| RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS |
more precision. Then, it turned out that almost any protein small enough, when fused to Inka1, can be crystallized inside the PAK4 honeycomb. The team also monitored where and how
quickly these crystals grew inside human cells. In most cases the crystals reached
the full length of the cell cytoplasm — between 50 and 100 micrometers — before pausing. “Surprisingly cells tolerate the foreign crystal growing inside them and remain alive for days. Current spinoffs of this system include introducing environ- mentally responsive proteins into the crystals,
which can make incredibly bright sensors,” concludes Manser.
1. Baskaran, Y., Ang, K. C., Anekal, P. V., Chan, W. L., Grimes, J. M., Manser, E. & Robinson, R. C. An in cellulo-derived structure of PAK4 in complex with its inhibitor Inka1. Nature Communications 6, 8681 (2015).
Nutrition:
PROTEIN IN PREGNANCY FOR HEALTHIER BABIES
THE GLOBAL CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC COULD BE TACKLED BY EXPECTANT MOTHERS ADJUSTING THEIR DIET
Research in Singapore finds that babies have lower abdominal fat when their mothers’ diet is relatively protein-rich and low in
Diet in pregnancy could reduce child obesity.
carbohydrate and fat during pregnancy. A*STAR researcher Mary Chong says this revelation may offer a new strategy for very early intervention
to tackle the growing problem of obesity in childhood and later life. This research is part of a large scale
ongoing study of mothers and infants called ‘Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO)’, a collaboration between Singapore’s National University Health System (NUHS), KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) and the A*STAR Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences. The dietary choices of 320 pregnant
women were recorded around the 27th week of pregnancy, followed by MRI scans to detect the abdominal fat levels of their babies two weeks after birth1. These scans reveal details of the distribution of abdominal fat, which is more revealing than merely assessing total fat in the body. The women consuming most protein were still eating amounts of protein within the normal range recommended by dietary guidelines. The effect on their babies’ abdominal fat levels was particularly noticeable in boys, and was only linked to
44 A*STAR RESEARCH ISSUE 5 | OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2016
© sot/DigitalVision/Getty
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52