Tae Seok Moon

mPROSS: a new web-accessible server for designing membrane proteins to improve expression levels. Membrane proteins, including receptors, channels and transporters, are critical for many cellular processes and are a dominant class of drug targets. Yet, they are incredibly frustrating for experimental analysis due to low expression levels. In recent years, the PROSS design algorithm developed by our lab to stabilise the protein native state has been demonstrated to address difficult stability and expressibility problems in many families of soluble proteins, leading to dozens of publications and patent filings. But the plasma membrane imposes very different physical constraints on proteins, and it is not clear that improving native-state stability would not adversely impact membrane-protein trafficking, quality control, and activity. In this recent paper, Jonathan Weinstein (now at Scala Biodesign) developed a membrane version of the PROSS method using empirical measurements of membrane insertion that we previously generated. In a close and productive collaboration with Izhar Karbat and Chandamita Saikia from Eitan Reuveny's lab, he applied the new method, mPROSS, to a voltage-gated potassium channel. This is a highly dynamic and oligomeric channel that poses significant challenges for design. Yet, the four designs they experimentally tested exhibited improvements of as much as 14-fold in plasma membrane functional expression. Eitan's lab used cutting-edge electrophysiological measurements in oocytes to show that the designed channels showed the same conductivity and voltage dependence as the starting point channel despite having 9-26 mutations. This demonstrates, at the single-channel level, the high reliability and accuracy of the design algorithm. Such large improvements in functional expression of membrane proteins open exciting opportunities for addressing other problems in membrane-protein engineering. I'm especially curious whether mPROSS would work effectively in receptors, such as #GPCRs. This is another class of highly dynamic membrane proteins that pose extreme challenges for characterisation. You can now access mPROSS directly through the web server or contact me if you're uncertain how to apply it to your favourite protein. More broadly, combined with the results from PROSS, this work suggests that optimising native-state stability is key to improving thermal stability and expressibility in all proteins. #proteindesign #proteinengineering #biotechnology #membraneproteins #ionchannel

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The emergence of products that are NOT#kratom is going to impact the entire kratom industry, and not in a positive way. Together with my incredible colleagues we urge the public, kratom advocates, and kratom sellers/vendors to be aware of the distinction between native kratom products and non-kratom products like 7-hydroxymitragynine.

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Here Eric Conners, Tahina Ranaivoarisoa and I sit together with Nathan Pottker from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to talk about #purplebacteria, #plastics and #bioplastics. It's free and really well done! Go purple bacteria! May you help with the US and the world's #bioeconomy!

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A new initiative provides a way to assess how well text-generating AI models can answer chemistry questions. The researchers behind it show that large language models (LLMs) consistently out-perform human chemists across all topics, presenting their results in a new preprint report, which hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed. However, the assessment also highlights the limitations of these systems, including the LLMs’ inability to reliably apply chemical reasoning or accurately evaluate their own performance. The team hopes that ChemBench will be a ‘stepping stone’ to developing improved AI systems and more robust evaluative tools in future. https://lnkd.in/d_ht4sxh

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The Nature Portfolio News article reports on a study that found that the retraction rate for European biomedical-science papers has increased fourfold between 2000 and 2021, with two-thirds of these papers being withdrawn due to research misconduct such as data or image manipulation or authorship fraud. The authors of the study, led by Alberto Ruano Raviña, a public-health researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, suggest that research misconduct has become more prevalent in Europe over the last two decades. However, others argue that retractions could be increasing because researchers and publishers are getting better at identifying potential misconduct. The study also identified Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain as the European countries with the highest number of retracted biomedical science papers. Each country had distinct patterns of misconduct-related retractions. The overall increase in retraction rates might reflect that authors, institutions, and journals are increasingly using retractions to correct the literature. https://lnkd.in/ehcWtSZr #retractions #researchintegrity #scholarlypublishing #academicresearch

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“Advancing discovery requires scientists to take risks and pursue different research directions in order to create new and novel opportunities...Our Catalyst Grant funding is specially designed to provide very early-stage investment when it is needed most," Schmidt Science Fellows Director of Fellowship Affairs & Lifelong Community Arielle Baker https://lnkd.in/etmGKMW8 Accelerating solar cell development, improving our understanding of gut health, and developing better ways to manage diabetes are among the interdisciplinary collaborations supported by our 2024 Catalyst Grants. Projects also include collaborations to accelerate our understanding of neural circuits and bring advanced genetic techniques to wildlife conservation. Five new Catalyst Grants will allow Senior Schmidt Science Fellows to incubate novel ideas emerging from their Fellowship experience, each with the exciting potential to harness the power of interdisciplinary research.

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Recent work of Anthony Kipkorir and Sara Murray, published in Chem. Mater, elucidates electron transfer dynamics of midgap states of AgInS2 by employing ethyl viologen (EV2+) as a probe molecule. The role of surface-anchored viologen as an electron shuttle was further exploited by using free-floating benzoquinone (BQ) as a secondary electron acceptor. The sub-bandgap response of AgInS2 to promote electron transfer paves the way to extend the photoresponse of ternary I–III–VI2 semiconductor-based photocatalytic systems. University of Notre Dame - College of Science Center for Sustainable Energy at the University of Notre Dame

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Personal professional goal unlocked today! Had the opportunity to contribute to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's Barriers and Opportunities for Facilitating Team Science Workshop. Fortunate enough to represent #NORDP and #UofA as we all work towards supporting team scholarship. Thanks to Nicole Motzer, PhD for moderating the session, what an inspiration she is for all of us in #ResearchDevelopment to aspire to in terms of expertise in team science! Disruptive and systemic change takes time and iteration. Work like this by the Committee on Research and Application in Team Science will help us get there faster. Important Caveat: my comments and opinions are my own, hopefully they resonate and provide some support for continuing this important work. #NASEM #TeamScholarship #TeamScience

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A new study revealed how a single workout affects elite short-track speed skaters at the molecular level. Using UHPLC-MS for metabolomic and proteomic analyses, scientists found significant changes in proteins and metabolites related to immune function, endocrine activity and energy metabolism. These findings shed light on the "open window" theory and could lead to better training and recovery strategies for athletes. #sportscience #immunology #metabolomics #proteomics #athletes #speedskating Link: https://lnkd.in/ebACZbcP

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Reducing PFAS Contamination with Innovative Filtration? Researchers at Mizzou Engineering, led by Professor Maria Fidalgo, have been awarded an EPA grant to develop an affordable, modular water treatment unit that specifically targets PFAS contamination. Their innovative hybrid filtration system, consisting of an iron oxide-coated ceramic membrane, aims to not only capture but also degrade PFAS through low-cost, energy-efficient processes using UV LEDs. This solution addresses the limitations of traditional water treatment by providing a scalable and environmentally friendly approach that is particularly suitable for rural and underserved communities. The project also features interdisciplinary collaboration and a focus on extending the technology to address other contaminants. https://lnkd.in/d_DECDJN It is interesting that efforts are being made to develop innovative technologies to reduce PFAS contamination in water. I suggest funding innovative bioremediation technologies that promise to provide clean water at low cost.  #pfas #bioremediation #cleanwaters #health

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Check out the latest Special Issue from Inorganic Chemistry! This Special Issue highlights contemporary research into different strategies for synthesizing and understanding molecular Zintl anions, clusters, and solid-state phases. Read now: https://go.acs.org/bBM

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Curious about career options beyond the bench? Join PBSS on May 30th for a free online workshop diving into the roles, attributes and paths into Project Management and Regulatory Affairs. It's been a lot of fun putting this together with Shichang Miao, Enas Mahmoud, and Dean Wilson at PBSS International as well as the knowledgable group of PM and Regulatory professionals who have walked the walk of career transitions themselves. First in a planned series! #careergrowth #findyourpath #keeplearning

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Stanford University researchers have uncovered dynamic molecular shifts that occur at around ages 44 and 60, affecting various biological functions and potentially influencing age-related disease risks. This study provides insights into the nonlinear nature of aging and underscores the importance of early diagnosis and prevention strategies. Their findings highlight the need for further research to deepen our understanding of these critical transitions in the aging process. #aging #percision #medicine #multiomics https://lnkd.in/d8dDB_4N

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Unlike many academic disciplines, organic chemistry has intrinsic connection to industrial research. The contributions made by academic and industrial organic chemists to our discipline are legendary. Most years, I am privileged to teach a class to our incoming graduate students that focuses on the canon of organic reactions: those ‘name’ reactions we all instantly recognize. I take pains to point out many such reactions originated by industrial scientists: Tebbe, Moffatt, and Knowles, to name a few.   I’ve been lucky to have many direct connections with industry, primarily in pharmaceuticals, but more recently with nascent companies that go by the biotech moniker (that mostly are pharma companies without a marketed drug yet). I’ve maintained strong ties to the industrial chemists I’ve worked with throughout my career, and I’ve always appreciated the contributions they’ve made to their companies as well as to organic chemistry as a field. Working as a consultant to industry was a fantastic opportunity for me to see the chemistry I learned, and then taught, at work in the real world. I’ve always enjoyed lectures from medicinal chemists at ACS meetings. I was fortunate to get connected to some very entrepreneurial scientists in the late 1980s that led to a multi-year relationship with a then start-up company Affymax. I was even an employee at Affymax for a year. Through a super-cool peptide discovery technology, Affymax did eventually get a drug (which I had no hand in) approved, which mimicked the biotech drug erythropoietin. Drug discovery efforts in my UC-Riverside lab got far enough that I and my biomedical collaborator formed a spin-off company, Hibiskus. It was a fun several years, again giving me a great reality check about the challenges of doing chemistry when the ultimate goal is developing a product. I also feel extremely lucky to have had outstanding mentors in synthetic organic chemistry, Clayton Heathcock and Gilbert Stork. Like them, I just truly enjoy the process of synthesizing organic compounds, and I’d wager many synthetic chemists would say something similar. I hope my joy for the topic comes through in my books on fundamental experimental techniques in the synthetic organic chemistry lab, the most recent being The Handbook of Synthetic Organic Chemistry (Academic Press). A past postdoc, Dennis Xiong, suggested to me there would be significant demand for a Chinese language version of my book. After diligent efforts, I can now report this will be coming to fruition, through East China University Of Science and Technology Press. I hope to inspire and instruct the next generation of Chinese synthetic chemists through this vehicle.

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The #POSTDOCket: Postdoc to Faculty Conversion Programs Are a Win-Win While traditional postdoctoral appointments are insecure, requiring scholars to be on the job market constantly, some institutions and even state university systems are bucking the trend by creating pathways for postdocs to become faculty at their fellowship institution (or one close by). Read more to learn about these programs and what you should be asking when considering them! Read more at the 🔗https://ow.ly/8XMS50U2prc // #postdocs #postdoctoralscholars #postdocoffices #postdocassociations

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