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Formation of a covalent adduct between chorismate and K274 of 4-Amino-4-deoxychorismate synthase (ADCS) using electrospray mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) is demonstrated. Spectroscopic experiments show an absorption band centered at 310 nm for the covalent intermediate, which enables the measurement of pre- steady- state kinetics of its formation.

The generation and characterization of mice with a targeted disruption in the N-Acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE- PLD) is described. The illumination of distinct enzymzatic pathways for the biosynthesis of long chain saturated and polyunsaturated N-Acyl ethanolamines (NAEs) suggest a strategy to control the activity of specific subsets of these lipids without globally affecting the function of the NAE family as a whole.

The diterpenoid taxol is used extensively in cancer treatments. Samples of a taxol precursor, geranylgeranyl diphosphate, were mixed with a catalyst, taxadiene synthase, and monitored for taxol synthesis. Results showed a pathway following the geranylgeranyl diphosphate to taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene, instead of going to taxa-4(20),11(12)-diene. A proposed pathway indicated geranylgeranyl diphosphate to form transient verticillyl cation intermediate, then to undergo ring closure to form the taxenyl cation which is then deprotonated to form the taxa-4(5),11(12)-diene.

A synthetic linker approach that permits the direct synthesis of nucleic acid miniduplexes from a standard oligonucleotide synthesis is presented. It involves the incorporation of four synthetic linkers designed with varying lengths and hydrophobic properties intoa model RNA molecule. The linkers' thermal stabilities and binding ability witha peptide or a full-length protein were then assessed. Modified miniduplex structures did not lose full binding activity, compared to that of the wild-type sequence.