The ATR protein plays an important role in the response to replication stress as a regulator of the DNA damage response (DDR) and controls cell viability. Mutations of ATR in humans lead to, among other pathologies, neurological defects; indicating a yet unknown role for ATR in non-dividing cells. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) in Jena and the Section of Neuroimmunology of Jena University Hospital have shown that ATR deletion in neurons does not affect brain development and…
…is based on the variation of male sex pheromones. Max Planck researchers decipher the chemical language underlying mating in 99 species of the genus Drosophila. By analyzing the genomes of 99 species of vinegar flies and evaluating their chemical odor profiles and sexual behaviors, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology show that sex pheromones and the corresponding olfactory channels in the insect brain evolve rapidly and independently. By analyzing the genomes of 99 species of vinegar flies…
If plants are flooded, they lack oxygen and their cells over-acidify. A sensor protein detects this and triggers a stress response. Researchers have now presented details about this topic in the journal Current Biology. Climate change is causing increased flooding and prolonged waterlogging in northern Europe, but also in many other parts of the world. This can damage meadow grasses, field crops or other plants – their leaves die, the roots rot. The damage is caused by a lack of…
Dysfunction in key gene causes neural stem cells to produce more astrocytes than neurons. Medical researchers led by Kyushu University have revealed a possible underlying genetic pathway behind the neurological dysfunction of Rett syndrome. The team found that deficiencies in key genes involved in the pathology triggers neural stem cells to generate less neurons by producing more astrocytes–the brain’s maintenance cells. The researchers hope that the molecular pathology they identified, as reported in the journal Cell Reports, can lead to…
Methyltransferase Dnmt1 is not only responsible for maintenance. Often, biology will not fit into clear-cut categories. In a recent publication, an enzyme to which researchers had previously assigned a distinct task is stepping outside its box. It not only maintains the epigenetic state of the genome, but can also specifically silence additional DNA segments with virus-like characteristics. It is the forbidden section in the library of life: Some parts of the DNA contain harmful information. Methyltransferase enzymes provide these sections…
Neuroscientists investigate in the amygdala if and how we fear or not. Which neurons in the brain mediate fear responses – and how do they flip the switch when the danger is over? The research team of Prof. Ingrid Ehrlich at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems (IBBS), Department of Neurobiology studies these questions. Their latest results obtained in collaboration with scientists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel (Switzerland), the National Institute of Health (USA), and Innsbruck Medical…
An international study has elucidated the structure of a protein that is required for the assembly and stability of photosynthetic membranes. Plants, algae and cyanobacteria convert carbon dioxide and water into biomass and oxygen with the aid of photosynthesis. This process forms the basis of most forms of life on Earth. Global warming is exposing photosynthetic organisms to increasing levels of stress. This reduces growth rates, and in the longer term presents a threat to food supplies for human populations….
Researchers based in Munich and Tübingen have developed an open-source camera system that images natural habitats as they appear to rodents. During the course of evolution, animals have adapted to the particular demands of their local environments in ways that increased their chances of survival and reproduction. This is also true of diverse aspects of the sensory systems that enable species to perceive their surroundings. In the case of the visual system, these adaptations have shaped features such as the…
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most complex and protracted diseases of the human brain. Especially the onset of the disease proves to be extremely difficult to study. This is 15 to 30 years before patients become clinically conspicuous due to cognitive deficits, especially in the areas of language and memory. It is known that a disturbed calcium balance in neurons is present at the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease and probably contributes to the early memory failures. Professor Martin Korte…
Hot vents in the deep sea are home to microbes that feed on ethane. They were discovered recently from scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. Now the researchers from Bremen succeeded in finding an important component in the microbial conversion of the gas. They were able to decode the structure of the enzyme responsible for the ethane fixation. The structure highlights some common traits with the methane-fixing counterpart, but also revealed the key features for ethane specialization….
It´s a cellular process going on since one billion years, yet we are not able to replicate it, nor to fully understand it. Mitosis, the mechanism of cell division that is so important for life, involves more than 100 proteins at its core. Now, the group of Prof. Dr. Andrea Musacchio from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund has been able to fully reconstitute the engine of the mitosis machinery, called kinetochore. Being able to model a…
Water in zeolites saves energy in the conversion of biomass into biofuel. Zeolites are extremely porous materials: Ten grams can have an internal surface area the size of a soccer field. Their cavities make them useful in catalyzing chemical reactions and thus saving energy. An international research team has now made new findings regarding the role of water molecules in these processes. One important application is the conversion of biomass into biofuel. Fuel made from biomass is considered to be…
Not only animals and humans host a complex community of microorganisms – plants do this as well. Researchers at ETH Zurich have recently published two new studies that shed light on fundamental aspects of these close – and often overlooked – relationships. Hundreds of different bacterial species live in and on leaves and roots of plants. A research team led by Julia Vorholt from the Institute of Microbiology at ETH Zurich, together with colleagues in Germany, first inventoried and categorised…
LEGO technique reveals the physics of DNA transport through nanopores. A new technique established by a team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Massachusetts reveals the fundamental physics of how a polymer such as DNA threads through holes 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Polymers are long, chain-like molecules which are everywhere in biology. DNA and RNA are polymers formed by many consecutive copies of nucleotides coupled together. When being transported…
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have succeeded in developing a method to label mRNA molecules, and thereby follow, in real time, their path through cells, using a microscope – without affecting their properties or subsequent activity. The breakthrough could be of great importance in facilitating the development of new RNA-based medicines. RNA-based therapeutics offer a range of new opportunities to prevent, treat and potentially cure diseases. But currently, the delivery of RNA therapeutics into the cell is inefficient….
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have discovered that minuscule, self-propelled particles called “nanoswimmers” can escape from mazes as much as 20 times faster than other, passive particles, paving the way for their use in everything from industrial clean-ups to medication delivery. The findings, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describe how these tiny synthetic nanorobots are incredibly effective at escaping cavities within maze-like environments. These nanoswimmers could one day be used to remediate contaminated…
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