Tag Archives: amino

Stabilizing effect of amino acids on protein and colloidal dispersions

Stabilizing effect of amino acids on protein and colloidal dispersions

Second osmotic virial coefficient A common way to evaluate the stability of a compound in a dispersion is through the equation of state (EOS)8,9,31: $$\frac{{\Pi }}{kT}={\rho }_{2}+{B}_{22}{\rho }_{2}^{2}{+B}_{23}{\rho }_{2}{\rho }_{3}+\ldots $$ (2) where Π is the osmotic pressure, ρ is the number density and kT is the product of the Boltzmann constant (k) and the temperature (T). In this equation, …

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Brain tumours in mice grow more slowly when starved of key amino acid

Brain tumours in mice grow more slowly when starved of key amino acid

A highly lethal type of brain tumour often steals key nutrients to aid its aggressive growth — a habit that can be exploited to slow the cancer’s spread, scientists have found1. Experiments show that many brain tumours called glioblastomas grab serine, a crucial amino acid, from their environment rather than synthesizing it themselves: a metabolic Achilles’ heel. The scientists fed …

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Scientists recreate life’s first step: Linking amino acids to RNA

Scientists recreate life’s first step: Linking amino acids to RNA

Chemists at UCL have shown how two of biology’s most fundamental ingredients, RNA (ribonucleic acid) and amino acids, could have spontaneously joined together at the origin of life four billion years ago. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, the “workhorses” of life essential to nearly every living process. But proteins cannot replicate or produce themselves — they require …

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Scientists discover amino acid switch that turns fat into a calorie-burning furnace

Scientists discover amino acid switch that turns fat into a calorie-burning furnace

Consuming fewer calories is largely accepted as a way to improve health and lose weight, but a recently published study in Nature Metabolism points to a specific sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine as a key component in weight loss. In the study “Cysteine depletion triggers adipose tissue thermogenesis and weight loss,” researchers discovered that when study participants restricted their calorie intake, …

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