Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

              Know About Our Workshop On Bioinformatics and Protein Structure Prediction 10th to 12th May 2019 | Pune, India | 09:30 AM - 05:00 PM Our 3 day comprehensive workshop on Bioinformatics and Protein Structure Prediction aims at providing systematic Hands-on-Training on Protein visualization, mutation & other manipulations.Understand concept of in-silico protein modelling using servers & software’s.Understanding concept of protein motif and domains.Understanding concept of protein structure prediction by Modeller COMPREHENSIVE & SEQUENTIAL SESSIONS ON: ▪ Introduction to Biological databases ▪ Multiple Sequence Alignment – CLUSTALW ▪ Introduction to Proteins & Protein Databases-UNIPROT ▪ Study of proteins and their structures ▪ Protein Secondary Structure Prediction tools ▪ Protein Tertiary Structure Prediction using Servers & Modeller ▪ Protein Structure Validation ...

After the immensely huge success of our PhD Assistance program last year, we decided to give back more avail to PhD aspirants this year withal. Students will be taken on first come basis. Only Master’s in life-science students can apply. Register soon to avail an Opportunity to get a fully funded PhD in USA. REGISTER HERE PhD Assistance Training Program Highlights of the program 2 compulsory Paper Publication in peer reviewed journal along with pub med citation 1 Review Paper publication Privilege of working under the eminent scientist from NIH,USA Special coaching for ‘Research Methodology’ subject by eminent scientist Introducing students to various PhD notification website, forum and blogs etc. Preparing a motivation letter /cover letter based on PhD openings Helping to draft a proper project proposal depending on PhD opening Application & Transcripts Procedure Preparing PhD oriented resume Providing appropriate reference/recommendation letter. Providing Exper...

This something really interesting to PPI, Systems biology  and molecular networks people, I just recently came across, Cellular processes and pathways, whose deregulation may contribute to the development of cancers, are often represented as cascades of proteins transmitting a signal from the cell surface to the nucleus. However, recent functional genomic experiments have identified thousands of interactions for the signalling canonical proteins, challenging the traditional view of pathways as independent functional entities. Combining information from pathway databases and interaction networks obtained from functional genomic experiments is therefore a promising strategy to obtain more robust pathway and process representations, facilitating the study of cancer-related pathways.  Results: We present a methodology for extending pre-defined protein sets representing cellular pathways and processes by mapping them onto a protein-protein interaction network, and extending them t...

Through a complex analysis of protein interactions, researchers from IRB Barcelona and the Joint Programme IRB-BSC have discovered new molecular mechanisms that may be involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The study, a collaboration between bioinformaticians and cell biologists, was led by IRB Barcelona group leader and ICREA researcher Patrick Aloy and appears today in the Genome Research, a reference journal in the field of genomics. Alzheimer’s disease is an age-related neurodegenerative disease. Despite the considerable efforts made in recent years to understand the mechanisms that trigger this disease, an effective treatment is not yet available. This study reveals new molecular and functional data that could help researchers gain a better understanding of the disease and potentially to develop new therapies.  From the computer to the lab  Proteins are the molecular instruments that cells use to carry out their functions. Proteins don’t normally act alone,...

Pred_PPI is a web-based system that serves for predicting PPIs from different organisms. This server is freely available to any researcher wishing to use it for non-commercial purposes. Based on auto covariance (AC) and support vector machine (SVM), this tool is capable of predicting PPIs for any target protein pair only using their primary sequences, and assigning an interaction probability to each SVM prediction as well. So the user can use this tool to predict novel PPIs with high confidence. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are essential for almost all cellular processes, such as metabolic cycles, DNA transcription and replication, different signaling cascades and so on. However the biochemical methods are all time-consuming and expensive, so current PPI pairs elucidated by experiments are absolutely insufficient compared to the complete PPI networks . Consequently it is increasing important to develop computational tools for effectively identifying PPIs. Check out this one t...

The National Institutes of Health has pledged $45 million in grants to establish two new genomics centers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), as well as to continue funding existing centers at Johns Hopkins University and at the University of Southern California. The two new Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science at UNC and MCW will pursue genomics studies of mental health and gene regulation , respectively. Under the new grants, MCW will receive around $8 million over three years and UNC will reap around $8.6 million over five years from the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Institute of Mental Health. Johns Hopkins' genomics center will receive around $16.8 million over five years to continue epigenetics of disease studies and USC will use around $12 million over the same period to conduct computational and informatics-based research of genetic variation and disease . "Our aim is to ...

This Pathways Compendium provides an index of Alzheimer disease pathway models contributed by researchers and companies. Probable Interaction Networks Involved in Pathology of Alzheimer Disease: Predicting Targets and Therapeutic Agents - NetPro™ based Study . Developed by researchers at Molecular Connections Private Limited, an in silico discovery services company. Users can click on a specific node (molecule) to get information on all interactions of the molecule in the given network. Click on the interaction arrows for information on the specific interaction. The Alzheimer Research Forum is a Pioneering Biomedical Web Community . Founded 13 years ago when the Web was still in its infancy, the "Alzforum" has more than 5,000 registered members and is familiar to most Alzheimer scientists in the world. XTractor Premium - A Platform for discovery , knowledge sharing, analysis and modelling of published biomedical facts. The only Knowledgebase which provides "manu...

Scientists report a remarkable improvement in Alzheimer's transgenic mice following treatment with a new drug. The study provides the first demonstration that an ionophore, a compound that transports metal ions across cell membranes, can elicit rapid and pronounced improvement in neuropathology and cognitive function in mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Recent research has implicated dysregulation of metal ions in the brain, particularly copper and zinc, in the pathogenesis of AD and the damaging accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) protein that is characteristic of this devastating disease. The ionophore clioquinol (CQ), an 8-hydroxyquinoline, has been shown to increase intracellular copper and zinc levels and decrease Aβ levels in cultured cells and in the brains of transgenic (Tg) AD mice. However, further studies in mice and humans demonstrated that brain entry of CQ was quite limited. This research is published by Cell Press in the July 10th issue of the journal Neuro...

Molecular Connections , a life sciences informatics major, is now looking at acquiring small and medium-sized companies as part of its inorganic growth strategy. "The acquisition will depend on good technology fit and domain expertise that could plug into our products and services,'' Jignesh Bhate, CEO, Molecular Connections Pvt Ltd told Pharmabiz . "We are aggressively scouting for companies both in India and abroad. If we lay our hands on an international company, we will have access to their customers. In the case of an Indian company, we are essentially looking at a synergy in content and database,'' Bhate said. To facilitate these acquisitions, Molecular Connections has identified three options to raise funds: internal accruals, foreign loans and venture funds. The mode of raising capital will depend on the size of the deal and the company is in talks with foreign banks. Around $2 million was raised from Barings Private Equity in 2006 for expansion. Early...

Here is a abstract that i had submitted at the Plant & Animal Genomes XI Conference January 11-15, 2003 Town & Country Convention Center San Diego, CA. I do not know how relevant is the issue to this day. If any one is interested or if any one is working in these lines, do let me know also pour in your suggestions and comments if any. Fiber quality in cotton is one very vital trait demanding international focus in both scientific and commercial arena. Phytohormones play a major role in all cellular processes in plant development. We have focused our study on the influence of phytohormones in improving the staple length of cotton fiber. There are several pathways, which influence staple length in cotton, among which we have concentrated on the expression pattern of Lipid Transfer Protein3. A cotton fiber protein gene Ltp3, Lipid transfer protein3 (coding for a LTP3 protein), is specifically expressed in fibers at high levels, during the elongation stage. Its levels reach a maxim...

Previously blogging on the how protein interactions play significant roles in various aspects of the structural and functional organization of the cell, and their elucidation sheds light on the molecular mechanisms of biological processes. Researchers Find that a Small Molecule Can Activate an Important Cancer Suppressor Gene . Here is another study where researchers have provided the first global analysis of human proteins interacting with viral proteins and proteins in other pathogens. The scientists examined experimental data for 190 different pathogens that comprise 10,477 interactions between human and pathogen proteins. This approach provides a highly detailed network map of human proteins interfacing with proteins in different pathogens. The network of interactions reveals possible key intervention points for the future development of therapeutics against infectious diseases. "Infectious diseases result in millions of deaths each year. Although much effort has been directed...

Already blogging about vital information that can be obtained form publications and scientific literature Smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research and the importance of Protein structure information in Protein structure databases with new web services for structural biology and biomedical research . Now one of the tactics used by influenza virus to take over the machinery of infected cells has been laid bare by structural biologists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory ( EMBL ) and the joint Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interaction of EMBL, the University Joseph Fourier and National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in Grenoble, France. The high-resolution image of the influenza virus' PB2 protein shows how the virus steals a 'cap' molecule from its host to take over the protein production machinery and multiply. PB2 binds the cap by sandwiching it between aromatic amino acids. "Viruses are masters of cunning when it comes to hijacking the normal f...

By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. This activation of the p53 gene leads to cellular senescence. An opportunity for new genetic mutations occurs each time a cell divides, so limiting the number of cell divisions in a cancer cell inhibits tumor progression. Activation of p53 can suppress tumor growth through more than one mechanism. It can interfere with the cell cycle, prompting a cell with unrepaired DNA damage to commit suicide through a complex signaling pathway called apoptosis. Alternatively, p53 may trigger cellular senescence in response to DNA damage or cellular stress. The expression of p53 is regulated by Mdm2, a protein that is overexpressed in several human cancers. Nutlins are small-molecule ...

Ambitious plans to catalogue and characterize all proteins in the human body — a Human Proteome Project — are being drawn up by a small group of researchers. But with a price tag of around US$1 billion, some question whether the organizers can raise enough money or momentum for such an undertaking. Project aims to characterize all human proteins. Talking about characterizing human proteins; there are several organizations working around the globe towards this initiative, spanning across both the public and commercial domains. Having missed out on HGMP, this time the industry in India is all geared up towards the mapping of human proteome. Molecular Connections collaborates with Plasma Proteome Institute and with Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Proteomics & Biomarkers Research Group that would significantly aid them in the development of their new knowledgebase CliPro .

Already blogging on similar lines and the subject of Bring in data from the published literature in my earlier blog Smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research , here is another interesting experiment on similar lines: The experiment centres on Structured Digital Abstracts (SDA). SDA are extensions of the normal journal article abstracts that describe the relationship between two biological entities , mentioning the method used to study the relationship. Each sentence is preceded by one or more identifiers pointing to the corresponding database entries that contain the full details of the interaction e.g. protein A interacts with protein B, by method X . The aim of SDA is to assist data entry, text mining and literature searching by extracting the salient data from the article into simple sentences using a defined structure and controlled vocabularies. Gianni Cesareni, Editor of FEBS Letters explains: Many articles in biological journals describe relationships between ent...