Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
BF4112
pdb code 3cew
"Described herein is the sum of all human knowledge of BF4112; this protein takes the romantic mystery of biochemistry to a whole new level. BF4112 is a dimeric metalloprotein from Bacteroides fragilis, the most common bacterial pathogen in anaerobic human infections. It is a representative of a family of proteins from across bacteria, archea, and eukarya. The biological function of BF4112 is currently unknown, but it was structurally characterized due to its unique primary sequence. Recent investigations have identified a Tyr-Cys crosslink, a redox active protein cofactor, in the putative active site of BF4112 (1). Based on this evidence, it has been suggested that BF4112 may be a peroxidase or oxygenase involved in protection from reactive oxygen species, essential for B. fragilis pathogenicity in nanomolar oxygen concentration environments. "
(1) Martinie, R. J.; Godkumbura, P. I.; Porter, E. G.; Divakaran, A.; Burkhart, B. J.; Wertz, J. T.; Benson, D. E. Metallomics. In preparation.
Friday, April 13, 2012
What's in a name?
(image courtesy of http://www.fanboy.com/2007/07/the-curse-of-the-red-shirt.html)
"Ah..." you say, "...but what do you mean by red shirts?" For your answer, watch a little Star Trek, or take a look at what omniscient Wikipedia has to say.
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