http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/stories/person/1717 Stories and external links referencing a person (RSS) en http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/engineering-technology/articles/functional-protein-changes-caught-and-quantified <!--paging_filter--><p>Just knowing that a protein is expressed in a cell does not reveal what it is up to; increasingly, the chemical modifications it undergoes are the key to understanding its function at any given time. A study from the laboratory of Steven Gygi, Harvard Medical School assistant professor of cell biology, uses one of the most powerful tools of proteomics, mass spectrometry, to pinpoint the dynamics of a common alteration in cells: protein phosphorylation, or the addition of phosphate groups. In order to track the changes, Gygi's team bathed cells in a brew that contained two amino acids made from the stable isotope carbon-13 instead of standard carbon-12. Proteins in these cells were slightly heavier, so they could be distinguished from normal proteins in a mass spectrometer.<p><a href="http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/engineering-technology/articles/functional-protein-changes-caught-and-quantified">read more</a></p> Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:17:58 -0400 70652986 3611 at http://harvardscience.harvard.edu