At the water’s edge: Scientists find a simple way to produce heterolayer coordination nanosheets, expanding the diversity of 2D materials. The past few decades have witnessed a great amount of research in the field of two-dimensional (2D) materials. As the name implies, these thin film-like materials are composed of layers that are only a few atoms thick. Many of the chemical and physical properties of 2D materials can be fine-tuned, leading to promising applications in many fields, including optoelectronics, catalysis,…

Research on bacteria: Researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt, together with teams from the universities of Marburg and Basel, have shed light on the atomic structure of a bacterial protein that stores hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In 2013, a team of microbiologists led by Professor Volker Müller from Goethe University Frankfurt discovered an unusual enzyme in a heat-loving (thermophilic) bacterium: the hydrogen-dependent CO2 reductase HDCR. It produces formic acid (formate) from gaseous hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), and in the…

Experimental approach could uncover new treatment options for the virus, which is highly prevalent in Western Africa. Scripps Research in collaboration with the La Jolla Institute for Immunology have used a novel strategy to identify and study host cell proteins that contribute to multiplication of Lassa virus, a virus that causes a severe hemorrhagic fever disease. The discovery could lead to potential new drug targets for treating the disease. Lassa virus (LASV) is highly prevalent in Western Africa. The virus…

New measles, Nipah research offers a window into viral assembly. Paramyxoviruses have the potential to trigger a devastating pandemic. This family of viruses includes measles, Nipah virus, mumps, Newcastle disease and canine distemper. “The infectiousness of measles is unmatched by any known virus. If one person with measles coughs in a room with 100 unvaccinated people, around 90 would become infected,” says Michael Norris, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral associate at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and current assistant professor…

The understudied transcription factor RFX7 has a central role in growth and cancer. Proteins that are frequently altered in tumors play a prominent role in cancer research. The protein RFX7, a largely unknown transcription factor, has recently been linked to lymph node cancer. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena have now partially elucidated the function of this protein. RFX7 acts as a tumor suppressor and counteracts the development of cancer. Once activated,…

… with significantly improved production rate. Enhancement four times the conventional production rate, 100 times the durability compared to conventional commercial electrodes. High potential use for LOHC hydrogen reservoir. “Carbon dioxide as a resource” and “hydrogen energy utilization” are considered to be the most practical measures to realize carbon neutrality. However, technological innovation is essential for them to be feasible both environmentally and economically. To this end, a Korean research team developed a proprietary technology that harnesses the synergy of…

The findings represent an important step toward cell therapies to restore sensation in people with spinal cord injuries. Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed a first-of-its-kind roadmap detailing how stem cells become sensory interneurons — the cells that enable sensations like touch, pain and itch. The study, conducted using embryonic stem cells from mice, also identified a method for producing all types of sensory interneurons in the laboratory. If…

While Omicron variants of the pandemic coronavirus ratchet up immune evasion, study suggests current boosters intensify protections against serious infection. Although Omicron subvariants of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic coronavirus have evolved to evade antibody responses from the primary COVID-19 vaccine series, a new laboratory study suggests current vaccine boosters may elicit sufficient immune protection against severe Omicron-induced COVID-19 disease. The project assessed a comprehensive panel of vaccines available in the United States and around the world, as well as immunity acquired…

Scientific advancements have often been held back by the need for high volumes of data, which can be costly, time-consuming, and sometimes difficult to collect. But there may be a solution to this problem when investigating how our bodies fight illness: a new machine learning method called “MotifBoost.” This approach can help interpret data from T-cell receptors (TCRs) in identifying past infections to specific pathogens. By focusing on a collection of short sequences of amino acids in the TCRs, a…

… as efficient proton conductor at high temperatures. Researchers develop a highly symmetric ruthenium (III) complex with six imidazole-imidazolate groups for efficient high-temperature proton conduction in fuel cells. As the world is moving towards more environment-friendly and sustainable sources of energy, fuel cells are receiving a lot of attention. The main advantage of fuel cells is that they use hydrogen, a clean fuel, and produce only water as a by-product while generating electricity. This new and clean source of electricity…

Researchers develop approach to leverage the function of an elusive small satellite DNA molecule and to harness its immune defense powers. Since first discovered in the 1980s, retrons have puzzled researchers who simply wanted to know what these bacterial DNA sequences actually did. Now, EMBL scientists have identified that some retrons encode toxin proteins, which they keep inactive with the help of a small DNA fragment. When a bacterial virus (phage) attacks bacteria, the small DNA can sense the attack…

Eyes of mice lacking protective protein show signs similar to age-related macular degeneration. Loss of the protein pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), which protects retinal support cells, may drive age-related changes in the retina, according to a new study in mice from the National Eye Institute (NEI). The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, and aging-associated diseases of the retina, like age-related macular degeneration (AMD), can lead to blindness. This new finding could lead to therapies…

… in the human brain throughout life provide new insights into brain plasticity and other functions, according to Penn Medicine researchers. Analysis also shows severe reduction of these neurons in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease. A team led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has used advanced techniques to show that, in a key memory region of the brain called the hippocampus, immature, plastic neurons are present in significant numbers throughout…

Study reveals how clown anemonefish adjust their growth to their environments. Research has shown how clown anemonefish control their growth to match the size of their anemone host. Scientists from Newcastle and Boston Universities investigated the relationship between the size of the fish and the size of the anemone by pairing clown anemonefish with anemones of various sizes in a series of lab experiments. They found that that fish on larger anemones grow faster than fish on smaller anemones. The…

Scientists discover evolutionary origin of the body axis. A new study describes the formation of the body axis in the immortal freshwater polyp Hydra. It is controlled by the so-called hippo signaling pathway, a molecular biological process that, among other functions, ensures that our organs do not continue to grow indefinitely. The study was led by the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto and the Washington University School of Medicine. The Department of Zoology of the University of Innsbruck, Austria, was…

When different cell types compete in a confined space, those which remove debris faster have a better chance to dominate their environment. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) showed in their model that not only a higher net proliferation rate, but also the swift removal of dead cells provides a competitive advantage. They mixed two cell populations only differing in debris removal rate and showed that already after a few generations the population with the…