Articles by Christine Yanicek

Four Common Methods of Detecting Protein PhosphorylationClick for larger version (44K) Signal transduction pathways comprise the cell's communications system; they transmit cues--from hormones, growth factors, or cytokines, for instance--that tell the cell to proliferate, differentiate, activate (or deactivate) a gene, or even die. As with any critical communications network, problems can arise when the lines go down or the signals get crossed, and studies have linked perturbations in signal

Courtesy of Bruker Daltonics Bruker Daltonics of Billerica, Mass., has developed a new mass spectrometry system that the company describes as a "holistic solution" for clinical proteomics and biomarker discovery. The ClinProt™ system, encompassing automated sample preparation, high-performance matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis, and back-end bioinformatics, is the brainchild of Bruker CEO Frank Laukien, who wanted to target the biomarker disc

Courtesy of Affymetrix Microarray giant Affymetrix has updated two of its more popular expression sets. With the release of the GeneChip® Mouse Expression Set 430 and Rat Expression Set 230, the company now provides "the most comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date versions of public domain rat and mouse genome information available on a microarray platform," according to a company press release. "It's an evolution of the product line," explains Elizabeth Kerr, senior director of marketing

Courtesy of Fluidigm Remember science class when you had to grow salt or sugar crystals? Remember how some people would end up with fabulous crystals, while others would end up with--well, not so fabulous crystals, all because the conditions in each glass of water were slightly different? Now imagine doing that with proteins. Of course, no one uses strings and a glass of supersaturated water, but the concept is basically the same. In protein crystallization, however, the solute is often expe