Researchers have revealed a new molecular mechanism by which bacteria adhere to cellulose fibers in the human gut. Thanks to two different binding modes, they can withstand the shear forces in the body. Scientists of the University of Basel and ETH Zurich published their results in the journal “Nature Communications”. Cellulose is a major building block of plant cell walls, consisting of molecules linked together into solid fibers. For humans, cellulose is indigestible, and the majority of gut bacteria lack…
A protein that’s common throughout the body plays a key role in regulating glucose levels, says new research conducted in the Cell Signal Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Riken Center of Integrative Medical Sciences. Called CNOT3, this protein was found to silence a set of genes that would otherwise cause insulin-producing cells to malfunction, which is related to the development of diabetes. Diabetes is a common disorder that causes very high blood…
Stem cell technologies are revolutionizing the biomedical field. Scientists at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) in collaboration with research partners of the Cluster of Excellence “Multiscale Bioimaging” (MBExC) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease (DZNE) combined induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and their deep knowledge in the bioengineering of human organoids to for the first time bioengineer the human brain at the macroscale level with comprehensive network function. The so called Bioengineered Neuronal Organoids (BENOs) recapitulate important morphological…
Researchers from Kiel and Düsseldorf use the freshwater polyp Hydra as an example to investigate how environmental factors and microorganisms influence individual development All multicellular living beings are colonized by an unimaginably large number of microorganisms and have developed together with them from the very beginning of multicellular life. The natural microbiome, i.e. the totality of these bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in and on a body, is of fundamental importance for the entire organism: it supports, for example,…
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have discovered a metal-free carbon-based catalyst that has the potential to be much less expensive and more efficient for many industrial concerns, including manufacturing of bio- and fossil fuels, electrocatalysis, and fuel cells. At their most fundamental, these industry processes involve splitting strong chemical bonds, like hydrogen-hydrogen, carbon-oxygen, and carbon-hydrogen bonds. Traditionally this has been accomplished with catalysts that use transition or precious metals, many of them expensive and low in…
POPOVICH gene controlling development of nectar spur in Aquilegia The evolution of novel features – traits such as wings or eyes – helps organisms make the most use of their environment and promotes increased diversification among species. Understanding the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms involved in the origin of these traits is of great interest to evolutionary biologists. The flowering plant Aquilegia, a genus of 60-70 species found in temperate meadows, woodlands and mountain tops around the world, is known…
Team of the University of Tübingen studied how plants adapt to increasing drought Certain plant species can evolve very quickly under drought conditions. This means that the modified plant traits are genetically fixed and passed on to the next generation. A research team led by Professor Katja Tielbörger from the Institute of Evolution and Ecology, together with other colleagues from the University of Tübingen and the Universities of Hildesheim, Münster and Cologne, has shown this in a new study. However,…
There are up to a hundred different receptors on the surface of each cell in the human body. The cell uses these receptors to receive extracellular signals, which it then transmits to its interior. Such signals arrive at the cell in various forms, including as sensory perceptions, neurotransmitters like dopamine, or hormones like insulin. One of the most important signaling molecules the cell uses to transmit such stimuli to its interior, which then triggers the corresponding signaling pathways, is a…
Researchers in Siegen have developed the world’s first afterglow-magnetic nanoparticles. The patented invention is designed for various applications including cancer detection in medicine and the detection of fine particulates in living organisms. Researchers at the University of Siegen have developed the world’s first nanoparticles that feature both magnetic and afterglow properties. The potential for applications is enormous: For example, the novel particles could be used to discover cancer cells in patients or detect the concrete distribution of fine particulates in…
In cooperation with colleagues from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, researchers at Leipzig University have investigated the structure of tumour tissue and the behaviour of tumour cells in detail, gaining important insights that could improve cancer diagnosis and therapy in the future. They found out that during tumour development the way cells move can change from coordinated and collective to individual and chaotic behaviour. They have just published their research findings in the journal “Nature Cell Biology”. The paper was…
A team of researchers at University of Toronto Engineering and University of Michigan have modified an enzyme from bacteria to promote regrowth of nerve tissue. A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering and the University of Michigan has redesigned and enhanced a natural enzyme that shows promise in promoting the regrowth of nerve tissue following injury. Their new version is more stable than the protein that occurs in nature, and could lead to new treatments for reversing nerve…
Rice, UTHealth study adds details to mechanisms responsible for memory. A chameleonlike protein in neurons can change its mind, and in the process change our brains. Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) uncovered new clues in the protein CPEB3 as part of their dogged pursuit of the mechanism that allows humans to have long-term memories. The study by Rice theoretical biophysicist Peter Wolynes and Neal Waxham, a neurobiologist at UTHealth’s McGovern…
Model systems based on virus capsids have shown how large biomolecules are able to penetrate a cell nucleus / The larger the molecule, the more nuclear localization signals are needed A new study in the field of biophysics has revealed how large molecules are able to enter the nucleus of a cell. A team led by Professor Edward Lemke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has thus provided important insights into how some viruses, for example, can penetrate into the…
An international research team led by the University of Bern has succeeded in developing an electrocatalyst for hydrogen fuel cells which, in contrast to the catalysts commonly used today, does not require a carbon carrier and is therefore much more stable. The new process is industrially applicable and can be used to further optimize fuel cell powered vehicles without CO2 emissions. Fuel cells are gaining in importance as an alternative to battery-operated electromobility in heavy traffic, especially since hydrogen is…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology discovered that strigolactones, a class of novel plant hormones, mediate the fine-tuning of the production plant defensive substances in the stem of plants of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata. In a cooperation with partners in China and Korea, they found that strigolactones and their crosstalk with other hormones involved in plant defense were crucial for tobacco plants’ ability to tolerate insects that live inside the stem. Plants that are no…
Intestinal stem cells keep a fine balance between two potential forms: remaining as stem cells, or developing into intestinal epithelial cells. In a new study, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) discovered a novel molecular mechanism that regulates this balance and preserves the stemness of intestinal stem cells–that is, their ability to develop into any intestinal epithelial cell type. The inner lining of intestines, the intestinal epithelium, ensures adequate digestion and adsorption of nutrients. It is made up…
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