Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) News and Research

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During FRET, the excitation of the donor molecule is transferred to the acceptor, provided they are in close apposition to each other. After the transfer, the fluorescence of the donor is quenched, while the fluorescence of the acceptor is induced. The ratio of the acceptor and donor fluorescence is then calculated before and after FRET. This method helps to visualize and quantify the interactions at a molecular level

Scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shape

In an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" - the switching back and forth of the protein between a bent helix and an extended helix as the surface that it is binding to changes.

16 Mar 2009

Secret lives of enzymes revealed

In a new study in Nature, Brandeis University Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Dr. Dorothee Kern and collaborators pull back the curtain on the secret lives of enzymes, the ubiquitous proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in the cell.

13 Dec 2007

Bouncing helicases possibly play a preventative role in keeping the genome intact

Researchers studying how proteins called helicases travel along strands of DNA have found that when the proteins hit an obstacle they snap back to where they began, repeating the process over and over, possibly playing a preventative role in keeping the genome intact.

27 Oct 2005

RNA enzyme research may lead to ways of monitoring fat metabolism and might even assist in the search for signs of life on Mars

Research aimed at teasing apart the workings of RNA enzymes eventually may lead to ways of monitoring fat metabolism and might even assist in the search for signs of life on Mars, according to University of Michigan researcher Nils Walter.

29 Jun 2004