Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Does anyone know whether is would be possible to use an ELISA test to detect the presence of certain polyphenols (such as catechins, epicatechins, etc) in milk and serum samples? I'm not sure whether antibodies against them are commercially available. If it is possible, if anyone knows any articles regarding it, please tell me.

Hi, I have a very basic question about DNA. Would it be possible to produce a double-stranded chain several hundred base pairs in length, composed almost entirely (90-95%) of A and T nucleotides?

Immediately after cell division, in Prokaryotes, the two daughter cells are half the original, pre-division, cell size. Yet, cells stay the same size, generation after generation, without continually 'dividing down' to ever smaller sizes. So, cells must enlarge their cell membranes (and their 'armor plate' cell walls), by about a factor of two, between immediately after the last cell division, to immediately before the next. How do cells grow their membranes (and walls) ??

Discuss the sythesis of 4-hydroxproline from palmitate and uracil, including all enzymes, cofactors and substrates. Show all reactions and discuss the energetics of the system. Note that cellular compartments in which the reaction occur and explain how the molecules are transported across membrane and between cells and organs. This is a question my professor had proposed for my Biochemistry class. I have tried to find it in my book and on the internet and can not come up with much. Any help would be wonderful. Thank you

Hi: Let's say all the keratin molecules in/on my body were to become as lipophilic as possible. What symptoms would I experience? Thanks, Green Xenon

All methods Ive read say this...its a pain. Wondering if this is a method that has past its day, that maybe new hematoxylin harris can be made just as effective without the boiling/then "plunging into ice cube water". Thanks, people.

anyone familiar with this?

I want to do IHC for collagen type II in cartilage tissue. But until now I couldnot find the approprate protocol for paraffin sectined slides ,antigen retrieval. Please help me to know about it. Regards azadeh

Draw the following structure: -cis-9-decenoic acid -saturated FA w/Tm <30 C

1)Membrane lipids from 4.74*109 erythrocytes form a monolayer of 0.89 m2 in water. The surface area of an average erythrocyte is ~ 100 mm2. Show that the membrane is a bilayer. 2) How many moles of K+ will diffuse across the erythrocyte membrane in one minute under the following conditions:[K+]in = 100 mM [K+]out = 15 mM Surface Area of erythrocyte: 100 mm2 = 100*10-12 m2 Permeability P of K+ = 2.4*10-10 cm-sec-1 If the erythrocyte volume is 100 mm3, what percent of the internal K+ willl leak out in 1 minute?

Is it possible to create a virus such as Hepatits , influenza or HIV in the laboratory? Or is it possible to manipulate or alter the viruses genetically to produce a new type ( cousin virus )? Can this be done in the lab manually? I'm more interested in HIV .

Question: Design a minimum numbers of probes (20 nucleotides in length) to detect gene coding for the protein of the amino acid sequence shown below. Picture of problem with solution: http://imgur.com/RFMH7. I understand how to get the possible codons but how are the synthetic probes derived from them? Thank You

Does anyone do polyAtailing after obtaining mRNA from bacteria? I have some questions: 1) what is the minimal quantity of mRNa for polyAtailing. The protocol epicentre is designed for 1-10ug (alternative protocol) but I wonder that lower concentration are also good, for example 0,3 ug? 2) Does anyone check the shift after polyAtailing on the 1% denaturing gel? I have some problems because I do not see the shift between mRNA and mRNA polyAtailed and I wonder if it may look like that (bacuase reagents of kit are good for sure and mRNa is also good-purified with minelute Qiagen) I will be ver gratefull for answers. I would like to start cDNA synthesis with olig…

I'm confused about something; my lecture notes say (or at least that's how they sound) that if a detergent or phospholipase can remove a protein from the cell membrane, then that protein must be integral. Now, I can understand why detergents and phospholipases can extract transmembrane and lipid-anchored proteins (i.e. integral membrane proteins), but wouldn't they also disrupt the hydrogen bonds and salt bridges of, and thus extract peripheral membrane proteins as well? At least detergents, I'm not sure about phospholipases. I find it strange that detergents wouldn't also remove peripheral proteins from the membrane in addition to integral proteins, since logically i…

According to my textbook, if a fatty acid is 12 of fewer carbons long, it can enter the mitochondria without a transporter. However, if it is 14 or greater carbons long, it requires the carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase in order to enter the mitochondria. So what would happen if they are 13 carbons long? Would they need the translocase? Would it depend on certain attributes?

Can someone tell be exactly what the difference is between glycolysis and glycogen breakdown? I mean, they both involve the catabolism of glycogen, so aren't they pretty much the same?

Is it possible for a vaccine to have an autoimmune effect in the human body from molecular mimicry? I was received the Hepatitis B vaccine (only 1 of 3) in NOV2010. According to my neurologist I have a polyneuropathy due to the vaccine. I am fearful this can turn into something much more serious. I am not someone who thinks vaccines are bad; I think the serve a purpose. I am just searching for answers to what is going on with my body. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, does anyone know if farnesylation could affect the mobility of a protein in a western blot? In particular, could farnesylated and unfarnesylated forn a doublet for a certain protein? or does farnesylation not show up, and the two forms would just migrate the same distance? help is very much appreciated, thanks in advance

Looking to coexpress two vectors pCDFDuet and pETDuet in E. coli. Origins of replication are CDF and F1 respectively. Anyone know if these are compatible? Yes they are compatible

Become a writer! We are happy to announce a writing contest for beginner-friendly articles on bioinformatics. The web magazine http://en.bioinformatyk.eu collects articles for bioinformatics students that are easy to understand. You are welcome to participate by contributing a short article about a topic of your choice, e.g.: ● Fancy algorithms & bioinformatics tools you have used. ● Amazing discoveries you read about. ● Present your lab and what it has achieved. ● How you survived your BSc, MSc, or PhD thesis. ● Books, events, science news. You don't need to describe original resear…

According to the HHMI DVD Life Matrix (lecture 2), the formation of the 'Cleavage Furrow', during cell division, is implemented, by myocin-2 & anillin proteins, which cluster around the middle of the as-yet-undivided cell, even as the chromosomes are pulled to opposite poles. The lecturer, Dr. Stuart Schreiber, seemed to say, that no-one as yet knows what triggers the Cleavage Furrow to form, or pinch off. And yet, Dr. Schreiber showed, that 'Small Molecules' can bind to Proteins, activating or de-activating them. Could it be, that once the chromosomes are in position, they send out some sort of 'we're in position, sir' signal ?? That chemical signal, then, c…

Early earth life lacked bio-catalysts, which speed up the assembly, of protein poly-peptides: Now, chemical reactions can occur, without catalysts -- even as one can 'walk to work', without taking the turbo-charged car. And, pre-Life, upon this planet, was surely simple and 'stripped down', to the maximal minimum. Could early earth pre-Life, then, have been 'slow life', which 'walked unaided', ponderously pursuing bio-chemical reactions, which are rather rapid today, b/c of catalysis ??

I'm not doing so hot in Biochemistry class and one of the reasons is because I make stupid mistakes on exams (i'm terrible test taker with dislexic background), but another is this horrible textbook. We are told to read Fundamentals to Biochemistry by Voet and the material seems like its so condensed that it skips important facts that I need to know. Should I get his first book called Biochemistry? Because this text is so confusing that I cant sit and read it at all and reading textbooks is almost a hobby of mine. It lacks so much....please tell me I'm not crazy. I want to know this stuff. I don't care as much for the grades as I do for knowing this stuff.

Hey guys, Just a theoretical question that I've been wondering about: If one inhibited the Complex I of the electron transport chain of an aerobic species, could the organism be supplemented with succinate and survive? I'm leaning toward "not really" because I think the buildup of both fumarate and NADH might become problematic, but I'd like to know what other people think and why!

I am currently looking into the extraction of DNA from E. coli. I want to extract the DNA using a manual method and alsousing centrifuge. Once I have extracted the DNA I want to test it for yield,purity and possibly run gel electrophoresis to determine molecular weight. I have found some protocols online but I am stuck on a fewthings. Uses the centrifuge method a couple of this are not well explained. They use a Lysis solution which is SDS and also use RNasesolution. But the protocol also uses a Protein Precipitation Solution (PPS) anda DNA Rehydration Solution (RH) but does not say what it is made up of. Can anyone help clear this up for me? As …