The breakthrough advance could lead to a novel, drug-free therapeutic that can slow, possibly stop, the growth of cancer cells. A multi-institutional research team has designed nanoparticles that can communicate with and slow the development of cancer cells. The work — detailed in a newly published paper in Advanced Materials — has uncovered a novel framework for the potential development of drug-free cancer therapies. Led by scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY (CUNY ASRC),…

Rethinking the formation and growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), key contributors to harmful soot particles formed during fuel combustion and the smallest dust grains in interstellar matter, is helping KAUST researchers to develop greener and more efficient combustion processes, while also shedding light on interstellar evolution. Several pathways are proposed to explain how these large organic molecules form. These typically involve a cascade of chemical reactions that assist in removing hydrogen atoms from aromatic compounds — organic compounds comprising…

New tool offers ways to improve CRISPR gene-editing method. The ability to edit the genome by altering the DNA sequence inside a living cell is powerful for research and holds enormous promise for the treatment of diseases. However, existing genome editing technologies frequently result in unwanted mutations or can fail to introduce any changes at all. These problems have kept the field from reaching its full potential. Now, new research from the laboratory of Princeton University researcher Britt Adamson, conducted…

Every day, the human kidneys clean about 1,500 liters of blood by producing approximately 1–2 liters of urine. Thereby, the body gets rid of excess water and toxic waste products of the metabolism or also drugs and maintains the balance of water and minerals in the tissues. While waiting for kidney transplantation, patients with chronic kidney failure must be treated regularly with dialysis that cleanses the body of fluid and deleterious substances. Peritoneal dialysis, which can be done at home…

Researchers from Nara Institute of Science and Technology find that the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis can not only degrade petroleum-based plastics but can also sustainably produce biodegradable plastics. Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time. The accumulation of petroleum-based plastics is having devastating effects on our environment, wildlife and human health. In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Nara Institute of Science and Technology revealed a bacterium that is not only able…

Without enzymes, an organism would not be able to survive. It is these biocatalysts that facilitate a whole range of chemical reactions, producing the building blocks of the cells. Enzymes are also used widely in biotechnology and in our households, where they are used in detergents, for example. To describe metabolic processes facilitated by enzymes, scientists refer to what is known as the Michaelis-Menten equation. The equation describes the rate of an enzymatic reaction depending on the concentration of the…

MHH study develops reference tool for blood tests. Lymphocytes belong to the white blood cells. They consist of several subgroups with different tasks in immune defence. Which and how many lymphocytes are in the blood provides information about our current state of health as well as congenital or acquired immune deficiencies. This composition in the blood can be determined precisely with the help of the most modern flow cytometry. What has been missing until now, however, were reference ranges to…

This new method from UNC School of Medicine researvchers Klaus Hahn and Tim Elston, has the potential to super-charge the study of human proteins as they interact and change their conformations in fundamentally important ways in human health and disease. Understanding how proteins bend, twist, and shape-shift as they go about their work in cells is enormously important for understanding normal biology and diseases. But a deep understanding of protein dynamics has generally been elusive due to the lack of…

Swiss and German scientists show that activation of the immune system oscillates throughout the day, with a peak just before the start of the day. Circadian clocks, which regulate most of the physiological processes of living beings over a rhythm of about 24 hours, are one of the most fundamental biological mechanisms. By deciphering the cell migration mechanisms underlying the immune response, scientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in Switzerland, and the Ludwigs-Maximilians University (LMU), in Germany, have shown…

A discovery of how to build little blocks out of DNA and get them to stick to lipids has implications for biosensing and mRNA vaccines. Scientists have worked out how to best get DNA to communicate with membranes in our body, paving the way for the creation of ‘mini biological computers’ in droplets that have potential uses in biosensing and mRNA vaccines. UNSW’s Dr Matthew Baker and the University of Sydney’s Dr Shelley Wickham co-led the study, published recently in…

Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have found that the movement of skin stem cells can help your skin regenerate.  Although sometimes hard to accept, with aging, many things in our bodies change. One of these is the ability of the skin to regenerate. Old skin is just not as good as young skin at healing wounds. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this are largely unknown. Now, researchers from Japan have identified a mechanism to explain…

How water surfaces can be used to produce functional materials. The production of high-quality monolayers – i.e. only one molecule high – is highly relevant for optoelectronic components such as organic light-emitting diodes used today in modern cell phones: Both lifetime and energy efficiency can be increased. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, through a collaboration with TU Dresden, have now used lasers to investigate how water surfaces can be used as a template for the regular…

Researchers glean a more complete picture of a structure called the nuclear pore complex by studying it directly inside cells. Context matters. It’s true for many facets of life, including the tiny molecular machines that perform vital functions inside our cells. Scientists often purify cellular components, such as proteins or organelles, in order to examine them individually. However, a new study published on Oct. 13 in the journal Nature suggests that this practice can drastically alter the components in question….

Basic science discovery could lead to improved biomaterial production. Bacteria can store extra resources for the lean times. It’s a bit like keeping a piggy bank or carrying a backup battery pack. One important reserve is known as cyanophycin granules, which were first noticed by an Italian scientist about 150 years ago. He saw big, dark splotches in the cells of the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) he was studying without understanding either what they were or their purpose. Since then, scientists…

Muscle is known to regenerate through a complex process that involves several steps and depends on stem cells. Now, a new study led by researchers at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM; Portugal) and the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF Barcelona; Spain) and published today in the scientific journal Science describes a new mechanism for muscle regeneration after physiological damage relying on the rearrangement of nuclei. This protective mechanism opens the road to a broader understanding of muscle…

Cell culture studies show increased lung cell entry of the SARS-CoV-2 variants Delta and Delta Plus and reduced inhibition by antibodies. The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that can spread rapidly and undermine vaccine-induced immunity threatens the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The delta variant (B.1.617.2) emerged in India and subsequently spread globally within a short time period. Also in Germany, almost all recent infections are due to this variant. In addition to Delta, so-called Delta Plus sub-variants have been…