Category Archives: Biochemistry

Biochemistry

Research on the Road | The UCSB Current – The UCSB Current

Call it lucky number 10.

Six graduate students, three faculty members and one staff member from UC Santa Barbara have received Fulbright Awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to conduct research and/or teach abroad for the upcoming academic year.

The highly competitive fellowship is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Students are selected for Fulbright Fellowships on the basis of their academic and professional achievements, as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.

Every year the Graduate Division, along with the Office of Undergraduate Education and faculty reviewers from across campus, support applicants to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program who seek to do research, teach or study for a year in places all over the globe, said Shawn Warner, Graduate Divisions director of professional development.We are so excited that over a third of our campus 15 applicants to the program for the upcoming year were selected as awardees. These 6 students will spend the upcoming academic year carrying out their projects in 5 different countries, all while supporting the Fulbright mission of cultural exchange and ambassadorship.

The winning fellows, their departments, projects and host countries are:

Clara Bailey, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Engineered Microbiomes for Soil Pollutant Remediation (Switzerland)

Sabra Harris, East Asian Language and Cultural Studies, Emergent Indigeneities within Public-Facing Ainu Performance (Japan)

Johanna Krukowski, Theater and Dance, Spectral Frequencies: Recovering the Lost History of Australian Horror Radio (Australia)

Jackson Stephenson, Religious Studies, The Afterlife of Indian Esoteric Buddhist Poetry (India)

Felicity Stone-Richards, Political Science, The Search for Acknowledgment: Anti-Racist and Pro-Immigration Praxis in Japan (Japan)

Kira Weiss, Music, A Contested Symbol with a Dynamic Voice: The Cello and Egyptian Cultural Policy (Egypt)

In addition, three faculty members and one UCSB staff member have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards:

Professor Paul Amar, Global Studies (Brazil) Associate Professor William Elison, Religious Studies (India)Professor Paul Leonardi, Technology Management (Austria) Regional Advisor Megan Pankratz, Education Abroad Program (Korea)

Fulbright Scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for future partnerships. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad. Fulbright Scholar alumni include 61 Nobel Prize laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize recipients, and 40 who have served as a head of state or government.

Over its 75-year history, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 participants chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to challenges facing our communities and our world. More than 800 U.S. scholars, artists and professionals from all backgrounds annually teach or conduct research overseas through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Additionally, over 1,900 diverse U.S. students, artists and early career professionals in more than 100 different fields of study receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants annually to study, teach English and conduct research overseas.

As the U.S. governments flagship international educational exchange program, the Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support.

In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student and Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.

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Research on the Road | The UCSB Current - The UCSB Current

Biochemistry

Indore: V-C cautions teachers, and staff as the impostor gets active again to dupe people – Free Press Journal

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly four months after he had succeeded in duping a professor of Rs 2.5 lakh, apparently the same conman has again got active in impersonating the DAVV vice-chancellor professor Renu Jain and is trying the same tactics to swindle people of their hard earned money.

Using Jains picture on his WhatsApp account, the conman is sending messages to the teaching and non-teaching staff on their phone numbers requestingfor financial assistance.

When the V-C came to know about this, she posted a message on social media cautioning people. Somebody from 92679 21708 is trying to chat and cheat on WhatsApp using my photo. Please be careful and don't reply to any query.This number isnt mine. Im okay and dont need any financial assistance, Jains social media post reads.

Four months ago, several teachers received a message from a WhatsApp number bearing Jains photo in the display picture. That message read that she was busy at a crucial meeting and wanted the recipient of the message to buy Amazon gift cards for her. School of Biochemistry head professor Rekha Gadre had fallen prey to the fraud. She got her daughter to buy Amazon gift cards worth Rs 2.5 lakh for the V-C and gave them to the impostor. An FIR was registered in the matter, but the conman was never arrested. He, perhaps, has got active again and is using the same tactics to cheat the university staff.

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Indore: V-C cautions teachers, and staff as the impostor gets active again to dupe people - Free Press Journal

Biochemistry

Taiwanese bring the sizzle to Rwanda –

How a family brought beef noodles, soup dumplings and other local delectables to Kigali

Anyone walking around BK Arena in the Rwandan capital of Kigali who is familar with Taiwanese cuisine might be surprised to smell the fragrance of familiar dishes in the air.

Visitors can even detect the aroma of Taiwans famous beef noodles, chive buns and dumplings if they visit the neighborhood on the right day.

These delectable flavors can be traced to Sizzling Plates Restaurant, a small diner located just across from BK Arena.

Patrons of the eatery have a plethora of traditional Taiwanese food from which to choose, whether it is vegetarian appetizers such as braised tofu or spicy entrees like mapo tofu, or the nations staple braised pork rice and potstickers.

The restaurant also offers special deals on dumpling dishes on Thursdays and Sundays, while a phone call to the eatery a few days ahead of a visit gives owner Teresa Fang () enough time to prepare her signature soup dumplings, which are only available by request.

Besides juggling her duties as the restaurants owner and head chef, Fang, 36, is also a busy mother whose Japanese husband works for the UN in Africa.

STABLER AND SAFER

The family has traveled across Africa due to her husbands job, but the couple eventually decided to settle down in Rwanda, where both parents can work while their children grow up in an environment that is stabler and safer than neighboring nations, Fang said.

With degrees in health economics and biochemistry, plus previous work experience as a researcher and tutor at graduate school, Fang originally planned to look for a job within her field of expertise.

However, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fang was forced to seek alternative job solutions when the companies she had set her heart on stopped hiring.

That was when the chance of purchasing a restaurant across the street from East Africas biggest indoor arena presented itself. Only then did Fang decide to make a hard turn in her career path and pursue cooking full time.

She recalled how she enjoyed recreating the flavors of her hometown cuisine while attending high school abroad, and the excitement she felt when she made dumpings for her and her husband while they lived in Australia. When they had children, she also felt happy making healthy food for them.

Fang was also motivated by her father, who passed away in February 2020.

I reflected on the time we had together and how he truly lived in accordance with the love what you do and you will never work a day in your life philosophy, Fang said. He truly enjoyed his work and always encouraged us to do what makes us happy and healthy.

Sizzling Plates opened its doors in early 2020 amid the global pandemic, which Fang attributes to her personality of needing to get things done.

The restaurant first tailored to the expat population looking to satisfy their desire for something different from the ubiquitous Rwandan cuisine. Eventually, the dishes became popular, customers kept coming back with friends and word spread.

In the two years since the restaurant opened, Fang said she has even served six or seven fellow Taiwanese nationals.

LOCAL AND NATURAL

Instead of Taiwanese ingredients, Fang bases her recipes on local products and draws from her background as a health economics expert.

I have always been very health conscious with my background in biochemistry, and of course after I become a mom, Fang said. I tend to use natural ingredients to make food for my family. After moving to Rwanda, I have to cook almost everything from scratch because its not easy to find Asian condiments.

Not only does she insist on using no MSG in her food, Fang also makes sure no artificial flavoring is added to the Rwandan soybeans which she uses to make homemade tofu for her eatery.

Fang also taught her employees how to use a dough roller to turn Rwandas wheat flour into Taiwanese buns and dumplings.

Thanks to her insistence on using healthy ingredients and the unique flavors of Taiwanese cuisine, Sizzling Plates currently has an exclusive menu that sets her food apart from other Asian restaurants in the area.

When asked about the challenges in Rwanda, Fang points to the language and cultural differences she faces everyday, such as the pace of daily life and managing a restaurant in a country that has an unstable power grid and water supply.

That aside, Fang said she and her family are content and happy in the African country and will continue to bring the sizzle to Kigali.

I really enjoy raising my kids here. she said. I cherish its natural environment and the simplicity which is so rare in other countries. My kids also enjoy living here. I dont know where life is going to take us, but for now we are just enjoying ourselves here.

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Biochemistry

"Blue Pea Flower and Banana Stem Extract" Drink to Reduce the Risk of Urinary Stone – Another Medical Innovation from Chula MED – PR…

BANGKOK, Sept. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Urinary tract stone is common among people of the tropics such as Thailand. In 2020, surveys show that 16-17 percent of the population have this disease, and up to 12 percent of the patients have an asymptomatic urinary stone.

HydroZitla - Blue Pea Flower and Banana Stem Extract Drink to Reduce the Risk of Urinary Stone

"People with the early urinary stone disease are often unaware of it and its life-threatening danger, so they neglect to prevent it. But when the stones are larger, they cause urinary obstructions, pain, difficulty urinating, and blood in the urine in some people. The problem with urinary stone is its recurrence, and that can lead to chronic kidney failure," said Asst. Prof. Dr. Chanchai Boonla, Department of Biochemistry, Chula Faculty of Medicine. The most commonly known treatments are medications, shock wave lithotripsy SWL), and surgery.

Recently, Chula MED launched the latest tasty and nutritious medical innovation that can prevent urinary stone formation HydroZitLa a concentrated herbal drink with "blue pea flower" and "banana stem" by a team of researchers comprising Asst. Prof. Dr. Chanchai Boonla, Asst. Prof. Dr. Nattida Chotechuang, Mr. Bundit Prachapiban, Ms. Natcha Madared, and a number of master's and doctoral degree students.

"Not drinking enough waterand eating foods and vegetables high in oxalate, such as betel leaves can lead to urinary stones." Also, low secretion of urinary citrateand high oxidative stresscandestroy kidney cells and attract the crystallization of the urinary stones. Moreover, consuming food high in sodium and protein also increases the chance of urinary stone formation.

"The urinary stone inhibitor is citrate, which is found in citrus fruits, such as lemon, grapefruit, bergamot, tart cranberries, and melons, which Thai people tend not to prefer as much as sweet fruits, making it easy for the body to get less citrate. Antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables.

HydroZitla Citrate Plus drink is a combination of modern and traditional medicine.Banana stemshave a diuretic effect and can reduce the amount of oxalate in the urine. Blue pea flowersare high in antioxidants and give out a beautiful natural color.

Having been certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), HydroZitLa is currently available at the vending machines selling Chula medical innovations or Facebookpage: https://www.facebook.com/HydroZitLa

For more information, visithttps://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/48548/

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"Blue Pea Flower and Banana Stem Extract" Drink to Reduce the Risk of Urinary Stone - Another Medical Innovation from Chula MED - PR...

Biochemistry

UCSF Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics

The Stein and Moore Award, named for Nobel laureates Dr. William Stein and Dr. Stanford Moore, venerates their contribution to understanding the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active center of the ribonuclease molecule. Established in 1986, the Stein and Moore Award is given to recognize eminent leaders in protein science who have made sustained high impact research contributions to the field.

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UCSF Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics

Biochemistry

Clinical Biochemistry – Journal – Elsevier

Due to the COVID-19 situation, we fully understand most labs are fully or partially shut down so please let us know if you need additional support and contact your Editor to ask for an extension of your revision if you need one.

Clinical Biochemistry is the official journal of the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC). The journal publishes articles relating to clinical chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, therapeutic drug monitoring and toxicology, laboratory immunology and laboratory medicine in general, with the focus on analytical and clinical investigation of laboratory tests in humans used for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and therapy, and monitoring of disease.

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Clinical Biochemistry - Journal - Elsevier

Biochemistry

Celebrating the sciences: SciFest 2022 | BrandeisNOW – Brandeis University

Students with majors across the scientific spectrum came together to present their summer research findings. Photo/ Heratch Ekmekjian

Sam Greene '23 explaining his research.

By Kennedy RyanAug. 15, 2022

Ashley Moushegian 23 spent the summer studying 'cobrooding.'

Members of the Brandeis community came together on August 11th to celebrate the 11th annual SciFest event. This scientific showcase, featuring poster boards across the scientific spectrum, highlighted each students summer of research.

Students with a variety of majors, including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, psychology and neuroscience, spent their summer working alongside the faculty and graduate students mentors to uncover new findings in their chosen field.

In addition to explaining their research, participants shared their exciting scientific revelations and moments of personal growth.

Ashley Moushegian 23, a psychology major, spent the summer researching co-brooding behaviors among students. This concept, when two or more people come together to share negative feelings, is a newer idea in the world of psychology. When negative feelings are shared among the group, each person feels worse as a result, affecting mental health.

While past studies focused on elementary-aged children, Moushegian wanted to study her fellow classmates. She used the timing of the pandemic to study mental health among students, seeing if there was an effect from co-brooding. She didnt find a correlation with the pandemic, but did see similarities between co-brooding effects on mental health.

Moushegian, who hopes to become a clinical therapist, believes her studies will impact the world of therapy beyond Brandeis.

This research helped me understand that there are different ways people can develop mental illness, said Moushegian. Im hopeful that my findings will contribute to therapy programs in the future.

Moushegians research was funded by The M.R. Bauer Foundation at Brandeis University.

Spencer Clark '23 (left) with his mentor, chemistry professor Hao Xu.

Spencer Clark 23, a biochemistry and chemistry double major, found that his research solidified his plans for graduate school.

His research, funded by the Blavatnik Family Foundation Summer Science Research Fellowships, focused on finding new ways to synthetically connect two sugars, an important discovery in the world of biochemistry. As he spent each day in the lab, he found himself growing more sure of his passion for the field.

Chemistry requires a lot of effort. You need to show up daily, putting in the time to try to find new takeaways, said Clark. It really gave me a sense of what it will be like as a graduate student studying synthetic chemistry. Luckily, I really enjoyed it.

Joanna Xiong 23 (right) shares her findings.

Joanna Xiong 23, a neuroscience major with a minor in Health Science, Society and Policy,

researched the molecular impact of memory formations in the brain, seeing different neurons that were activated during the memory process. Her biggest revelation was the power of leaning on others for support in the lab.

She found herself stepping out of her comfort zone by asking her peers in the lab to provide their insight on her project. Getting perspective from the fellow graduate students helped her form a well-rounded report.

I had the chance to really practice my oral communications skills, said Xiong. I received so much support from my lab mates throughout the entire process. It was a great experience.

Xiongs research was funded by the Blavatnik Family Foundation Summer Science Research Fellowships

His study focused on developments in the visual cortex of ferrets. He analyzed movement patterns in the brain, discovering that development occurs within two days after a ferret opens its eyes for the first time. He worked alongside Derek Wise, a graduate student who mentored him throughout the summer.

His research is in the preliminary stages, but hes confident in his ability to move forward because of his mentor support and new-found confidence.

My biggest takeaway is that anyone can do science, said Greene. I struggled to find my place at first, but I put in the work and time this summer. I made connections and really applied myself. Now Im confidently ready to approach my thesis this year.

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Celebrating the sciences: SciFest 2022 | BrandeisNOW - Brandeis University

Biochemistry

Stress can throw off circadian rhythms and lead to weight gain – Medical News Today

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York say that stress-induced circadian clock disruptions may influence weight gain.

A study published in June showed that mice with artificially increased stress levels and interrupted hormone releases experienced an increase in fat cell growth. Its results appear in Cell Reports.

The second study, published in August, found that fat cell precursors commit to becoming fat cells only within a few hours at night. This work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS).

Mary Teruel, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine, was the senior author of both studies.

A lot of forces are working against a healthy metabolism when we are out of circadian rhythm, Dr. Teruel said in a press release. The more we understand, the more likely we will be able to do something about it.

In the Cell Reports study, Dr. Teruel and her team implanted pellets with glucocorticoids, a type of stress-related hormone, in mice. This was to mimic the effects of chronic stress or Cushings disease.

Cushings disease triggers elevated levels of cortisol, the bodys stress hormone.

The pellets released glucocorticoids under the skin of the mice at a steady rate over three weeks. The researchers also observed control mice with typical daily stress hormone fluctuations.

Although all the mice ate the same healthy diet, the mice with pellets ended up weighing over 9% more than the control mice.

The researchers observed whether the weight gain was from fat expansion and found that the brown and white fat of the pellet mice had more than doubled. Their insulin levels spiked as well.

To the teams surprise, the metabolic disturbances kept blood glucose levels low. Further, the disruptions prevented fat from accumulating in the blood or liver.

When the researchers removed the pellets, these changes reversed immediately.

Dr. Teruel explained to MNT: We saw this in our paper, basically, once we stopped flattening the corticoids, [the mice] started reversing [the fat mass gain] and the hyperinsulinemia went away so that increased insulin that seems to be causing the fat mass gains that went away when the restored rhythm.

She added that this study indicates that chronic stress can make weight gain more likely, even with a healthy, low fat diet.

If you stress the animals at the wrong time, it has a dramatic effect. The mice arent eating differently, but a big shift in metabolism causes weight gain, Dr. Teruel said in the release.

Dr. Teruels research team hopes that their findings lead to developing drugs that could help reset circadian rhythms to help people with obesity.

We dont know enough [yet], but one would think cortisol receptor antagonists or [] things that restore the cortisol rhythms would probably help a lot.

Dr. Mary Teruel, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine and senior author of both studies

Experts understand that flaws in circadian clock genes can alter cell differentiation in fat, immune, skin, and muscle cells.

The PNAS study revealed that even though differentiation happens over a few days, differentiation commitment happens within only a few hours. The findings also show that daily bursts of cell differentiation seem to be limited to evening phases when people are normally resting.

The decision to become a fat cell happens rapidly over 4 hours. It is like a switch, Dr. Teruel said.

Medical News Today discussed this with Dr. Mir Ali, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.

Dr. Ali explained how fat cells come to be: Fat cells form from [an] adipocyte progenitor cell or a type of cell that has not differentiated into its final form. The form it takes [to become] a fat cell depends on the hormonal and chemical stimulation it receives.

In the study, Dr. Teruel and her partners used fluorescent markers to observe daily fluctuations of fat cell production.

The researchers attached a red fluorescent protein to a protein that regulates circadian clock genes. They also attached a yellow fluorescent protein to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG), a protein that controls fat cell production.

They discovered that during the rest period of the day, a certain circadian protein CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha induces a rapid increase in the protein that regulates fat cell production.

The researchers also found that when PPARG levels hit a certain threshold, individual fat precursor cells irreversibly commit to differentiate within only a few hours, which is much faster than the rest phase and the overall multiday differentiation process.

Dr. Teruel and her team believe that working with this time window may open therapeutic strategies to use timed treatment relative to the [circadian] clock to promote tissue regeneration.

Dr. Ali said: These studies are interesting in that they show the timing and length of stimulation affect the formation and growth of fat cells. The implications of this are that if we can find a way to safely influence the cell to grow or not grow, it may affect obesity in humans.

However, he believed that more extensive research is needed to make the studies findings applicable to humans.

Dr. Teruel told MNT that she and her co-authors were just trying to work on basic mechanisms [] Right now, we need to show this is really a mechanism that happens []

The researchers do plan to replicate the studies with people. We are looking at protein ribbons and humans using saliva samples, Dr. Teruel shared with MNT. Were planning to do those kinds of experiments.

Their main objective, she said, is to figure out ways to restore circadian [rhythms].

Dr. Teruel mentioned that currently known strategies, such as meditation and regular sleep in the dark may help.

She expressed hope that there could be some pharmacological ways [to] fix this in the future as well.

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Stress can throw off circadian rhythms and lead to weight gain - Medical News Today

Biochemistry

Anthony Rizzuto named A.L. Hook Emerging Professor in Science and Mathematics – Today at Elon

Rizzuto, an assistant professor of chemistry, has been recognized for his record of scholarship and professional activity as well as his mentorship of students.

Anthony Rizzuto, an assistant professor of chemistry, has been named the A.L. Hook Emerging Professor in Science and Mathematics.

The professorship, which has a three-year term, is awarded to a member of the faculty who has ongoing, active scholarship, has a history of mentoring undergraduate research and has demonstrated the ability to impact students, their department and the university. Dabrowskis selection follows a committee review and recommendation, with the professorship appointed by the provost.

Rizzuto joined the faculty at Elon in fall 2017 following the completion of his doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of California in Berkeley, California. Rizzuto graduated magna cum laude from Elon in 2011, and as a student was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and received the Senior Chemistry Achievement Award as the top graduating chemistry senior.

A dedicated mentor, Rizzuto has supported the undergraduate research of 12 students including three Elon College Fellows, three SURE fellows and a Glen-Raven scholar. Those research pairings have resulted in more than a dozen regional and national conference presentations, multiple external grant awards and numerous manuscripts prepared for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Our students are the next generation of leaders in the scientific community, and as such I have endeavored to foster a broad-reaching, collaborative research environment while encouraging the intersection of chemistry, biochemistry, environmental science and engineering, Rizzuto said of his approach to mentorship.

As a scholar, Rizzuto has co-authored five papers in high-impact publications, thanks in part to maintaining collaborations with colleagues at UC Berkeley. The Hook professorship will provide Rizzuto with additional time as well as resources to advance his research conducted with undergraduates in the area of spectroscopy and expose student researchers to equipment and concepts they might not otherwise become familiar with.

In her remarks before Rizzuto was recognized with the professorship during Opening Day ceremonies, Professor of Chemistry Kathy Matera noted that he was an engaged student who started at Elon thinking he would study history before becoming immersed in chemistry. Today, Tony is on the other side of the fence, and he is a highly sought-after research mentor, Matera said during the event in Schar Center. Tony encompasses the teacher-scholar-mentor model that he saw as a student and he now embraces as a chemistry professor.

Tommy Holmes and Harris L. Hendricks, Elon alumni, established the A.L. Hook Emerging Scholar Professorship in Science and Mathematics to honor former physics and mathematics professor, Alonzo Lohr Hook, and to support science, research and student involvement at Elon. Previous faculty members who have held the professorship are Crista Arangala, Kyle Altmann, Kathryn Matera, Chad Awtrey and Jennifer Dabrowski.

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Biochemistry

U of U Health awarded $28M to explore HIV’s inner workings | @theU – @theU

A University of Utah Health-led multi-institutional research center that studies the inner workings and vulnerabilities of HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, recently received a five-year, $28 million grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health.

Since its founding in 2007, theCHEETAH Center for Structural Biology of HIV Infection Restriction and Viral Dynamicshas published more than 300 research papers that have led to a better understanding of HIV and its potential treatments.

Wesley Sundquist, the centers director and professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry at U of U Health, is leading 20 research teams from 12 institutions. With the grant renewal, the researchers will focus on:

Wesley Sundquist, CHEETAH director. Photo credit: Charlie Ehlert.

The outstanding science stemming from this program is changing an understanding of HIV/AIDS, other viral diseases, and cellular biology, enabling the development of novel therapeutics such as lenacapavir and D-peptide inhibitors, saysRachel Hess, associate vice president for research at U of U Health, referring to two investigational drugs with roots in CHEETAH.

Just a half-century ago, HIV infection almost inevitably led to serious illness and death. Todays antiretroviral therapies can suppress the virus and prevent symptoms, but improvement is still needed. If these drugs arent taken daily, the virus can rebound and acquire drug resistance. The medicines can also cause difficult side effects. The underpinnings for two new investigational drugs that could help circumvent these issues are based on years of research by CHEETAH scientists.

Research from CHEETAH investigators Debra Eckert (left) and Michael Kay (right), and Wesley Sundquist and Christopher Hill (not pictured) and their teams have led to two investigational HIV drugs that are now being tested in clinical trials. Photo credit: Charlie Ehlert.

Research from Sundquist, Christopher Hill, distinguished biochemistry professor at U of U Health and other CHEETAH Center labs on the HIV capsida structure they found is vital for different steps of the HIV life cyclelaid the groundwork that led the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to identify the capsid inhibitor lenacapavir. This investigational drug is now in phase 3 clinical trials and is already showing great promiseas a potent, long-acting treatment.

Taking a different approach,Michael Kay, CHEETAH investigator and biochemistry professor, andDebra Eckert, biochemistry research assistant professor, used synthetic chemistry to design a D-peptide inhibitor called CPT31 thatjams HIVs infection machinery. The molecule is now in phase 1 clinical trials sponsored by Navigen, Inc.

Often people forget that drug development builds from basic research, Sundquist says. These are two more cases where that has happened, and it is very satisfying.

CHEETAH continues to bring an understanding of HIV, related viruses and host biology in new directions through collaborations between its scientists, who come from a variety of disciplines. The CHEETAH Center is doing exciting, interdisciplinary science in a collaborative environment that allows us to accomplish projects that wouldnt otherwise be possible in any single lab, says Pamela Bjorkman, a professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech.

Nels Elde, professor of human genetics at U of U Health, turns to evolution for inspiration, noting that many animals are not as susceptible as humans to disease caused by HIV. He is collaborating with fellow CHEETAH scientists to explore whether a gene found in mice and squirrel monkeys that prevents HIV from exiting cells after replicating could become the basis for anew type of antiviral.

Nature has done seemingly countless billions of experiments that got us to where we are today, Elde says. Can we learn from whats happened and borrow and deploy them in ways that are useful?

At 130 nanometers, HIV is about 60 times smaller than a red blood cell. Advances in cryo-electron microscopy (left) and molecular modeling (right) have made it possible to see the virus in unprecedented detail. Image credit: Owen Pornillos, Barbie Ganser-Pornillos.

By contrast, Owen Pornillos, a CHEETAH investigator from the University of Virginia who received his doctorate from the U, takes advantage of his biochemistry expertise to take a different approach. In a collaborative project with several CHEETAH Center members, he is removing the virus from the complex environment of the host cell and bringing it to the test tube. By adding back specific ingredients a few at a time, the team is identifying key virus and host cell components that are essential for early stages of viral infection and replication. Combining this approach with new microscope technologies is allowing them to visualize these steps with unprecedented clarity.

CHEETAH is committed to doing excellent science and is always planning for where we envision the field will be five years from now, Pornillos says. Its exciting to be a part of it.

These diverse tactics are providing valuable insights into virology and biology, and uncovering targets for new types of therapeutic intervention.

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