Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes (MPI) for Evolutionary Biology in Plön and for Biology in Tübingen have made significant progress in understanding the evolution of interactions between plants and microbes. The study focusses on Pseudomonas syringae, a globally distributed plant pathogen, and in this instance the harm done to kiwifruit production. Outbreak of a new lineage of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidae (Psa) has caused devastating plant disease in kiwifruit worldwide. The disease is a major limiting factor for kiwifruit…
TREM2, a receptor on the surface of macrophages, could play an important role in atherosclerosis. A publication in Nature Cardiovascular Research from the University Hospital Würzburg (UKW) and the Medical University of Vienna investigates the mechanisms by which the receptor TREM2 affects atherosclerosis and a possible therapeutic approach using an agonistic TREM2 antibody. Würzburg/Wien. Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease of the blood vessel wall. Deposits of lipids, especially cholesterol, drive the formation of plaques in the innermost layer of arteries….
For the first time, scientists from the University of Cologne (UoC) have developed artificial nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, with several additional properties in the laboratory. They could be used as artificial nucleic acids for therapeutic applications / publication in ‘Journal of the American Chemical Society’. The DNA carries the genetic information of all living organisms and consists of only four different building blocks, the nucleotides. Nucleotides are composed of three distinctive parts: a sugar molecule, a phosphate group…
When a child falls off her bike and scrapes her knee, skin stem cells rush to the rescue, growing new epidermis to cover the wound. But only some of the stem cells that will ultimately patch her up are normally dedicated to replenishing the epidermis that protects her body. Others are former hair follicle stem cells, which usually promote hair growth but respond to the more urgent needs of the moment, morphing into epidermal stem cells to bolster local ranks…
A protein that appears in postsynaptic protein agglomerations has been found to be crucial to their formation. The Kobe University discovery identifies a new key player for synaptic function and sheds first light on its hitherto uncharacterized cellular role and evolution. What happens at the synapse, the connection between two neurons, is a key factor in brain function. The transmission of the signal from the presynaptic to the postsynaptic neuron is mediated by proteins and their imbalance can lead to…
A new method could help design drugs to treat them. Helicases are enzymes that unwind DNA and RNA. They’re central to cellular life, implicated in a number of cancers and infections—and, alas, extraordinarily difficult to target with drugs. Now, new research provides a powerful platform for designing covalent inhibitors tailored to target helicases. The paper, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, describes how researchers used this innovative new platform to design molecules that take aim at helicases involved in…
Discovery of growth cone in migrating neurons involved in promoting neuronal migration and regeneration in the brain after injury. Migrating neurons possess a growth cone that shares functions with axonal growth cones and regulates neuronal migration by interaction with the extracellular environment. The structure and functions of the tip of migrating neurons remain elusive. Here, a research group led by Kazunobu Sawamoto, Professor at Nagoya City University and National Institute for Physiological Sciences, and by Chikako Nakajima and Masato Sawada,…
A research team at the MHH is comparing changes in natural killer cells of the innate immune defence system in chronic hepatitis C sufferers as a risk factor for the later development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant liver tumour that develops from degenerated liver cells. HCC usually develops in a severely damaged liver, in which the tissue is destroyed and scarred. Such liver cirrhosis is caused, among other things, by an infection with the hepatitis…
… using an evolutionary ‘copy-paste’ tactic. Plasmodium falciparum, a malaria parasite, uses gene conversion to produce genetic diversity in two surface protein genes targeted by the human immune system. By dissecting the genetic diversity of the most deadly human malaria parasite – Plasmodium falciparum – researchers at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have identified a mechanism of ‘copy-paste’ genetics that increases the genetic diversity of the parasite at accelerated time scales. This helps solve a long-standing mystery regarding why the…
Cancer cells are characterized by their aggressiveness: they grow rapidly and spread to other parts of the body. To enable this, numerous mechanisms come into play, and one of them involves a protein called MYC, which activates certain genes on the cancer cell’s DNA strand, causing the cancer cell to grow and divide. The MYC protein is also present in healthy individuals, where it plays a crucial role in regulating many cell functions. – When cancer occurs, it is due…
How fungi improve their ability to infect insects. Researchers at the Kiel Evolution Center investigate for the first time in detail how a fungus important for biological plant protection can pass on an advantageous chromosome horizontally, using a previously little-studied way of exchanging genetic information. Sustainable plant protection measures that are not based on chemical pesticides rely on various organisms and biological agents to protect crops from pests. Such organisms used for biological plant protection are, for example, microscopic fungi…
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, within the Department of Theoretical Biology, characterized a recently discovered dynamical regime of microbial communities and used it to explain empirical patterns of marine plankton. There, strong and diverse interactions, combined with weak dispersal, fuel a continuous turnover of the small set of very abundant species, such that success is ephemeral and every species is equivalent in alternating between rarity and dominance. Scientists at the Research Group for Dynamics…
Researchers investigated how stress hormones affect the early development of brain cells in the cerebral cortex of fetus. The cortex is the crucial area of the brain for thinking. A team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry was able to demonstrate causal links between stress hormones and altered brain structure which relate to higher level of educational attainment later in life. The hormone group of glucocorticoids is crucial for the regulation of our metabolism and immune response, but also…
A globally distributed single-celled organism that occurs in harmful algal blooms has been found to exhibit an unusual organisation of photosynthesis. Researchers at the University of Oldenburg (Germany) have taken a closer look at the unusual cell biology of the species Prorocentrum cordatum from the group of dinoflagellates. The results of their study, published in the journal Plant Physiology, could help to better understand the role of the species in the environment and the increased occurrence of algal blooms at…
…sets the stage for regenerative therapy. The study marks a stepping stone towards the long-term goal of regenerating human limbs after amputation—and could one day even give snakes back their legs. In a collaborative study, researchers from Kyushu University and Harvard Medical School have identified proteins that can turn or “reprogram” fibroblasts — the most commonly found cells in skin and connective tissue — into cells with similar properties to limb progenitor cells. Publishing in Developmental Cell, the researchers’ findings have enhanced our understanding…
In a new Nature Communications study, Columbia Engineering researchers report that they have built highly conductive, tunable single-molecule devices in which the molecule is attached to leads by using direct metal-metal contacts. Their novel approach uses light to control the electronic properties of the devices and opens the door to broader use of metal-metal contacts that could facilitate electron transport across the single-molecule device. The challenge As devices continue to shrink, their electronic components must also be miniaturized. Single-molecule devices, which…
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