Light microscopes have revolutionized our understanding of the microcosmos, but their resolution is limited to about 100 nanometers. To see how molecules bond, break, or change their structure, we need at least 1000 times better resolution. Laser induced electron diffraction (LIED) is a technique which allows to pinpoint the individual atoms inside a single molecule, and to see where each atom moves when the molecule undergoes a reaction. This technique proved to be an amazing tool for the imaging molecules,…

Bacteria have a dining plan when degrading algal blooms Each spring in the North Sea, tiny algae grow in large numbers and release loads of sugar into the water – a feast for bacteria. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the University of Greifswald have now investigated the order of the bacterial menu: first the easy-to-digest yummy pieces, then the chewy stuff. This insight was only possible by investigating special bacterial proteins that could be key…

It is called the “survival protein” because it plays a central role in the growth of cancer cells: survivin influences two important processes in the body’s cells at the same time – cell death and cell division. Chemists and biologists at the UDE have now succeeded in developing a precise molecule that can bind the protein’s surface at a defined site and switch it off. “Nature Communications” covers the topic.* Proteins control almost all vital processes in our cells. If…

Research demonstrates potential for rapid, accurate glycan sequencing. Using a nanopore, researchers have demonstrated the potential to reduce the time required for sequencing a glycosaminoglycan — a class of long chain-linked sugar molecules as important to our biology as DNA — from years to minutes. As published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, a team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute showed that machine-learning and image recognition software could be used to quickly and accurately identify sugar…

North Carolina State University engineers continue to improve the efficiency of a flexible device worn on the wrist that harvests heat energy from the human body to monitor health. In a paper published in npj Flexible Electronics, the NC State researchers report significant enhancements in preventing heat leakage in the flexible body heat harvester they first reported in 2017 and updated in 2020. The harvesters use heat energy from the human body to power wearable technologies – think of smart…

… in development of psychiatric drugs Glycine can stimulate or inhibit neurons in the brain, thereby controlling complex functions. Unraveling the three-dimensional structure of the glycine transporter, researchers have now come a big step closer to understanding the regulation of glycine in the brain. These results, which have been published in Nature, open up opportunities to find effective drugs that inhibit GlyT1 function, with major implications for the treatment of schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Glycine is the smallest amino…

For the first time, a UNIGE team has been able to follow precisely the path taken by a protein within the cell, paving the way for the study of the transport and distribution network of vital elements necessary for its survival. In order to stay alive, the cell must provide its various organelles with all the energy elements they need, which are formed in the Golgi apparatus, its centre of maturation and redistribution of lipids and proteins. But how do…

An international research team led by chemist Prof. Thomas Heine of TU Dresden has discovered a new two-dimensional material with unprecedented properties: regardless if it is strained or compressed, it always expands. This so-called half-auxetic behavior has not been observed before and is therefore very promising for the design of new applications, especially in nano-sensorics. If you stretch an elastic band, it becomes thinner – a physical behavior that applies to most “common” materials. Since the 20th century, an opposite…

They are also called power plants of the cells: the mitochondria. They are present in almost all eukaryotic cells and they supply the cells with energy. Until now, it was assumed that only mitochondria can act as the cells’ energy providers. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology have now discovered that symbiotic bacteria can fulfil this function too. Their findings shed a completely new light on the survival of simple eukaryotes in oxygen-free environments. These results have…

A team of researchers led by scientists from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society have found out that the important industrial process of methanol production can be positively influenced if the copper catalyst used in the reaction comes into contact with zinc oxide. The current commercial production of methanol through the hydrogenation of the green-house gas CO2 relies on a catalyst consisting of copper, zinc oxide and aluminum oxide. Even though this catalyst has been used for…

Micro-scale depictions solve century-old puzzle of brain energy use and blood vessel clusters. Our brains are non-stop consumers. A labyrinth of blood vessels, stacked end-to-end comparable in length to the distance from San Diego to Berkeley, ensures a continuous flow of oxygen and sugar to keep our brains functioning at peak levels. But how does this intricate system ensure that more active parts of the brain receive enough nourishment versus less demanding areas? That’s a century-old problem in neuroscience that…

Toward the development of drugs for aging-related diseases In the search for ways to effectively combat age-related human disease, the enzyme sirtuin 6 (Sirt6) has recently become a focus of biochemical research. A targeted activation of Sirt6 could prevent or mitigate such diseases, for example some types of cancer. In a paper for the journal “Nature Chemical Biology”, biochemists from the University of Bayreuth have now shown how the small molecule MDL-801 binds to the enzyme Sirt6 and influences its…

Just like cellulose, lignin and fats, proteins are renewable raw materials. Their potential for the chemical industry remains largely untapped. Research teams at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV are collaborating with partners to change all this, the idea being to use the promising technofunctional properties of vegetable proteins for industrial applications. The aim of the TeFuProt project is to shift away from petroleum and make more use of renewable raw materials. Although proteins from vegetable sources…

Plants grow in two directions: the shoots of plants grow toward the light to make the best use of it, and the roots grow toward the center of the earth into the soil. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in collaboration with two research groups in Vienna, has now been able to describe in detail how the molecular mechanisms work that control these processes. Plants grow towards the light. This phenomenon, which already fascinated Charles Darwin, has…

International research team identifies how the cell nucleus structures active and inactive DNA. All life begins with one cell. During the development of an organism, cells divide and become specialized, yet each cell nucleus contains the same hereditary material. Our DNA is tightly packed to fit into the nucleus of every cell. From our genetic library, products like RNA and proteins are made and they serve as molecular machines and structural components for many processes happening inside our cells. The…

… without microplastics and pollutants Sustainable food production in aquacultures entirely without microplastics – that is the long-term goal of a new research project at Hof University of Applied Sciences that will run for two years. The scientists led by project manager Prof. Dr. Manuela Wimmer have now received funding of EUR 220,000 for “BioBioCarrier” from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and as part of the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM). Plastics in the food chain are…