Computer simulation of the plant spindle opens up new possibilities in cell division research

"We were surprised ourselves at how well our simulation reproduced our experimental data"

29-Aug-2024 - An interdisciplinary research team led by the Department of Biology at University of Hamburg and the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge (England) has created the first three-dimensional computer simulation of a spindle. This simulation can now be used to better understand fundamental principles of ...

Structure of key protein for cell division puzzles researchers

Researchers provide a first 3D snapshot of the CCAN protein complex and raise fundamental questions towards the creation of artificial chromosomes

17-May-2022 - Human cell division involves hundreds of proteins at its core. Knowing the 3D structure of these proteins is pivotal to understand how our genetic material is duplicated and passed through generations. The groups of Andrea Musacchio and Stefan Raunser at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular ...

‘Feeling’ the living cell’s life cycle using optical tweezers

Researchers use laser to reveal that the inside of living cells softens and fluidifies when dividing

26-Oct-2021 - Living cells are the basic building blocks of all organisms. We, as humans, are essentially a collection of trillions of living cells: and all these cells emerge from a single fertilized egg. This means that “mitosis” (or cell division) is one of the most fundamental and important processes of ...

Growth factors in single cells counted for the first time

26-Feb-2019 - Whether healthy or diseased, human cells exhibit behaviors and processes that are largely dictated by growth factor molecules, which bind to receptors on the cells. For example, growth factors tell the cells to divide, move, and when to die--a process known as apoptosis. When growth factor levels ...

Creating a family tree for each body cell in real time

Evolving genetic barcodes show origin of cells in vivo

13-Aug-2018 - All humans begin life as a single cell that divides repeatedly to form two, then four, then eight cells, all the way up to the ~26 billion cells that make up a newborn. Tracing how and when those 26 billion cells arise from one zygote is the grand challenge of developmental biology, a field that ...

A DNA 'shield' with crucial roles in normal cell division

20-Jul-2018 - In immune cells, this is crucial to make antibodies In cancer, mutations in complex could lead to resistance to BRCA-targeting PARP inhibitor drugs or platinum chemotherapies Scientists have made a major discovery about how cells repair broken strands of DNA that could have huge implications for ...

New gene expression mechanism with possible role in human disease

25-Jun-2018 - When cells grow and divide to ensure a biological function - such as a properly working organ - DNA must be unwound from its typical tightly packed form and copied into RNA to create proteins. When this process goes awry - if too little or too much RNA is produced - then the result could be ...

How does a cell maintain its identity during replication?

18-Sep-2017 - Prior to cell division, chromosomes are seemingly a jumbled mess. During cell division, parent cell chromosomes and their duplicates sort themselves out by condensing, becoming thousands of times more compact than at any other time. Researchers have long assumed that genes become "silent" during ...

How receptors for medicines work inside cells

07-Sep-2017 - G protein-coupled receptors are the key target of a large number of drugs. Würzburg scientists have now been able to show more precisely how these receptors act in the cell interior. The human genome encodes hundreds of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These form the largest group of ...

Molecular structure of the cell nucleoskeleton revealed for the first time

03-Mar-2017 - Using 3D electron microscopy, structural biologists from the University of Zurich succeeded in elucidating the architecture of the lamina of the cell nucleus at molecular resolution for the first time. This scaffold stabilizes the cell nucleus in higher eukaryotes and is involved in organizing, ...