Bryan Berger

In new a new paper in Cell, the Doudna lab and co-first authors Amy Eggers and Kai Chen PhD use rational engineering to make more efficient Cas editors. ✂️ Read more here: https://ow.ly/kPxi50RQirF

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Have you read the latest issue of Essays in Biochemistry? Computational Biology provides an in-depth introduction into the subject, including reviews covering computational methods and models. Read the issue: https://ow.ly/Kbmm50SSMUx Portland Press

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Congratulations to Jeremy Espano and Dr. Janet Macdonald! Their article, “Phase Control in the Synthesis of Iron Sulfides” published in Journal of the American Chemical Society, has been selected as a VINSE Spotlight Publication. About the author: Jeremy Espano, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Interdisciplinary Materials Science at Vanderbilt University under the supervision of Prof. Janet Macdonald in the Department of Chemistry. In their recent work published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Macdonald lab used a library of thioureas to study the effect of decomposition kinetics on phase determination, quantified the phase mixtures using powder X-ray diffraction. Their results found that the bottom-up synthesis of crystalline structures in solids can be predicted by considering the anion stacking and thermodynamic relationships between the phases. In their work, they can map out these relationships and rationally target the synthesis of 6 of the 8 iron sulfides. The paper provides a new way to think about bottom-up synthesis and phase determination, which will contribute to the further development of next generation crystalline materials. Jeremy Espano, Janet E. Macdonald. Phase Control in the Synthesis of Iron Sulfides. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 145, no. 34 (2023): 18948-18955. #VINSEvandy #VINSE

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Biological Chemistry MSc Seminar: Come hear Gary Zheng discuss Developing light-switchable affibody based inhibitors of key interactions in the p53 network. June 21st at 2:00 p.m. To learn more, check: https://lnkd.in/g83TEyZA

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Big things are happening in Assistant Professor Rachel Letteri's lab at the University of Virginia! 🌟 Their Liberty Blue Peptide Synthesizer is revolutionizing peptide synthesis in their polymer biomaterials research. With high-quality outputs and minimal waste, it’s a game-changer for efficiency! 💡 Discover more here: https://ow.ly/KlCk50UnrqZ #PeptideSynthesis #PeptideSynthesizer

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Inorganic Chemistry's new Special Issue highlights research into different strategies for synthesizing and understanding molecular Zintl anions, clusters, and solid-state phases. Learn more: https://go.acs.org/bPB

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Researchers discover that using foldable bottlebrush polymers as network strands provides a strategy to decouple the tradeoffs between stiffness and extensibility. Learn more in this week’s issue of #ScienceAdvances: https://bit.ly/414ndr6

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Science2Startup (S2S) has extended the deadline for applications to participate in Science2Startup. Therapeutics-focused researchers can submit proposals through the S2S website by December 2nd (by midnight ET) at https://lnkd.in/e7bPwMzX Further details regarding submissions and the review process can be found at https://lnkd.in/g6Mt5nwt S2S is an invitation-only symposium for top scientists from leading research institutions to present their startup ideas and interact with leading investors and executives in the Boston biotechnology hub.

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Happy to share our publication recently appeared in Chem Catalysis on a new biocatalytic strategy for the regio- and stereoselective C(sp3)–H functionalization of indolines via carbene transfer chemistry with engineered heme enzymes! In this work, we demonstrate the development of CYP119-based carbene transferases for the selective alkylation of three different C(sp3)–H sites in indoline substrates with high enantioselectivity, high catalytic efficiency, and regiodivergent selectivity. These systems thus offer a unique and convenient route for diversification of these important organic scaffolds via direct C(sp3)–H functionalization. Using enzyme variants with complementary regioselectivity, a tandem inter- and intramolecular C(sp3)-H carbene insertion sequence could be orchestrated to afford a polycyclic indoline-containing motif found in drugs. Through mechanistic and computational studies, we shed light into the mechanism of this abiological reaction and into structural features responsible for the enzyme-controlled regiodivergent selectivity. Congratulations to graduate students Bo Couture and Ru Cui at The University of Texas at Dallas for this important achievement and big thanks to our computational collaborators Sagar Khare and Yong Zhang and their students Zhuofan Shen and Jia-Min Chu for their great contributions! https://lnkd.in/gPJdM52y

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Our #SerdpEstcpWebinar tomorrow will focus on research to advance #sustainable #chemical biomanufacturing for DoD applications while reducing the production of toxic waste streams that need to be treated. Dr. David Graham with Oak Ridge National Laboratory will present his work on biological propellant stabilizers and limiting the production of hazardous byproducts. Dr. Philip Larese-Casanova with Northeastern University will also discuss the development of a flow-through electrochemical reactor for purifying mixed waste streams generated during the production of energetic materials. Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/4bIrsds

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mPROSS: a new web-accessible server for designing membrane proteins to improve expression levels. Membrane proteins, including receptors, channels and transporters, are critical for many cellular processes and are a dominant class of drug targets. Yet, they are incredibly frustrating for experimental analysis due to low expression levels. In recent years, the PROSS design algorithm developed by our lab to stabilise the protein native state has been demonstrated to address difficult stability and expressibility problems in many families of soluble proteins, leading to dozens of publications and patent filings. But the plasma membrane imposes very different physical constraints on proteins, and it is not clear that improving native-state stability would not adversely impact membrane-protein trafficking, quality control, and activity. In this recent paper, Jonathan Weinstein (now at Scala Biodesign) developed a membrane version of the PROSS method using empirical measurements of membrane insertion that we previously generated. In a close and productive collaboration with Izhar Karbat and Chandamita Saikia from Eitan Reuveny's lab, he applied the new method, mPROSS, to a voltage-gated potassium channel. This is a highly dynamic and oligomeric channel that poses significant challenges for design. Yet, the four designs they experimentally tested exhibited improvements of as much as 14-fold in plasma membrane functional expression. Eitan's lab used cutting-edge electrophysiological measurements in oocytes to show that the designed channels showed the same conductivity and voltage dependence as the starting point channel despite having 9-26 mutations. This demonstrates, at the single-channel level, the high reliability and accuracy of the design algorithm. Such large improvements in functional expression of membrane proteins open exciting opportunities for addressing other problems in membrane-protein engineering. I'm especially curious whether mPROSS would work effectively in receptors, such as #GPCRs. This is another class of highly dynamic membrane proteins that pose extreme challenges for characterisation. You can now access mPROSS directly through the web server or contact me if you're uncertain how to apply it to your favourite protein. More broadly, combined with the results from PROSS, this work suggests that optimising native-state stability is key to improving thermal stability and expressibility in all proteins. #proteindesign #proteinengineering #biotechnology #membraneproteins #ionchannel

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New article from my lab on using soft matter physics principles to create meat analogs with improved structural and textural properties: Potential for fabricating tough double network hydrogels using mixed polysaccharides: High-acyl gellan with low-acyl gellan, agar, or κ-carrageenan Reference: FOOHYD_110898 "Potential for fabricating tough double network hydrogels using mixed polysaccharides: High-acyl gellan with low-acyl gellan, agar, or κ-carrageenan Link: https://lnkd.in/emWszEwz

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ACS call for papers: Smithers scientists will chair a symposium at the ACS Fall Meeting, Aug 17-21, in Washington, DC. The organizers are inviting abstracts for the symposium, "Non-Target Analysis in Agrochemical and Biocides Research." View a summary of the session and suggested topics: https://lnkd.in/ecXJJpQq #ACSFall #ACSWashingtonDC #Chemistry #EFSADrinkingWater #Agrochemical #Biocides

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A recent study shows how applying a small voltage can securely bond hard and soft materials together, with the added bonus of easy separation. Learn more from ACS Central Science: https://go.acs.org/auv

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Access an original research article on the "Characterization of the CO release properties of a common CO donor, CORM-401, in the context of its application in studying CO biology" by Nicola Bauer, Qiyue Mao, Xiaoxiao Y. & Binghe Wang from Georgia State University at  https://rdcu.be/dHeL9 (shareable link) or https://lnkd.in/eFFvd9j6. This was submitted to the special issue of Med Chem Res honoring Prof. Ronald T. Borchardt. Med Chem Res welcomes such original research articles from experienced drug discovery scientists from industry and academia. #medicinalchemistry #chemistry #drugdiscovery #naturalproducts #rutgersmedchem #KUPharmacy

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ACS’s new strategy aims to engage scientific community: One of the world’s largest scientific organizations signals the dynamic nature of chemistry in its newest strategic plan.

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Investigating how conjugation chemistry influences targeted nanoparticles: in their latest work, Michael Zaleski, Jake Brenner at the University of Pennsylvania and collaborators demonstrated that the commonly used conjugation chemistries for antibody-targeted nanoparticles play a direct role in activating the complement cascade of plasma proteins. This complement activation significantly alters nanoparticle biodistribution, leading to up to a 140-fold increase in uptake by lung phagocytes, and causes various toxicities, including a 50% reduction in platelet count https://lnkd.in/eK-7X7zj Their findings underscore the critical importance of conjugation chemistry in advancing nanomedicine, emphasising that it is not without risk and must be carefully designed with consideration for opsonins like complement. An article co-authored by Liam Chase, Elizabeth Hood, Zhicheng Wang, Jia Nong, Carolann Espy, Marco Zamora, Jichuan Wu, Lianne Morrell, Vladimir Muzykantov and Jacob Myerson #Nanomedicines #targeteddelivery #drugdelivery #LNPs #conjugationchemistry #Vesiculab

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