Difference between revisions of "Team:NRP-UEA-Norwich"
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<p class="space20">We kept a log of everything we did in and out of the labs so that you can follow our progress <b>every step of the way</b>.</p> | <p class="space20">We kept a log of everything we did in and out of the labs so that you can follow our progress <b>every step of the way</b>.</p> | ||
| − | <p class="space20">Our project was split into <b> | + | <p class="space20">Our project was split into <b>two parts.</b>. </p> |
<p class="space20">The first group focused on <b>branching</b> and <b>debranching</b> of Glycogen to find the optimum branching and free ends for solubility. </p> | <p class="space20">The first group focused on <b>branching</b> and <b>debranching</b> of Glycogen to find the optimum branching and free ends for solubility. </p> | ||
<p class="space20">The second group focused on building a <b>biosynthetic pathway</b> of butyrate into E.coli and then making <b>butyrylated Glycogen</b>.</p> | <p class="space20">The second group focused on building a <b>biosynthetic pathway</b> of butyrate into E.coli and then making <b>butyrylated Glycogen</b>.</p> | ||
Revision as of 09:05, 24 August 2015
ENGINEERING NUTRITION TO INCREASE COLONIC BUTYRATE
THE PROJECT
Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death with 30,000 new cases diagnosed every year in England and Wales and a registered cause of death in half that number.
Recent studies have suggested that high dietary intake of resistant starch may reduce colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Resistant starches escape digestion in the small intestine and are fermented by microbiota in the colon. A small proportion of these colonic bacteria produce short chain fatty acids including butyrate, which can activate apoptosis in colon cancer cells.
Our project is focused on increasing the amount of butyrate in the colon.
THE SCIENCE
We are taking two approaches to improve butyrate levels in the colon.
In the first we aim to produce modified starches that might be consumed as a prebiotic. We will test the capability of various putative transferases to transfer acyl and butyryl groups to the alpha 1,4 carbohydrates produced in bacteria and plants. This will involve modelling carbohydrate molecules to find optimal branching and solubility states.
The second approach is to transfer the butyrate biosynthetic pathway to culturable bacterial species with the long-term aim of producing a probiotic.
MODELLING
Under Construction......
PROJECT TIMELINE
We kept a log of everything we did in and out of the labs so that you can follow our progress every step of the way.
Our project was split into two parts..
The first group focused on branching and debranching of Glycogen to find the optimum branching and free ends for solubility.
The second group focused on building a biosynthetic pathway of butyrate into E.coli and then making butyrylated Glycogen.
The final group focused on butyrylated starch in plants using GoldenGate cloning.
RESULTS
Under Construction......
