Infinitesimal particles of gold have enabled neurobiologists to track down key molecules in the machinery of “entry points” in neurons — offering clues to the organization of a region that has thus far remained largely unknown neuronal territory.
The researchers — from Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina — used electron microscopy to locate molecules tagged with targeted antibodies attached to gold particles — rendering the molecules’ precise
Dynamic ice
A technique borrowed from the surface physics community is helping chemists and atmospheric scientists understand the complex chemical reactions that occur on low-temperature ice.
Known as electron-stimulated desorption (ESD), the technique uses low-energy electrons to locally probe surfaces, differentiating their characteristics from those of the bulk material below them. Using ESD, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated that hyd
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered a new component of the machinery immune cells use to generate a remarkably diverse array of antibodies from a relatively small number of genes.
The discovery reveals important links in the molecular pathway by which complex genetic alterations arm the immune system to target myriad potential bacterial and viral invaders with swiftness and precision. The discovery may also provide welcome new information about lymphoma, a fo
Given the number of human pharmaceuticals and hormones that make their way into wastewater, some people are concerned about how well treatment plants that turn sewage into reusable water remove these chemicals.
New research shows that wastewater treatment plants that employ a combination of purifying techniques followed by reverse osmosis – a process by which water is forced through a barrier that only water can pass – do a good job of removing chemicals that may elicit health effe
Scientists at the University of Sheffield are part of an international team that has become the first to successfully discover how the component parts of photosynthesis fit together within the cell membrane. In a paper, The native architecture of a photosynthetic membrane, published in Nature on 26 August 2004, they describe how the configuration of the three structures that allow photosynthesis to occur fit together, and find that Mother Nature has developed a much more complex and effective
A traveler experiences jet lag when his or her internal clock becomes out-of-synch with the environment. Seasonal Affective Disorder, some types of depression, sleep disorders and problems adjusting to changes in work cycles all can occur when an individual’s biological clocks act up. Recent studies have even found links between these molecular time-pieces and cancer.
Microscopic pacemakers—also known as circadian clocks—are found in everything from pond scum to human beings and ap
Using a combination of imaging techniques, researchers have determined the mechanics that allow some viruses to invade cells by piercing their outer membranes and digesting their cell walls. The researchers combined their findings with earlier studies to create a near-complete scenario for that form of viral assault.
The results have a dual benefit: they show the inner workings of complex, viral nanomachines infecting cells (in a process nearly identical to some viral infections of
Researchers have coaxed RNA to self-assemble into 3-D arrays, a potential backbone for nanotech scaffolds. These RNA structures can form a wider variety of shapes than double-stranded DNA can and are easier to manipulate than many protein alternatives.
Peixuan Guo of Purdue University and his colleagues report the findings in the August 11, 2004, issue of the journal Nano Letters.
RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules are best known for implementing the genetic information en
The one-night-a-year spawning of massive star corals (Montastraea species) off of the Florida coast generates millions of infant corals, each of which has the potential to help replenish coral reefs that have undergone significant environmental damage in recent years.
Even so, the chance that these bundles of eggs and sperm released in early September will result in healthy new individuals capable of replenishing reefs depends on many factors, most importantly the establishment of sy
It was the first of the new-generation targeted therapies, and, in some ways, it remains the standard bearer. More women with breast cancer are treated with Herceptin, which was approved for use in 1998 after decades of development, than are patients using the newer targeted drugs that treat other cancers.
Herceptin can strike the most aggressive breast cancer that has spread with an effectiveness no chemotherapy agent has yet matched. And such help is much needed. Breast cancer is
Chemical cages deliver drugs and peer into cells
As our understanding of biology increases, the tools of research become almost as important as the researchers wielding them. Currently, one of the major obstacles to research is actually getting inside of cells and tissue to see what is going on as it happens.
At the University of Pennsylvania, researchers are caging molecules – xenon, gene-blocking strands of antisense DNA and even therapeutics – to facilitate their entry i
Compounds ’break bonds’ holding dangerous pollutants together
Everything from the manufacture of new materials to the creation of modern medications relies on chemicals known as metal-based catalysts. Catalysts pack a double punch: Even as they greatly increase the rate of chemical processes, they regenerate so they can be used again. Catalysts also can be designed to break or make powerful chemical bonds at one end of a molecule while leaving the other end to sit quietly inactive. For
A new study sheds light on the response to infection in people with type 2 diabetes. These individuals develop diabetes associated with obesity. Findings from this study revealed that controlling a specific protein produced by the body, known as a cytokine, reduces the expression of other molecules and helps control inflammation. This is significant because many complications associated with diabetes trigger an inflammatory response. Right now, type 2 diabetes affects over 17 million people in the
A plant called roseroot grows wild in Norway. Roseroot helps improve memory and the immune system and stabilizes cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Roseroot has been used in folk medicine for more than 3000 years, and grows throughout Norway
(University of Trondheim) NTNU’s Plant Biocentre in the Department of Biology has analysed the plant’s essential oils and volatile compounds. A test of the plant’s cancer prevention properties is also planned. The Norwegi
Scientists have determined the precise molecular structure of a potential new target for treating prostate cancer, a disease driven in part by abnormal testosterone activity. The target is part of the androgen receptor, a protein essential for testosterone to function in human cells. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.
The androgen receptor and testosterone – technically, 5-alpha dihydrotestosterone – each drive prostate cancer at different stages of the disease
Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of the National Institutes of Health, have created a database of information about a group of genes associated with multidrug resistance in cancerous tumors. The research, published in the August 24, 2004, issue of Cancer Cell*, details the gene expression of a 48-member family of proteins called ABC transporters. The NCI scientists identified associations between expression of individual ABC transporters in cancer cells and resistance to
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