Fluorescence is a fascinating natural phenomenon. It is based on the fact that certain materials can absorb light of a certain wavelength and then emit light of a different wavelength. Fluorescent materials play an important role in our everyday lives, for example in modern screens. Due to the high demand for applications, science is constantly striving to produce new and easily accessible molecules with high fluorescence efficiency. Chemist Professor Evamarie Hey-Hawkins from Leipzig University and her colleagues have specialised in…

… a further advance in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Scientists led by Nobel Laureate Stefan Hell at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg have developed a super-resolution microscope with a spatio-temporal precision of one nanometer per millisecond. An improved version of their recently introduced MINFLUX super-resolution microscopy allowed tiny movements of single proteins to be observed at an unprecedented level of detail: the stepping motion of the motor protein kinesin-1 as it walks along microtubules while consuming ATP….

The first-ever molecular catalyst specifically tailored for mechanochemical reaction conditions enables high-efficiency transformations at near room temperature. Chemists at Hokkaido University and the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD) have developed the first high-performance catalyst specifically designed and optimized for solid-state, mechanochemical synthesis. The team found that by attaching long polymer molecules to a metal catalyst, they could trap the catalyst in a fluid-phase, which enabled efficient reactivity at near room temperature. This approach, reported in the Journal…

PET, the plastic used to make bottles, for example, is ubiquitous in our natural environment. In a joint study, scientists from Leipzig University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) investigated the negative effects that tiny plastic PET particles can have on the metabolism and development of an organism. Their findings have now been published in the journal “Scientific Reports”. The increasing use of plastic is threatening ecosystems around the world. One of the big concerns is the presence…

The accumulation of the metabolite fumarate in the mitochondrion, the powerhouse of a cell, can cause inflammation associated with diseases such as cancer and autoimmune diseases / Publication in Nature. A new study shows for the first time a connection between a mitochondrial metabolite and the activation of an inflammatory response. Mitochondria are functional units of our cells that fulfil important tasks, i.e. chemical reactions, for the functioning of the cell. One of these tasks is the production of energy…

The pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus escapes elimination from surface cells of the human lung by binding to a human protein. In doing so, it is able to nest in so called phagosomes, confined areas in the lung cells, and thus prevents cell processes that would kill the fungus from being set in motion. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) have thus discovered a possible new target against the fungal infection. Aspergillus fumigatus is…

Research team from Kiel University describes unknown defence mechanism in bacteria that selectively wards off foreign and potentially harmful genetic information. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the particularly rapid evolutionary adaptability of microorganisms such as bacteria or viruses has been brought into the public spotlight. For example, when viruses develop the ability to infect new host organisms or bacteria develop antibiotic resistance, the uptake of new genetic information from other microorganisms allows them to quickly express evolutionarily advantageous traits. Bacteria, for…

… for electroreduction CO2 toward formate. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to value-added chemical feedstocks has been deemed as an intriguing way to achieve carbon neutrality while alleviating fossil fuel depletion. Moreover, among all the reduction products, formate reveals the most promising prospect for large-scale industrial applications due to the high selectivity and uncomplicated two-electron transfer process. Notably, Bi-based materials have trigged significant attention in conversion CO2 to formate on account of their low toxicity, low price, and environmental benignity….

The simultaneous recording of height profiles, currents and frictional forces at solid-liquid interfaces allows exciting insights into electrocatalytically active materials. To manage the energy transition, it will also be important to rapidly develop cheap and efficient materials that can be used to split water or CO2 by electrocatalysis. In this process, part of the electrical energy is stored in the chemical reaction products. The efficiency of such electrocatalysts depends largely on the nature of the electrode-electrolyte interfaces, i.e. the interfaces…

Sex differences exist in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Current studies indicate for instance that female mammals, including humans, are better protected against metabolic diseases during reproductive age. This is particularly important with regard to obesity, whose prevalence has tripled since 1975. However, it is still not fully understood how hormones, released by sex-specific reproductive glands, signal to the brain to regulate energy metabolism in females versus males. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich pursued the question and discovered a new protein…

In a study, published Mar. 8 in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Jason Spector, professor of surgery (plastic surgery) at Weill Cornell Medicine and chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and his colleagues report the development of a nipple reconstruction technique using a 3D-printed scaffold made of a polymer already widely used in surgical devices. Then, they demonstrate in a preclinical model that the dissolvable scaffold and…

… helps trace chemicals in complex mixtures. An international team of scientists led by Tomáš Pluskal from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) has introduced a new generation of software enabling scientists to analyze large volumes of data from mass spectrometry, a technique that separates chemicals by their weights. The open-source project MZmine provides a new window into the chemical space that surrounds us and lives within. The latest advances in…

… to aid research on aging and impact of long spaceflights. Note: Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers Deok-Ho Kim and Devin Mair will participate in a NASA teleconference for journalists on Tuesday, March 14, at 11 a.m. ET. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are collaborating with NASA to send human heart “tissue-on-a-chip” specimens into space as early as March. The project is designed to monitor the tissue for changes in heart muscle cells’ mitochondria (their power supply) and ability to contract in…

When mice are exposed to chronically low levels of oxygen, similar to those experienced at 4,500 meters of elevation, their metabolism changes. Compared to those of us who live at sea level, the 2 million people worldwide who live above 4,500 meters (or 14,764 feet) of elevation—about the height of Mount Rainier, Mount Whitney, and many Colorado and Alaska peaks—have lower rates of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity. Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes have…

An international team with researchers from the University of Bayreuth presents a potentially groundbreaking discovery for nitrogen chemistry in “Nature Chemistry”. For the first time, a compound containing aromatic rings of nitrogen atoms has been synthesized. The compound of nitrogen and potassium was produced under extremely high pressures and temperatures. It has a very complex structure, but its major building block is the planar ring of six nitrogen atoms, which is called hexazine anion, as it has a negative charge….

… developed for humidity-resistance hydrogen sulfide sensor. A research team led by Prof. MENG Gang, from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) used polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in the research of high-performance humidity-resistance hydrogen sulfide (H2S) sensors, offering an avenue for the practical applications of H2S chemiresistors in an ambient humid air atmosphere. The results were published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and Chemical Communication, respectively. H2S is a colorless, flammable, explosive, highly corrosive, and highly toxic gas, which widely…