical world. Rational drug discovery, or drug design, has provided a great advantage to finding new medications compared to older methods of discovery. With years of guesstimating and predicting how to create the perfect prescription, drugs have been identified in numerous ways. Drugs have been discovered and named through multiple encounters of trial-and-error or with simple luck. Thorough…

Alkaline phosphatase catalyzes the hydrolysis and transphosphorylation of phosphomonoesters (1). A kinetic reaction scheme of AP is presented in Figure 2. Figure 2: Kinetic reaction scheme of alkaline phosphatase (11). Under the hydrolysis reaction, free phosphate and an alcohol molecule are released from the active site. The rate-determining step of this reaction is pH dependent. Transphosphorylation has similar initiate steps as hydrolysis. However, phosphate cannot exit the active site,…

Structure of the Bacterial Cell Wall Bacterial cells differ from mammalian cells due to highly developed cell walls outside the cytoplasmic membranes that provide structural integrity and shape to the cell. Bacteria live in dilute aqueous environments, which causes an intracellular pressure equivalent of 10-25 atm. Without the structural support of the cell wall, the cell is susceptible to lysis and osmotic rupture due to osmotic rupture due to turgor pressure. Figure 1: Comparison between…

name="description" content=" Creative Biolabs offers CreCom™ Complement Therapeutic Services. Systemic lupus erythematosus-like syndrome Staffed by dedicated scientists with combined knowledge and expertise in antibody engineering and protein X-ray crystallography, Creative Biolabs has extensive experience in crystallizing antibody-antigen complexes and resolving their 3D structures. Based on our extensive knowledge, we are fully equipped to reach out to our clients who may have the problem or…