MHH researcher Prof. Galardini from the RESIST Cluster of Excellence finds causes for bloodstream infections in the genes of bacteria. Escherichia coli bacteria live in the intestines of humans and play an important role there for normal intestinal function as well as for a functioning immune system. These intestinal inhabitants do not form a uniform population, but consist of a large number of strains that differ greatly in their genome and also in their metabolism. Most strains of E. coli…

New research in mice demonstrates how the signaling molecule somatostatin acts to dampen neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex and stimulate exploratory behavior. Somatostatin, a signaling molecule produced by many inhibitory neurons in the brain, broadly dampens communication among a variety of cell types in the prefrontal cortex and promotes exploratory and risk-taking-like behavior in mice, according a Penn State-led research team. Their new paper, published online today (August 17) in the journal Cell Reports, describes the signaling mechanism of…

Woody plants are unusually common on oceanic islands. Scientists at the University of Bayreuth, together with research partners in Italy, Great Britain, Norway and Spain, have now discovered a new explanation for this phenomenon: With the lignification of biomass, many plant species native to oceanic islands have protected themselves from the impact of frequent volcanic eruptions, during which large areas are covered with huge amounts of ash. Woody plants can survive even in ash layers of up to half a…

Surgeons at NYU Langone Health have transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney that continues to function well after 32 days in a man declared dead by neurologic criteria and maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support. This represents the longest period that a gene-edited pig kidney has functioned in a human, and the latest step toward the advent of an alternate, sustainable supply of organs for transplant. Multimedia Materials Available Multimedia materials, including photos and a B-roll package, are…

Forschung an Bakteriophagen enthüllt ein bislang unbekanntes biologisches Prinzip. Until now, RNA and proteins were thought to interact only briefly during cellular processes. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, have discovered that this is not the case. During their developmental cycle, bacterial viruses `glue` specific RNAs to host proteins. As the authors descibe in their publication in the journal “Nature”,`RNAylation` could open up new avenues for phage therapy or drug development. “Life is a…

UQ researchers have discovered that platelets secrete a protein that rejuvenates neurons in aged mice in a similar way to physical exercise. Pre-clinical trials by University of Queensland researchers have found an injection of a specific blood factor can replicate the benefits of exercise in the brain. Dr Odette Leiter and Dr Tara Walker from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute led a team which discovered platelets, the tiny blood cells critical for blood clotting, secrete a protein that rejuvenates neurons in aged mice in a similar…

The SMNDC1 gene controls key functions in the human body and is linked to diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Scientists in Stefan Kubicek’s research group at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have successfully pinpointed the exact location of the SMNDC1 protein within the cell nucleus and identified an inhibitor that opens up the potential for therapeutic applications of SMNDC1. The study has been published in Nature Communications. The protein SMNDC1 is…

Expensive noble metals often play a vital role in illuminating screens or converting solar energy into fuels. Now, chemists at the University of Basel have succeeded in replacing these rare elements with a significantly cheaper metal. In terms of their properties, the new materials are very similar to those used in the past. We’re familiar with chromium from everyday applications such as chromium steel in the kitchen or chrome-plated motorcycles. Soon, however, the element may also be found in the…

… to develop new nanotechnologies. Two molecular languages at the origin of life have been successfully recreated and mathematically validated, thanks to pioneering work by Canadian scientists at Université de Montréal. Published this week in the Journal of American Chemical Society, the breakthrough opens new doors for the development of nanotechnologies with applications ranging from biosensing, drug delivery and molecular imaging. Living organisms are made up of billions of nanomachines and nanostructures that communicate to create higher-order entities able to…

€ 10.4 Mio. for the “Leuna100” project. A consortium of two Fraunhofer institutes, DBI-Gastechnologisches Institut Freiberg, Technical University of Berlin and C1 makes industrial history at the Leuna site. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport over the next three years. The Berlin-based climate tech start-up C1, together with its partners the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, DBI-Gastechnologisches Institut gGmbH Freiberg…

…for advanced cell culture and personalized medicine. The team of Dr. Elisha Krieg at the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden has developed a dynamic DNA-crosslinked matrix (DyNAtrix) by combining classical synthetic polymers with programmable DNA crosslinkers. DNA’s highly specific and predictable binding gives researchers unparalleled control over key mechanical properties of the material. The findings published in Nature Nanotechnology August 7, 2023, are highly relevant to in vitro cell culture materials for biological research. In-vitro culture of biological cells…

A mathematical model provides new insights into the distribution of genetic information during bacterial cell division. The precise segregation of DNA and the faithful inheritance of plasmids are crucial steps in bacterial cell division. Now, a team of researchers led by Seán Murray at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology has developed a computational simulation that explains a key mechanism of DNA segregation. Their findings pave the way for experimental testing and reveal fundamental biochemical principles relevant to synthetic…

After a highly lauded research campaign that successfully redesigned a hepatitis C drug into one of the leading drug treatments for COVID-19, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are now turning their drug design approach toward cancer. In their latest study, published in the journal Communications Chemistry, the team used neutrons and x-rays to draw a roadmap of every atom, chemical bond and electrical charge inside a key enzyme that belongs to a metabolic pathway that cancer cells…

A technique that enables scientists to record gene mutations and patterns of gene activity in individual cells has been extended to cover RNA splicing as well, in a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, the New York Genome Center and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. A better understanding of how aberrations in this process affects the development and behavior of cells is critical to understanding cancer and other diseases. RNA splicing refers to the slicing up and reassembling of the…

City of Hope scientists uncover new active regions on cell surface receptor, expanding scope for drug targets to treat heart disease. Finding could lead to a new class of drugs to address cardiovascular side effects of some cancer therapies. FINDINGS Scientists at City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, have uncovered new molecular targets on a cell receptor that play…

Using a novel approach of precision neuroimaging and high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), neuroscientists and physicists at MPI CBS in Leipzig (Germany) and anatomist Menno Witter from the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Trondheim (Norway) have now ventured into the depths of the human memory system. They discovered previously unknown cortical networks and shed light on the anatomical organization of the human memory system. Their findings were recently published in the prestigious journal “Neuron”. How can the amazing…