Scientists from the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of British Columbia have discovered a major role of the protein JAGN1 in antibody production and the body’s ability to mount a defense against pathogens, including viruses. The results have been published online today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Antibodies play a fundamental role in medicine, and antibody-mediated immune response is the ultimate target in the quest for a vaccine to defeat the…

Multiresistant bacteria are a serious problem in hospital and healthcare environments. By forming a biofilm, these pathogens can colonize door handles and light switches and their presence on medical implants can lead to serious cases of post-operative infection. A team of physicists at Saarland University has now shown why hospital germs adhere strongly to surfaces from which water simply rolls off, but bind so poorly to surfaces that are easily wetted by water. These results from studies in both experimental…

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam have developed a green and sustainable approach for selective p-xylene synthesis Lemonade, juice and mineral water often come in PET bottles. While these are practical and functional, their production is complex and not necessarily sustainable. The starting material for terephthalic acid, which is used to produce saturated polyesters such as PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), is p-xylene pXL. To this day, the production of pXL is still based on fossil…

Research team from Kiel University develops new NMR methods for investigating paramagnetic complexes and supramolecular cages Chemistry and structural biology use the standard methods of NMR spectroscopy (NMR = nuclear magnetic resonance) to examine the structure of molecules including large molecules like proteins in solution. The NMR active nuclei, such as hydrogen atoms, are excited using radiofrequency pulses in spectrometers with strong magnetic fields. The different environments of the nuclei can be detected and conclusions about the molecular structure can…

The chemical ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is the fuel that powers all life. ATP is found in all known forms of life, where it provides energy to drive muscle contraction, impulse propagation and chemical synthesis. Despite ATP’s central role, the structure of the enzyme generating ATP, F1Fo-ATP synthase, in mammals, including humans, has not been known so far. Now, Leonid Sazanov and his group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) report the first complete structure of the…

The industrial conversion of nitrogen to ammonium provides fertiliser for agriculture. Würzburg chemists have now achieved this conversion at room temperature and low pressure using only light elements. Humankind is reliant on the ammonium in synthetic fertiliser for food. However, producing ammonia from nitrogen is extremely energy-intensive and requires the use of transition metals. Researchers from Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, have now achieved the conversion of nitrogen to ammonium at room temperature and low pressure without the need…

A team of researchers headed by Münster University physiologist Prof. Wolfgang Linke has shown that oxidative stress, in combination with the extension of the heart walls, triggers a change in cardiac stiffness. A key role is played by the giant protein titin. This newly discovered mechanism is relevant, for example, in cases of an acute heart attack or chronic heart disease. The results have been published in the journal “PNAS”. A healthy heart beats 50 to 100 times a minute…

Interplay between fungi and bacteria impaired Jena. Treatment with antibiotics has a lasting effect on the microbiome in the digestive system. While the bacterial flora is largely regenerated within 30 to 90 days after drug treatment, its interaction with resident fungi changes. In a combination of bioinformatic analyses and laboratory experiments, an international team of researchers has shown now that the peaceful coexistence of bacteria and fungi changes into a competitive situation when they are treated with antibiotics. This could…

During a research stay in the highlands of Colombia conducted as part of her doctorate, Charlotte Hopfe, PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel at the Biomaterials research group at the University of Bayreuth, has discovered and zoologically described a new species of spider. The previously unknown arachnids are native to the central cordillera, not far from the Pacific coast, at an altitude of over 3,500 meters above sea-level. In the magazine PLOS ONE, the scientist from…

UV radiation modifies DNA also far away from the entry point of light – publication in Angewandte Chemie. Ultraviolet light endangers the integrity of human genetic information and may cause skin cancer. For the first time, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have demonstrated that DNA damage may also occur far away from the point of incidence of the radiation. They produced an artificially modeled DNA sequence in new architecture and succeeded in detecting DNA damage at a distance…

Neurons use homeostatic mechanisms to maintain stability despite experience-dependent network alterations. Neural circuits constantly undergo plastic modifications in order to store information, and quickly adapt to changes in the environment. This poses a fundamental challenge: despite the constant change in connectivity between neurons, for example during learning, neural circuits drive the generation of robust behaviors which can be executed with remarkable precision, for example, riding a bike. In a new study published in PNAS, an international team of scientists led…

Plant research: publication in Current Biology If you open up a pea pod, you will find that all of the peas inside are the same size and the same distance apart. The same is true of princess beans, runner beans and soybeans as well as various other peas and beans, and it also applies to non-pulses. This is surprising because both the seed size and number and the pod size differ substantially from one variety to the next. A team…

Ling Li has a lesson in one of his mechanical engineering courses on how brittle materials like calcium carbonate behave under stress. In it, he takes a piece of chalk composed of the compound and snaps it in half to show his students the edge of one of the broken pieces. The break is blunt and straight. Then, he twists a second piece, which results in sharper shards broken at a 45-degree angle, indicating the more dangerous direction of tensile…

Researchers isolated molecules present in the larvae of a blue light-emitting fungus gnat that inhabits the Appalachians; the study will help elucidate human diseases and could lead to novel biotech applications. Molecules belonging to an almost unknown bioluminescent system found in larvae of the fungus gnat Orfelia fultoni (subfamily Keroplatinae) have been isolated for the first time by researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The small fly is one of…

Finding could lead to future treatments for hearing loss Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have conducted a study that has determined the role that a critical protein plays in the development of hair cells. These hair cells are vital for hearing. Some of these cells amplify sounds that come into the ear, and others transform sound waves into electrical signals that travel to the brain. Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of…

Poultry is often contaminated with bacteria. Chlorine treatments in the slaughtering process are only of limited use and are not permitted in the EU. In a new research project, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) now plans to combine ultraviolet (UV) laser treatment with the use of bacteriophages for the disinfection. Campylobacter is found almost half of all broilers, and one in five is contaminated with salmonella. To reduce the bacterial load, the scientists at the LZH want to establish…