Chemistry

An electron microscope image shows intact Escherichia coli bacteria at top and E. coli leaking chromosomes (green) after disruption by an antimicrobial peptide at bottom. New models by Rice University scientists have determined peptides that invade bacteria and do their damage from the inside are underrated. Source: Wikipedia

For some peptides, killing bacteria an inside job

Rice scientists study the dynamics of the immune system’s antimicrobial peptides, which attack and eliminate harmful bacteria. They find peptides that invade bacteria and do their damage from the inside are underrated.

Using computational models and atomic force microscope experiments, researchers at the University of Houston and Rice University have identified a possible “Achilles’ heel” in the frustration of amyloid beta peptides as they dock to the fibrils that form plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s. The frustrated steps could open a window for drugs able to cap the fibril ends, preventing further aggregation. (Credit: Illustration by Yuechuan Xu/Peter Vekilov/University of Houston)

Docking peptides, slow to lock, open possible path to treat Alzheimer’s

Researchers have identified a possible “Achilles’ heel” in the frustration of amyloid beta peptides as they dock to the fibrils that form plaques in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

An illustration shows how optical trapping could be used to investigate collective, force-generating properties in a complex of motor molecules. A National Science Foundation grant to Rice University to acquire an optical tweezer will advance researchers’ investigation of biological and inorganic molecules. (Credit: Diehl Lab/Rice University)

Tweezer grant pleases Rice researchers

Rice researchers have won an NSF grant to acquire a sophisticated optical tweezer microscope to manipulate, measure and monitor micron-scale particles.

An illustration depicts the atomic structure of double-layer borophene. In this image, all atoms are boron, with the pink atoms specifically involved in bonding between the layers. Courtesy of Northwestern University

Bilayer borophene is a first

Scientists make bilayer borophene for the first time. The versatile 2D material shows promise for quantum electronics, energy storage and sensors.

Rice University has been awarded a $4 million grant by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to establish the Genetic Design and Engineering Center. (Credit: Illustration by Olivia Flynn/Bashor Lab)

CPRIT grant establishes Genetic Design and Engineering Center

Rice faculty members led by bioengineer Gang Bao have been awarded a $4 million CPRIT grant to establish the Genetic Design and Engineering Center.

bone

Rice, Baylor win defense grant to advance metastasis study

Rice University chemist Han Xiao and biologist Xiang Zhang at Baylor College of Medicine have won a $2.3 million Department of Defense grant to expand their efforts to halt bone cancer metastasis.

Carbon nanotubes woven into thread-like fibers and sewn into fabrics become a thermoelectric generator that can turn heat from the sun or other sources into energy in a project developed at Rice University. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

Woven nanotube fibers turn heat into power

Carbon nanotubes woven into thread-like fibers and sewn into fabrics become a thermoelectric generator that can turn heat from the sun or other sources into energy.

Illustration to highlight the launch of the Center for Adapting Flaws into Features.

NSF grant kicks off Center for Adapting Flaws into Features

Rice University has won a Phase I National Science Foundation grant to establish the NSF Center for Adapting Flaws into Features to investigate nanoscale chemical phenomena and optimize the structures and electronic properties of materials.

Rice University researchers introduced noncanonical amino acid building blocks into proteins in living cells, pioneering a powerful tool for investigating and manipulating the structure and function of proteins. The resulting unnatural organism, a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, is able to monitor low levels of oxidative stress. (Credit: Xiao Lab/Rice University)

Programmed bacteria have something extra

Rice chemists expand genetic code of E. coli to produce 21st amino acid, giving it new abilities.

A novel antibody-drug conjugate targets cancer cells, but also kills "bystander" cancer cells. Credit: Illustration by the Jenna Kripal/Nicolaou Research Group

Targeted tumors attack not-innocent bystanders

Antibody-drug conjugates developed are found to attack not only targeted tumor cells but also nontargeted “bystanders.”

Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine are using pClick conjugation to create therapeutic antibodies that target bone cancers. The conjugate incorporates bisphosphonate molecules that bind to the bone hydroxyapatite matrix. (Credit: Baylor College of Medicine/Rice University)

Drug doubles down on bone cancer, metastasis

Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine develop an antibody conjugate called BonTarg that delivers drugs to bone tumors and inhibits metastasis.

Julian West

NIH grant will help streamline chemical synthesis

Rice University chemist Julian West has won a five-year, $1.8 million National Institutes of Health grant to advance his lab’s efforts to simplify the synthesis of organic chemicals.

Rice University synthetic chemists have simplified the process to make halichondrin B, top, the parent compound of the successful cancer drug eribulin, bottom. Their reverse synthesis reduced the number of steps required to make the natural product. (Credit: Jenna Kripal/Nicolaou Research Group)

Reversal speeds creation of important molecule

A Rice lab’s reverse approach to making halichondrin B is the shortest route to a “rather complex and important molecule."

The mechanism by Rice University chemists for the phase evolution of fluorinated flash nanocarbons shows stages with longer and larger energy input. Carbon and fluorine atoms first form a diamond lattice, then graphene and finally polyhedral concentric carbon. (Credit: Illustration by Weiyin Chen/Rice University)

‘Flashed’ nanodiamonds are just a phase

The “flash” process developed at Rice University can turn carbon black into functionalized nanodiamond and other materials. The carbon atoms evolved through several phases depending on the length of the flash.

Gang Bao

Sickle cell advance incorporates Rice lab's tech

Rice University bioengineer Gang Bao, a pioneer in the search for a way to treat and perhaps cure sickle cell disease, is co-author of a significant step forward revealed in Science Translational Medicine and led by his colleagues at Stanford University.