Search results for "Computational biology"
showing 10 items of 1237 documents
Molecular diagnostics in gastric cancer.
2014
Despite recent advances in individualised targeted therapy, gastric cancer remains one of the most challenging diseases in gastrointestinal oncology. Modern imaging techniques using endoscopic filter devices and in vivo molecular imaging are designed to enable early detection of the cancer and surveillance of patients at risk. Molecular characterisation of the tumour itself as well as of the surrounding inflammatory environment is more sophisticated in the view of tailored therapies and individual prognostic assessment. The broad application of high throughput techniques for the description of genome wide patterns of structural (copy number aberrations, single nucleotide polymorphisms, meth…
Genetic and Molecular Characterization of The Human Osteosarcoma 3AB-OS Cancer Stem Cell Line: A Possible Model For Studying Osteosarcoma Origin and …
2013
Finding new treatments targeting cancer stem cells (CSCs) within a tumor seems to be critical to halt cancer and improve patient survival. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive tumor affecting adolescents, for which there is no second-line chemotherapy. Uncovering new molecular mechanisms underlying the development of osteosarcoma and origin of CSCs is crucial to identify new possible therapeutic strategies. Here, we aimed to characterize genetically and molecularly the human osteosarcoma 3AB-OS CSC line, previously selected from MG63 cells and which proved to have both in vitro and in vivo features of CSCs. Classic cytogenetic studies demonstrated that 3AB-OS cells have hypertriploid karyotype wit…
Analysis of pseudouridines and other RNA modifications using hydraPsiSeq protocol
2021
Detection of RNA modified nucleotides using deep sequencing can be performed by several approaches, including antibody-driven enrichment and natural or chemically induced RT signatures. However, only very few RNA modified nucleotides generate natural RT signatures and antibody-driven enrichment heavily depends on the quality of antibodies used and may be highly biased. Thus, the use of chemically-induced RT signatures is now considered as the most trusted experimental approach. In addition, the use of chemical reagents allows inclusion of simple "mock-treated" controls, to exclude spontaneous RT arrests, SNPs and other misincorporation-prone sites. Hydrazine is a well-known RNA-specific rea…
Mapping and Quantification of tRNA 2′-O-Methylation by RiboMethSeq
2018
Current development of epitranscriptomics field requires efficient experimental protocols for precise mapping and quantification of various modified nucleotides in RNA. Despite important advances in the field during the last 10 years, this task is still extremely laborious and time-consuming, even when high-throughput analytical approaches are employed. Moreover, only a very limited subset of RNA modifications can be detected and only rarely be quantified by these powerful techniques. In the past, we developed and successfully applied alkaline fragmentation-based RiboMethSeq approach for mapping and precise quantification of multiple 2'-O-methylation residues in ribosomal RNA. Here we descr…
AlkAniline-Seq: A Highly Sensitive and Specific Method for Simultaneous Mapping of 7-Methyl-guanosine (m7G) and 3-Methyl-cytosine (m3C) in RNAs by Hi…
2021
Epitranscriptomics is an emerging field where the development of high-throughput analytical technologies is essential to profile the dynamics of RNA modifications under different conditions. Despite important advances during the last 10 years, the number of RNA modifications detectable by next-generation sequencing is restricted to a very limited subset. Here, we describe a highly efficient and fast method called AlkAniline-Seq to map simultaneously two different RNA modifications: 7-methyl-guanosine (m7G) and 3-methyl-cytosine (m3C) in RNA. Our protocol is based on three subsequent chemical/enzymatic steps allowing the enrichment of RNA fragments ending at position n + 1 to the modified nu…
Biophysical approaches for the study of metal-protein interactions
2019
Protein-protein interactions play important roles for a variety of cell functions, often involving metal ions; in fact, metal-ion binding mediates and regulates the activity of a wide range of biomolecules. Enlightening all of the specific features of metal-protein and metal-mediated protein-protein interactions can be a very challenging task; a detailed knowledge of the thermodynamic and spectroscopic parameters and the structural changes of the protein is normally required. For this purpose, many experimental techniques are employed, embracing all fields of Analytical and Bioinorganic Chemistry. In addition, the use of peptide models, reproducing the primary sequence of the metal-binding …
New Tools for Streamlined In Vivo Homing Peptide Identification
2021
In vivo peptide-phage display is an unbiased technique for mapping of the vascular diversity and identification of homing peptides. This chapter is intended to serve as a structured practical guide to execute in vivo T7 phage biopanning and data analysis experiments. We discuss experimental designs and protocols with emphasis on application of high-throughput sequencing-based technologies for streamlined in vivo biopanning and validation of homing peptides.
Thermodynamics of the interaction between the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome- coronavirus-2 and the receptor of human angiotensin…
2020
Since the end of 2019, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 180,000 deaths all over the world, still lacking a medical treatment despite the concerns of the whole scientific community. Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) was recently recognized as the transmembrane protein serving as SARS-CoV-2 entry point into cells, thus constituting the first biomolecular event leading to COVID-19 disease. Here, by means of a state-of-the-art computational approach, we propose a rational evaluation of the molecular mechanisms behind the formation of the complex and of the effects of possible ligands. Moreover, binding free energy between ACE2 and the active Receptor Binding Domain (RB…
Detection of RNA modifications
2010
RNA nucleotide modifications are typically of low abundance and frequently go unnoticed by standard detection methods of molecular biology and cell biology. With a burst of knowledge intruding from such diverse areas as genomics, structural biology, regulation of gene expression and immunology, it becomes increasingly clear that many exciting functions of nucleotide modifications remain to be explored. It follows in turn that the biology of nucleotide modification and editing is a field poised to rapidly gain importance in a variety of fields. The detection and analysis of nucleotide modifications present a clear limitation in this respect. Here, various methods for detection of nucleotide …
Structure-based statistical analysis of transmembrane helices
2012
Recent advances in determination of the high-resolution structure of membrane proteins now enable analysis of the main features of amino acids in transmembrane (TM) segments in comparison with amino acids in water-soluble helices. In this work, we conducted a large-scale analysis of the prevalent locations of amino acids by using a data set of 170 structures of integral membrane proteins obtained from the MPtopo database and 930 structures of water-soluble helical proteins obtained from the protein data bank. Large hydrophobic amino acids (Leu, Val, Ile, and Phe) plus Gly were clearly prevalent in TM helices whereas polar amino acids (Glu, Lys, Asp, Arg, and Gln) were less frequent in this …