Exploiting an ingenious combination of photochemical (i.e., light-induced) reactions and self-assembly processes, a team led by Prof. Alberto Credi of the University of Bologna has succeeded in inserting a filiform molecule into the cavity of a ring-shaped molecule, according to a high-energy geometry that is not possible at thermodynamic equilibrium. In other words, light makes it possible to create a molecular “fit” that would otherwise be inaccessible. “We have shown that by administering light energy to an aqueous solution, a…
A team led by plant biotechnologist Prof Markus Schwarzländer from the University of Münster and biochemist Prof Bruce Morgan from Saarland University has developed new biosensors with which the ratio of NADPH to NADP⁺ can be measured in living cells in real time for the first time. Biological cells have many vital functions in the organism. For example, they produce proteins, carbohydrates and fats. But they are also responsible for detoxifying harmful molecules and transmitting signals and immune defence steps….
How deubiquitinases USP53 and USP54 cleave long polyubiquitin chains and how the former is linked to liver disease in children. Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are enzymes used by cells to trim protein modifications made from the protein ubiquitin, and thereby regulate proteins. Malfunctioning of DUBs could lead to diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. A protein called USP53 has been recently linked with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, a hereditary liver disease in children, yet its mechanism of action has remained elusive. While…
Conceptual blueprint to analyze experimental catalyst data. Machine learning (ML) models have recently become popular in the field of heterogeneous catalyst design. The inherent complexity of the interactions between catalyst components is very high, leading to both synergistic and antagonistic effects on catalyst yield that are difficult to disentangle. Therefore, the discovery of well-performing catalysts has long relied on serendipitous trial and error. BIFOLD researcher Parastoo Semnani from the Machine Learning group of BIFOLD Co-Director Klaus-Robert Müller and a team…
Antibody that Neutralizes Inhibitory Factors Involved in Nerve Regeneration Leads to Enhanced Motor Function after Acute Spinal Cord Injury. Researchers at 13 clinics in Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Spain have investigated this with promising results. For the first time, it was possible to identify patient groups that displayed a clinically relevant treatment effect. A follow-up study will start in December 2024. The latest study results have been published online in the renowned “The Lancet Neurology” journal. Joint press…
How the body’s natural killer cells could fight leukemia. Every year, some 13,000 people in Germany are diagnosed with leukemia. Despite intensive chemotherapy, around one in two of them die. Therapies currently available have severe side effects and inhibit the formation of new healthy blood cells in particular. One alternative is therapy concepts that harness the immune system’s natural power. It is important to note, however, that tumor cells have mechanisms capable of slowing down the immune cells’ attack. Professor…
… eco-friendly reactor converts air and water into ammonia. Producing enough ammonia to feed the world comes with a large carbon footprint;. process described in new UB-led study could help fix that. There’s a good chance you owe your existence to the Haber-Bosch process. This industrial chemical reaction between hydrogen and nitrogen produces ammonia, the key ingredient to synthetic fertilizers that supply much of the world’s food supply and enabled the population explosion of the last century. It may also…
Academic and industry scientists collaborate on a new method to characterize research antibodies. Structural Genomics Consortium researchers at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University, in collaboration with scientists from 11 major antibody manufacturers representing approximately 80 per cent of global renewable antibody production, have developed and standardized an Open Science platform to characterize research antibodies. This platform, designed to evaluate antibody specificity, aims to tackle a critical challenge in biomedical research reproducibility. Their approach was published in Nature…
Insights from the first global appraisal of microbiomes in earth’s subsurface environments. Which microbes thrive below us in darkness – in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor – and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop the Earth’s surfaces, on land and sea? The first global study to embrace this huge question, conducted at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, reveals astonishingly high microbial diversity in some subsurface environments (up to 491 meters…
Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin, the Faculty of Medicine at Kiel University, and the Leibniz Institute of Virology in Hamburg are jointly receiving funding of nearly one million euros as part of the “Leibniz Cooperative Excellence” program. The goal of the project is to unravel fundamental mechanisms of two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P channels) – with potential new therapeutic approaches for cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, central nervous system disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P…
Discovery could lead to new treatments for blood cancer patients currently facing limited options. Scientists at City of Hope®, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, have collared a tricky culprit that helps cancer cells evade CAR T cell therapy. CAR T cell therapy harnesses the immune system to seek out and kill…
UO researchers unravel the mechanism behind an unpleasant symptom of digestive problems. After a meal of questionable seafood or a few sips of contaminated water, bad bacteria can send your digestive tract into overdrive. Your intestines spasm and contract, efficiently expelling everything in the gut — poop and bacteria alike. A new study from the University of Oregon shows how one kind of bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, triggers those painful contractions by activating the immune system. The research also finds a…
… by turning on a protein that halts immune response. Researchers have also found that blocking the protein reactivates immune cell function, restoring the effectiveness of vaccines in an animal model. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections that can sometimes lead to sepsis and toxic shock syndrome. The microbe poses a significant threat to public health, made worse by the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) in recent years. According to…
Parahydrogen-enhanced magnetic resonance spectroscopy visualizes the process of [Fe]-hydrogenase catalysis. Microorganisms have long used hydrogen as an energy source. To do this, they rely on hydrogenases that contain metals such as nickel or iron in their catalytic center. In order to use these biocatalysts for hydrogen conversion, researchers around the world are working to understand the details of the catalysis process. A team from three Max Planck Institutes (MPI), the Center for Biostructural Imaging of Neurodegeneration (BIN) at the University…
Oregon State University researchers have synthesized new molecules able to quickly capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, an important tactic in climate change mitigation. The study, which focused on titanium peroxides, builds on their earlier research into vanadium peroxides. The research is part of large-scale federal effort to innovate new methods and materials for direct air capture, or DAC, of carbon dioxide, produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Findings of the research, led by May Nyman and…
Arrayed tungsten disulfide nanotubes pave way for new tech applications. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have made tungsten disulfide nanotubes which point in the same direction when formed, for the first time. They used a sapphire surface under carefully controlled conditions to form arrayed tungsten disulfide nanotubes, each consisting of rolled nanosheets, using chemical vapor deposition. The team’s technique resolves the long-standing issue of jumbled orientations in collected amounts of nanotubes, promising real world device applications for the exotic anisotropy…
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