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The Simplex Things In Life: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence Models to Better Understand Autism

Posted on by Natalie Larsen

Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is nothing if not unique.

The way ASD manifests itself in people is unique; although it most often presents as some form of variable impairment in social interaction and communication, each individual has behaviors and habits that are as unique to them as snowflakes are to one another.

ASD has also proven itself to be a uniquely challenging disorder to study. In the past decade, de novo (new) mutations have been identified as key contributors to causality of ASD. However, the majority of these identified de novo mutations are located in protein-coding genes, which comprise only 1–2% of the entire human genome.

Up to this point, a majority of previous research has focused on identifying mutations located in the 20,000 identified genes in the protein-coding region, which would seem like a promising approach. Genes are the genetic blueprints for creating proteins, which control and perform crucial tasks in our bodies, such as fighting off infections, communicating between your organs, tissues, and cells as chemical messengers, and regulating your blood sugar levels. It seems like basic math: Genes + Mutations = Mutated Proteins. Mutated Proteins = Disrupted Protein Function.

However, it has been observed that all the known genes that are ASD-associated can explain only a minor fraction of new autism cases, and it is estimated that known de novo mutations in the protein-coding region contribute to not more than 30% of cases for individuals who have no family history of autism (better known as simplex ASD). This provides evidence to suggest mutations contributing to autism must additionally occur elsewhere in the genome. Continue reading “The Simplex Things In Life: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence Models to Better Understand Autism”

When Proteins Get Together: Shedding (Blue) Light on Cellular LOV

Posted on by Ken Doyle

NanoBRETNo protein is an island. Within a cell, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are involved in highly regulated and specific pathways that control gene expression and cell signaling. The disruption of PPIs can lead to a variety of disease states, including cancer.

Two general approaches are commonly used to study PPIs. Real-time assays measure PPI activity in live cells using fluorescent or luminescent tags. A second approach includes methods that measure a specific PPI “after the fact”; popular examples include a reporter system, such as the classic yeast two-hybrid system.

Continue reading “When Proteins Get Together: Shedding (Blue) Light on Cellular LOV”

A BiT or BRET, Which is Better?

Posted on by Joliene Lindholm

Now that Promega is expanding its offerings of options for examining live-cell protein interactions or quantitation at endogenous protein expression levels, we in Technical Services are getting the question about which option is better. The answer is, as with many assays… it depends! First let’s talk about what are the NanoBiT and NanoBRET technologies, and then we will provide some similarities and differences to help you choose the assay that best suits your individual needs.

Continue reading “A BiT or BRET, Which is Better?”

Biotechnology From the Mouths of Babes

Posted on by Darcia Schweitzer

As a science writer, much of my day entails reviewing and revising marketing materials and technical literature about complex life science research products. I take for granted the understanding that I, my colleagues and our customers have of how these technologies work. This fact really struck me as I read an article about research to improve provider-patient communication in healthcare settings.

The researchers completed an analysis revealing that patient information materials had an average readability at a high school level, while the average patient reads at a fourth-grade level. These findings inspired the researchers to conduct a study in which they enlisted the help of elementary students to revise the content of the patient literature after giving them a short lesson on the material.

The resulting content did not provide more effective ways to communicate indications, pre- and post-op care, risks or procedures—that wasn’t really the point. Instead, the study underscores the important connection between patient literacy and health outcomes. More specifically, a lack of health literacy is correlated with poor outcomes and increased healthcare costs, prompting action from the US Department of Health & Human Services.

While healthcare information can be complex and full of specific medical terminology, I recognized that a lot of the technical and marketing information we create for our products at Promega has similar features. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out how descriptions of some of our biggest technologies translate through the eyes and mouths of children?

After enlisting some help from my colleagues, I was able to catch a glimpse of how our complex technologies are understood by the little people in our lives. The parents and I explained a technology and then had our child provide a description or drawing of what they understood.

Continue reading “Biotechnology From the Mouths of Babes”

The Role of the NanoLuc® Reporter in Investigating Ligand-Receptor Interactions

Posted on by Nicole Sandler

Luminescent reporter assays are powerful research tools for a variety of applications. Last March we presented a webinar on this topic, Understanding Luminescent Reporter Assay Design, which proved to enlighten many who registered. The webinar addressed the importance of careful experimental design when using a luminescent reporter such as Promega’s Firefly or NanoLuc® Luciferase.

Reporters provide a highly sensitive, quantifiable metric for cellular events such as gene expression, protein function and signal transduction. Luminescent reporters have become even more valuable for live, real-time measurement of various processes in living cells. This is backed by the fact that a growing number of scientific publications reference the use of the NanoLuc® Luciferase reporter and demonstrate its effectiveness as a reporter assay. Continue reading “The Role of the NanoLuc® Reporter in Investigating Ligand-Receptor Interactions”

Shining Light on a Superbug: Clostridium difficile

Posted on by Darcia Schweitzer

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their potential to cause epidemics with no viable treatment options have been in the news a lot. These “superbugs,” which have acquired genes giving them resistance to common and so-called “last resort” antibiotics, are a huge concern as effective treatment options dwindle. Less attention has been given to an infection that is not just impervious to antibiotics, but is actually enabled by them.

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Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections and a significant global healthcare problem. Clostridium difficile (C. diff), a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium, is the source of the infection. C. diff spores are very resilient to environmental stressors, such as pH, temperature and even antibiotics, and can be found pretty much everywhere around us, including on most of the food we eat. Ingesting the spores does not usually lead to infection inside the body without also being exposed to antibiotics.

Individuals taking antibiotics are 7-10 times more likely to acquire a CDI. Antibiotics disrupt the normal flora of the intestine, allowing C. diff to compete for resources and flourish. Once exposed to the anaerobic conditions of the human gut, these spores germinate into active cells that embed into the tissue lining the colon. The bacteria are then able to produce the toxins that can cause disease and result in severe damage, or even death.

Continue reading “Shining Light on a Superbug: Clostridium difficile”

For Protein Complementation Assays, Design is Everything

Posted on by Kyle Hooper

Most, if not all, processes within a cell involve protein-protein interactions, and researchers are always looking for better tools to investigate and monitor these interactions. One such tool is the protein complementation assay (PCA). PCAs use  a reporter, like a luciferase or fluorescent protein, separated into two parts (A and B) that form an active reporter (AB) when brought together. Each part of the split reporter is attached to one of a pair of proteins (X and Y) forming X-A and Y-B. If X and Y interact, A and B are brought together to form the active enzyme (AB), creating a luminescent or fluorescent signal that can be measured. The readout from the PCA assay can help identify conditions or factors that drive the interaction together or apart.

A key consideration when splitting a reporter is to find a site that will allow the two parts to reform into an active enzyme, but not be so strongly attracted to each other that they self-associate and cause a signal, even in the absence of interaction between the primary proteins X and Y. This blog will briefly describe how NanoLuc® Luciferase was separated into large and small fragments (LgBiT and SmBiT) that were individually optimized to create the NanoBiT® Assay and show how the design assists in monitoring protein-protein interactions.

Continue reading “For Protein Complementation Assays, Design is Everything”

NanoBiT™ Assay: Transformational Technology for Studying Protein Interactions Named a Top 10 Innovation of 2015

Posted on by Michele Arduengo

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For three out of the last four years, we have been honored to have one of our key technologies named a Top 10 Innovation by The Scientist. This year the innovative NanoBiT™ Assay (NanoLuc® Binary Technology) received the recognition. NanoBiT™ is a structural complementation reporter based on NanoLuc® Luciferase, a small, bright luciferase derived from the deep sea shrimp Oplophorus gracilirostris.

Using plasmids that encode the NanoBiT complementation reporter, you can make fusion proteins to “report” on protein interactions that you are studying. One of the target proteins is fused to the 18kDa subunit; the other to the 11 amino acid subunit. The NanoBiT™ subunits are stable, exhibiting low self-affinity, but produce an ultra-bright signal upon association. So, if your target proteins interact, the two subunits are brought close enough to each other to associate and produce a luminescent signal. The strong signal and low background associated with a luminescent system, and the small size of the complementation reporter, all help the NanoBiT™ assay overcome the limitations associated with traditional methods for studying protein interactions.

The small size reduces the chances of steric interference with protein interactions. The ultra bright signal, means that even interactions among proteins present in very low amounts can be detected and quantified–without over-expressing large quantities of non-native fusion proteins and potentially disrupting the normal cellular environment. And the NanoBiT™ assay can be performed in real time, in live cells.

The NanoBiT™ assay is already being deployed in laboratories to help advance understanding of fundamental cell biology. You can see how one researcher is already taking full advantage of this innovative technology in the video embedded below:

Visit the Promega web site to see more examples more examples how the NanoBiT™ assay can break through the traditional limitations for studying protein interactions in cells.

You can read the Top 10 article in The Scientist here.

Manipulating Microbiota: A Synthetic Biology Exploration of the Gut

Posted on by Michele Arduengo
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Microbial cells outnumber the cells of our own bodies approximately 10:1, these microbes that live on our skin and along the epithelial linings of our internal tubes make up our microbiota*, and they can have major effects on our health. Most of our microbiota are commensal organisms, living in harmony with our body, but if you suppress our immune system or greatly reduce their populations with large doses of antibiotics, and you will soon see the effects of disrupting our microbiota.

There is much interest in the microbiota that inhabit our bodies. For instance several studies have indicated that intestinal microbes can play a big part in obesity, with changes in the makeup of the microbiota being a major risk factor (1). But many of these organisms are hard to learn about—the ones that inhabit the deep folds of our gut thrive in moist, warm, anaerobic conditions with lots of specialized nutrients, conditions that are very hard to replicate in the laboratory. For that reason, we don’t know much about many of the microbes that are the most abundant within us.

The Human Microbiome Project begun in 2008 by the National Institutes of Health (2) seeks to understand human microbiota and their relationship to human health. To do this, the researchers leading the project took a metagenomic approach—using advanced DNA sequencing technologies to sequence the genomes of human microbiota and get a look at the human microbiome—without culturing the microbes.

But to truly understand their biology, and to perhaps exploit what we learn to enhance human health we need to be able to manipulate these organisms. In particular, biologists who are interested in synthetic biology would like to use these micro-organisms to monitor what is going on in our bodies, particularly our guts. What better monitor for these hard-to-access places than an organism that is already well adapted to live there? 

Continue reading “Manipulating Microbiota: A Synthetic Biology Exploration of the Gut”

If We Could But Peek Inside the Cell …Quantifying, Characterizing and Visualizing Protein:Protein  Interactions

Posted on by Michele Arduengo
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Robert Hooke first coined the term “cell” after observing  plant cell walls through a light microscope—little empty chambers, fixed in time and space. However,  cells are anything but fixed.

Cells are dynamic: continually responding to a shifting context of time, environment, and signals from within and without. Interactions between the macromolecules within cells, including proteins, are ever changing—with complexes forming, breaking up, and reforming in new ways. These interactions provide a temporal and special framework for the work of the cell, controlling gene expression, protein production, growth, cell division and cell death.

Visualizing and measuring protein:protein interactions at the level of the cell without perturbing them is the goal of every cell biologist.

A recent article by Thomas Machleidt et al. published in ACS Chemical Biology, describes a new technology that brings us closer to being able to realize that goal.

Continue reading “If We Could But Peek Inside the Cell …Quantifying, Characterizing and Visualizing Protein:Protein  Interactions”