FINAL PROJECT: Abstract and Reader's Reponse > Laboratory Manual for MD Analysis: Featuring Bifunctional Ligase/Repressor Protein birA
N, good plan and well-understood reluctant reader. So many biomed people really resist programming and biostats. If you can teach and inform, without talking down to this reader, you complete your task.
Also, you can cap Department of Biochemistry, etc., when is specific lab.
May 12, 2019 |
MbS
MbS
Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is the tenth leading cause of death worldwide according to tbfacts.org. In 2017 alone, an estimated 234,000 children fell prey to the disease. While drugs have been developed to combat TB, much is to be desired with current treatment plans. According to mayoclinic.org, many treatment plans involve several drugs needing to be taken for six to nine months. While this may feasible in the developed world, citizens in developing countries such as Africa do not have the time or the money to receive such treatment. More powerful drugs must be developed to combat TB, and protein allostery is the key. TB's pathogenic proteins can be subject to allosteric inhibition, reducing the lethality of the disease. Jingheng Wang of the department of biochemistry and Dr. Silvina Matysiak of the department of bioengineering at the University of Maryland note that computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can be performed to yield insight into the allosteric inhibition of proteins such as those excreted by TB. This laboratory manual will take the user through the analysis of such MD simulations using the E. Coli birA protein. Armed with this knowledge, the user will be able to derive useful results shedding light on the allosteric inhibition of birA, which can be applied towards better combating TB.
Reader’s Profile: I imagine this is a college-level undergraduate student who is frankly quite tired of doing complicated labs and that this is another one of their required labs.
Reader’s Response: GREAT! I have three other tests this week and I have to deal with this lab! Let’s see here...tuberculosis? Sounds gross, but wow that’s a lot of deaths. Blah blah TB blah blah, woah, computer simulations? I don’t really understand those but I guess that sounds legit. I don’t know anything about these MD simulations, though...I really wish they would’ve maybe elaborated on what those are? And how does allosteric inhibition of birA relate to getting rid of TB? That’s not very clear at all since TB’s proteins and birA are two different sets of proteins...I just don’t get that. Ah well, time to get started.