Biochemists have detected a surprising, subtle new gyration that protein molecules undergo in the intricate, squirming dance that influences their activity in the cell. The researchers have also created a realistic geometrical model of the twisting “backrub” motion that could help scientists understand the basics of protein function and design proteins for medical use.
Also, they said, the backrub motion could have implications for understanding how proteins can accommodate loca
New Technique Developed for Attaching Biological Cells to Non-Biological Surfaces
A new technique in which single strands of synthetic DNA are used to firmly fasten biological cells to non-biological surfaces has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley. This technique holds promise for a wide variety of applications, including biosensors, drug-screening technologies, the growing of
A grapefruit a day — particularly the red variety — can help keep heart disease at bay, according to a new study by Israeli researchers. In a controlled study group of patients with heart disease, the scientists found that feeding some patients the equivalent of one grapefruit daily significantly reduced levels of cholesterol in comparison to patients that did not eat grapefruit. Chronic high blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease.
The study, which strengthens a gr
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have shown that the protein Mbd3 plays a crucial role in the process by which embryonic stem cells become specialised cells, such as brain or skin cells. These findings make significant advances in understanding how embryonic stem cells can be made to become all the different types of cell in the body, ultimately to be used in replacement therapies for specific diseases and injuries. This research is published online this week in the leading scientifi
The cellular “pumps” associated with multi-drug resistance in bacteria may also be involved in exporting signals responsible for cell-cell communication, a process known as quorum sensing, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We believe that the drugs exported by these pumps may actually be similar in structure to molecules involved in communicating,” said Dr. Lynn Zechiedri
Fifty years after MIT researchers pioneered the use of electron microscopy to study viruses, MIT scientists have helped produce the most detailed images yet of the tiny infectious agents .
The images, which show for the first time a virus poised to inject its genetic material into a host cell, grace the cover of the Feb. 2 issue of Nature.
Scientists have known for decades that viruses infect cells by injecting their genetic material, either DNA or RNA, into host cells, b
A protein that binds to bile in the small intestine may hold the key to preventing infection and intestinal breakdown in people with conditions such as obstructive jaundice or irritable bowel syndrome, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered.
“What we’ve identified is one of the mechanisms for how the body keeps the number of bacteria low in the small intestine, and how it prevents them from getting into other organs,” said Dr. Steven Kliewer, professo
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered an alternative way to produce heparin, a drug commonly used to stop or prevent blood from clotting. The findings could enable the current supply of the drug – now extracted from animal tissue – to be replaced or supplemented by the synthetic version. The new process also can be applied as a tool for drug discovery, according to the researchers.
Heparin is a complex carbohydrat
Sharks, people have electric connection in their lineage
Sharks are known for their almost uncanny ability to detect electrical signals while hunting and navigating.
Now researchers have traced the origin of those electrosensory powers to the same type of embryonic cells that gives rise to many head and facial features in humans.
The discovery, reported by University of Florida scientists in the current edition of Evolution & Development, identifies neural
Hormone discovered in bird brains also plays major role in mammalian reproductive system
University of California, Berkeley, researchers have discovered a new actor in the mammalian reproductive system, a hormone that fills a role long suspected, but until now undetected.
The hormone, a small protein, or peptide, called gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH), puts the brakes on reproduction by directly inhibiting the action of the central hormone of the reproductive sys
Cancer researchers at the University of Helsinki, in trying to find a novel tumor suppressor gene, instead found an important evolutionary change that occurred in a key developmental signalling pathway. The finding suggests a potential mechanism for evolution of complex intercellular signalling pathways.
A relatively small number of evolutionary conserved genes are responsible for controlling the development of the diverse range of animal species. Most of these genes have been o
The brain as command center for bodily movement was too simple an idea, thought the Russian physiologist Nicolas Bernstein some 60 years ago. After studying human movements for years, Bernstein pointed out in 1940 that the great flexibility of the body, coupled with unexpected events in the world, meant that the nervous system had to prepare the body in advance for what might happen next.
If Bernstein were right, it would affect the design of prosthetic devices and biologically inspi
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that analyzing proteins in urine is a simple and objective method to diagnose and classify preeclampsia (PE), a complication of pregnancy causing high blood pressure after 20 weeks of gestation.
The work will be presented at the 26th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) meeting on February 3 by Irina A. Buhimschi, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences.
D
Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection.
“Targeting genes within this cluster represents a good strategy for preventing tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections,” said Rajesh S. Gokhale, an HHMI international research scholar at the National Institute of Immunology in New D
A team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed a method that could speed up the process of identifying novel protein molecules for medical or biological research hundreds of times over.
In today’s high-throughput searches for specific genes, proteins or protein interactions, plates containing rows of tiny wells have replaced old-fashioned test tubes. However, trawling for a gene or protein with just the right qu
In their quest to find and exploit vulnerabilities in the natural armor that protects malignant brain tumors from destruction, researchers have found a way to decrease the cells¡¦ resistance to therapies that are designed to trigger cell death. The findings resulted from laboratory experiments conducted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and are based on the manipulation of a series of intricate biochemical events taking place within brain tumor cells.
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