Bringing the smallest protein clusters into focus. Penn Engineers have pioneered a new way to visualize the smallest protein clusters, skirting the physical limitations of light-powered microscopes and opening new avenues for detecting the proteins implicated in diseases like Alzheimer’s and testing new treatments. In a paper in Cell Systems, Lukasz Bugaj, Assistant Professor in Bioengineering, describes the creation of CluMPS, or Clusters Magnified by Phase Separation, a molecular tool that activates by forming conspicuous blobs in the presence of…
Lung tumors called adenocarcinomas sometimes respond to initially effective treatments by transforming into a much more aggressive small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that spreads rapidly and has few options for treatment. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a mouse model that illuminates this problematic process, known as histological transformation. The findings advance the understanding of how mutated genes can trigger cancer evolution and suggest targets for more effective treatments. The researchers, whose results were published Feb. 8 in Science, discovered that…
Unchanged over millions of years. They have a striking shape, are diurnal, predatory insects and occur only in the Northern Hemisphere. Snakeflies (Raphidioptera), also known as camel-neck flies, have gained further notoriety with the selection of the Black-necked Snakefly as “Insect of the Year 2022” in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Nevertheless, these dainty representatives of the Neuropterida are often overlooked. Scientists from Frankfurt, Müncheberg and Vienna have now sequenced the entire genome of a snakefly for the first time. The…
Efficient process holds promise for greener chemical production. Engineers at the University of Cincinnati created a more efficient way of converting carbon dioxide into valuable products while simultaneously addressing climate change. In his chemical engineering lab in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, Associate Professor Jingjie Wu and his team found that a modified copper catalyst improves the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into ethylene, the key ingredient in plastic and a myriad of other uses. Ethylene has been…
As plants are sessile organisms, they must be highly flexible in their ability to adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions in order to survive. Researchers from the Department of Plant Physiology at the RPTU Kaiserslautern are investigating plant adaptation mechanisms, particularly to abiotic stress factors such as light intensity or temperature. They have now reached a new milestone: PhD student Annalisa John has used the model plant thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) in her research work to decode which…
A research team from the Department of Chemistry at the Universität Hamburg has succeeded for the first time in identifying at the molecular level the dynamic mechanism used by the enzyme RNase R to degrade the ribosomal 30S subunit. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal “Nature”. Protein synthesis is a vital and energy-intensive process in the cell in which ribosomes play a crucial role. These comparatively large molecules are found in all living organisms and…
For decades it has been an open question in the ubiquitin research field how proteins are labeled as being defective or unneeded. In their recent study Brenda Schulman, Director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry, and Gary Kleiger, Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at University of Las Vegas Nevada, together with their teams were able to visualize this precise mechanism, catalyzed by the Cullin-RING Ligase E3s, for the first time. In an interview Brenda Schulman told us…
Researchers unveil how the self-killing activity of bacteria can be harnessed in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new approach to controlling bacterial infections. The findings were described in the February 6 online issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology [DOI # 10.1038/s41594-024-01220-x]. The team found a way to turn on a vital bacterial defense mechanism to fight and manage bacterial infections. The defense system, called cyclic oligonucleotide-based…
A collaborative effort from teams across Penn culminates in new techniques to repair lung tissue after damage from flu and COVID-19. In the human body, the lungs and their vasculature can be likened to a building with an intricate plumbing system. The lungs’ blood vessels are the pipes essential for transporting blood and nutrients for oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal. Much like how pipes can get rusty or clogged, disrupting normal water flow, damage from respiratory viruses, like SARS-CoV-2…
A small RNA modulates the growth of the microbes. Researchers from the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) deployed CRISPR interference for the first time for the functional characterization of the gut mutualist Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. They identified a small ribonucleic acid (sRNA) that modulates the microorganisms’ growth in the presence of bile. The findings should contribute to a better understanding of the bacterium’s lifestyle in its native environment, the human intestine, and to the development of clinical applications….
Researchers Find That a Protein Superglue is Crucial for DNA Damage Repair. Our DNA undergoes constant damage and repair. The most severe damage happens when the DNA breaks into two pieces, known as a double-strand DNA break. It creates two loose DNA ends that, if left unfixed, can lead to cell death. Researchers from the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) of the Dresden University of Technology have now answered the long-standing question of what keeps the broken DNA ends from being separated….
A healthy liver is capable of completely regenerating itself. Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) and the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) have now identified the growth factor MYDGF (Myeloid-Derived Growth Factor), which is important for this regenerative capacity. In cooperation with the Hannover Medical School and the University Medical Center Mainz, they also showed that higher levels of MYDGF can be detected in the blood of patients following partial removal of the liver. In the…
Pinpointing changes to our genetic instructions that disrupt development. Researchers find a vulnerability within our genomes that can cause developmental defects such as extra fingers and heart disorders. Our genomes provide the instructions for proper growth and development. Millions of genomic switches, known as enhancers, control the location and timing of gene expression, which in turn ensures the correct proteins are made in the right cells at the right time throughout our lives. New research from University of California San…
ISTA Researchers Uncover the Architecture of Poxvirus Cores. A recent re-emergence and outbreak of Mpox brought poxviruses back as a public health threat, underlining an important knowledge gap at their core. Now, a team of researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) lifted the mysteries of poxviral core architecture by combining various cryo-electron microscopy techniques with molecular modeling. The findings, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, could facilitate future research on therapeutics targeting the poxvirus core….
A first success in the Excellence Strategy competition. Within the framework of the University Alliance Ruhr, the three universities in Duisburg-Essen, Dortmund and Bochum jointly advanced their research strategically, for example by establishing the joint Research Center One Health Ruhr. The University of Duisburg-Essen and its partner universities’ excellent water research is part of this Research Center and has now prevailed in the first round of the two-stage competition as part of the Excellence Strategy from the federal and state…
In a Europe-wide study involving 15 pancreas centers, researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have discovered that the microbial composition of the gut, the gut microbiome, influences the course of severe acute pancreatitis. Based on the changes in the gut microbiome, a prediction model was developed to predict the severity of pancreatitis. The results could contribute to new treatment strategies. They published in the renowned journal Gut. Severe acute pancreatitis is a life-threatening disease that requires highly specialized…
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