Study shows how cells form 'trash bags' for recycling waste
(Phys.org)—To remove waste from cells, a class of membrane-sculpting proteins create vesicles—molecular trash bags—that carry old and damaged proteins from the surface of cellular compartments into...
View ArticleProtein strongest just before death
(Phys.org)—Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered a protein that does its best work with one foot in the grave.
View ArticleResearchers identify key cellular organelle involved in gene silencing
RNA molecules, made from DNA, are best known for their role in protein production. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), however, are short (~22) nucleotide RNA sequences found in plants and animals that do not encode...
View ArticleUnusual antibodies in cows suggest new ways to make therapies for people
Humans have been raising cows for their meat, hides and milk for millennia. Now it appears that the cow immune system also has something to offer. A new study led by scientists from The Scripps...
View ArticleThe ribosome: A new target for antiprion medicines
New research results from Uppsala University, Sweden, show that the key to treating neurodegenerative prion diseases such as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may lie in the ribosome, the...
View ArticleMolecular motion in detail: Scientists' high-res images illuminate binding...
In a critical breakthrough in unraveling how molecular "motors" ferry proteins and nutrients through cells, Harvard scientists have produced high-resolution images that show how the "foot" of...
View ArticleDid bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?
Bacteria have a bad rap as agents of disease, but scientists are increasingly discovering their many benefits, such as maintaining a healthy gut.
View ArticleFeedback loop maintains basal cell population
Notch – the protein that can help determine cell fate – maintains a stable population of basal cells in the prostate through a positive feedback loop system with another key protein – TGF beta...
View ArticleSignaling receptor may provide a target for reducing virulence without...
For decades, microbiologists thought that bacteria act individually, unaware of their multitudinous counterparts involved in causing the same infection. In the past two decades, however, they have...
View ArticleCell biology: Flushing out fats
The Wip1 protein is important for survival, but mutations that inactivate it carry some surprising features. "A lack of Wip1 results in an excessive immune reaction to infectious organisms, in some...
View ArticleChromosome 'anchors' organize DNA during cell division
For humans to grow and to replace and heal damaged tissues, the body's cells must continually reproduce, a process known as "cell division," by which one cell becomes two, two become four, and so on. A...
View ArticleThe origins of a genetic switch
Cilia, microscopic whip-like organelles that protrude from the surface of many cell types, are almost ubiquitous. They are present in all eukaryotes—organisms whose cells have a nucleus—and have...
View ArticleResearchers solve crystal structure of key biofilm protein
(Phys.org)—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) report that they have solved the crystal structure of a protein involved in holding bacterial cells together in a biofilm, a major...
View ArticleCheap and easy technique to snip DNA could revolutionize gene therapy
(Phys.org)—A simple, precise and inexpensive method for cutting DNA to insert genes into human cells could transform genetic medicine, making routine what now are expensive, complicated and rare...
View ArticleNew type of gene that regulates tumor suppressor PTEN identified
Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk"...
View ArticleScientists improve transgenic 'Enviropigs'
A research team at the University of Guelph has developed a new line of transgenic "Enviropigs." The new line of pigs is called the Cassie line, and it is known for passing genes on more reliably. The...
View ArticleLarge-scale screen reveals how numerous signaling pathways intersect at the...
Many proteins undergo extensive modification after being synthesized, particularly those that are secreted or embedded in the cell membrane. This is achieved within the Golgi apparatus (see image), a...
View ArticleSalk researchers chart epigenomics of stem cells that mimic early human...
Scientists have long known that control mechanisms known collectively as "epigenetics" play a critical role in human development, but they did not know precisely how alterations in this extra layer of...
View ArticleScientists develop powerful new method for finding therapeutic antibodies
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have devised a powerful new technique for finding antibodies that have a desired biological effect. Antibodies, which can bind to billions of...
View ArticleCatching individual molecules in a million with optical antennas inside...
A single cell in our body is composed of thousands of millions of different biomolecules that work together in an extremely well-coordinated way. Likewise, many biological and biochemical reactions...
View ArticleFungal biology: Finding yeast's better half
Scientists long believed that the fungal pathogen Candida albicans was incapable of producing haploid cells—which contain only one copy of each chromosome, analagous to eggs and sperm—for mating....
View ArticleRules governing expression of developmental genes in mouse embryonic stem...
A decade ago, gene expression seemed so straightforward: genes were either switched on or off. Not both. Then in 2006, a blockbuster finding reported that developmentally regulated genes in mouse...
View ArticleMapping replacement of dead cells in the intestine uncovers critical stem...
Stem cells play a critical role in replacing various cells within the intestine, but can also become drivers for colorectal cancer. The composition of these stem cell reservoirs has been debated. New...
View ArticleBT-R3 mediates killing of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae by Bacillus...
Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), led by Dr. Lee Bulla, have demonstrated for the first time the selective cytotoxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis Cry4B toxin is...
View ArticleEvidence that disproves a long-standing assumption about fish development...
A Singapore-based research team has used fluorescent labeling of embryonic cell populations to pinpoint the origin of scales and fins in modern-day fish. These tissues are evolutionary relics of the...
View ArticleThe 'weakest link' in the aging proteome
Proteins are the chief actors in cells, carrying out the duties specified by information encoded in our genes. Most proteins live only two days or less, ensuring that those damaged by inevitable...
View ArticleNew method of incorporating fluoride into drugs
(Phys.org) —Synthetic biology is a science that aims to harness natural biological processes for other uses, such as in the manufacture of fuels and drugs. Now, synthetic biology researchers in the...
View ArticleA microbe's fountain of youth
The yeast S.pombe is one of the best-studied microbes in the world. First isolated from East African millet beer over a century ago, it's been used as a model organism in molecular and cell biology for...
View ArticleScientists discover new mechanism that preserves genomic integrity, is...
An international team of scientists—including researchers at GENYO, the Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (Pfizer-University of Granada- Andalusian Regional Government)—has described a...
View ArticleKinesin-5 structure opens cancer drug targets
The structure of a key part of the machinery that allows cells to divide has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis—opening new possibilities for throwing a wrench in the...
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