Probing Proteins Can Lead to Better Understanding of Anti-Tumor Agents
Recent studies have shown that this natural compound also displays anti-tumor and antiviral activities against several types of viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is easily prepared and purified and has been intensively investigated by a broad spectrum of researchers over the past decade.
HA can photosensitize membrane proteins and lipids, damaging the membranes of tumor cells, which might cause them to die. In order to reveal the detailed photosensitive damage mechanism of HA at molecular level, researchers used a model protein with known structure, lysozyme. According to Jiahong Zhou, writing in the current issue of Spectroscopy: An International Journal, this mechanism has not been previously investigated.
Raman spectroscopy can probe the structure of biomolecules and can identify structural changes in proteins. The authors conclude that the active oxygen species released by HA induce dramatic changes in the structure of the lysozyme molecule. With more study of this mechanism, perhaps HA can serve as a therapeutic agent for a number of diseases.
The article is “Raman spectroscopic study of photosensitive damage to lysozyme structure sensitized by hypocrellin A” by J.H. Zhou, X.H. Wu, S.H. Wei, X.T. Gu, Y.Y. Feng, X.S. Wang and B.W. Zhang. The authors are from the Analysis & Testing Center, Nanjing Normal University, 210097 Nanjing, P.R. China, and the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10010, P.R. China. It appears in Spectroscopy: An International Journal, Volume 20, Issue 5/6 (2007), published by IOS Press.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.iospress.nlAll latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry
Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.
Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.
Newest articles
Lighting up the future
New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…
Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code
Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….
Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….