Max Planck researchers and their collaborators reveal transformation of colon organoids in vitro. Escherichia coli bacteria are constitutive members of the human gut microbiota. However, some strains produce a genotoxin called colibactin, which is implicated in the development of colorectal cancer. While it has been shown that colibactin leaves very specific changes in the DNA of host cells that can be detected in colorectal cancer cells, such cancers take many years to develop, leaving the actual process by which a…
Predator-prey relationships between bacteria could provide ideas for new antibacterial strategies. These observations might be useful for the future development of new antibacterial strategies. The team reports in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology on 12 February 2021. Bacterial groups in search of food We commonly know predator-prey relationships from the animal kingdom, but they are also a survival strategy of certain bacteria: bacterial predators actively kill bacteria of other species in order to feed on them. The predatory species…
Measure what fuses The Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 enters human cells by membrane fusion after contact of its spike protein with the ACE2 receptor. New studies provide proof for a second role of the protein in COVID-19: Fusion of body cells. A research team of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has developed promising assays of how to measure these membrane functions. Smallest amounts of spike protein present in cell culture suffice to allow infected and non-infected cells to fuse and die. Virus particles with spike…
A research team led by Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne investigated the genetic regulation of spike development in barley and wheat. As reported in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), they discovered different barley mutants with wheat-like spikes. In plants, the ‘meristem’ refers to a type of tissue…
Researchers at University of Münster and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry have developed a method for determining the arrangement and density of individual proteins in cells. In this way, they were able to prove the existence of an adhesion complex consisting of three proteins. Cells of organisms are organized in subcellular compartments that consist of many individual molecules. How these single proteins are organized on the molecular level remains unclear, because suitable analytical methods are still missing. Researchers at…
Lipids are the building blocks of a cell’s envelope – the cell membrane. In addition to their structural function, some lipids also play a regulatory role and decisively influence cell growth. This has been investigated in a new study by scientists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The impact of the lipids depends on how they are distributed over the plasma membrane. The study was published in “The Plant Cell”. If plant cells want to move, they need to grow….
Knowledge on how cells communicate is an important key to understanding many biological systems and diseases. A research team led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg has now used a unique combination of methods to map the mechanism behind cellular communication. Their findings can potentially improve understanding of the underlying mechanism behind type 2 diabetes. We know that human communication is important, but communication between the cells in our bodies is just as vital. The processes where cells synchronize…
Brain enzyme activates dormant neural stem cells Researchers studying an enzyme in fruit fly larvae have found that it plays an important role in waking up brain stem cells from their dormant ‘quiescent’ state, enabling them to proliferate and generate new neurons. Published in the journal EMBO Reports, the study by Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, could help clarify how some neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and microcephaly occur. Quiescent neural stem cells in the fruit fly larval brainPr-set7 is an…
Molecular blueprint for important receptor deciphered In order for a drug to be effective at the right places in the body, it helps if scientists can predict as accurately as possible how the molecules of that drug will interact with human cells. In a joint research project, scientists from Collaborative Research Centre 1423 at Leipzig University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai have succeeded in elucidating such a structure, namely that of the neuropeptide Y receptor Y2 with…
A new method has enabled the natural structure of particularly large and complex enzymes to be revealed. Scientists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and TU Berlin have published their findings in the journal “Cell Reports”. They investigated a multi-enzyme complex that plays an essential role in metabolism and have discovered that it functions differently than previously thought. This will help scientists better understand certain diseases. Enzymes are a cell’s biocatalysts. They accelerate chemical reactions in the body or ensure…
In a recent study, an international team of researchers including TUD botanist Prof. Stefan Wanke has investigated the origin of the mega-diversity of herbivorous insects. These account for a quarter of terrestrial diversity. The results of the study were recently published in the international journal Nature Communications. There the scientists show that the evolutionary success of insects may be linked to recurrent changes in host plants. Understanding the interaction of organisms in the evolution of species is an important topic…
Researchers from the University of Ottawa have discovered that plants may be able to control the genetics of their intimate root symbionts – the organism with which they live in symbiosis – thereby providing a better understanding of their growth. In addition to having a significant impact on all terrestrial ecosystems, their discovery may lead to improved eco-friendly agricultural applications. We talked to research lead Nicolas Corradi, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and Research Chair in Microbial Genomics…
A new technique developed by Brown University researchers reveals the forces involved at the cellular level during biological tissue formation and growth processes. The technique could be useful in better understanding how these processes work, and in studying how they may respond to environmental toxins or drug therapies. As described in the journal Biomaterials, the technique makes use of cell-sized spheres made from a highly compliant polymer material, which can be placed in laboratory cultures of tissue-forming cells. As the…
UCC palaeontologists have discovered new evidence that the fate of vertebrate animals over the last 400 million years has been shaped by microscopic melanin pigments. UCC palaeontologists have discovered new evidence that the fate of vertebrate animals over the last 400 million years has been shaped by microscopic melanin pigments. This new twist in the story of animal evolution is based on cutting-edge analyses of melanin granules – melanosomes – in many different fossil and modern vertebrates, including fish, amphibians,…
Competition among sperm cells is fierce – they all want to reach the egg cell first to fertilize it. A research team from Berlin now shows in mice that the ability of sperm to move progressively depends on the protein RAC1. Optimal amounts of active protein improve the competitiveness of individual sperm, whereas aberrant activity can cause male infertility. It is literally a race for life when millions of sperm swim towards the egg cells to fertilize them. But does…
Research project He has been in hibernation since October and seemingly nothing can wake him up. But his inner clock is ticking, inevitably signalling the approaching end of the winter. For the edible dormouse (Glis glis), hibernation is an adaptive mechanism to deal with the cold season when food is scarce. But what effect does the months-long slowdown of almost all metabolic processes have on the little rodent’s memory, spatial orientation and cognition? A team of researchers led by Claudia…
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