Novel AI-based software enables quick and reliable imaging of proteins in cells

Researchers programmed a tool that accurately recognises and picks proteins in electron cryo-tomography, substituting troublesome hand selection

24-May-2023 - Electron cryo-tomography (cryo-ET) is emerging as a powerful technique to provide detailed 3D images of cellular environments and enclosed biomolecules. However, one of the challenges of the methodology is the identification of protein molecules in the images for further processing. A research ...

How artificial intelligence can improve protein detection

Using AI to move the boundaries of microscopy

12-Apr-2023 - Small proteins play a critical role in the regulation of immune response, inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. In order to better detect and study them, scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light and FAU have combined one of the most effective microscopy methods, ...

Imaging the dynamic cellular zoo made easier

This work will expand the ability to simultaneously monitor many processes in cells

22-Nov-2022 - Imagine the difficulty of visually keeping track of five people scattered throughout a stadium. Researchers perform far more amazing feats by simultaneously tracking many different cellular factors, but they need an expanded fluorescence toolkit to advance current capabilities. Now, in a study ...

Comparison of two nano rulers

Study compares two methods for distance measurement in motile proteins

08-Aug-2022 - In the Middle Ages, every city had its own system of measurement. Even today, you can sometimes find iron rods in marketplaces that determined the length measurement valid for the city at that time. In science, however, there is no room for such uncertainties, and no matter what method you use to ...

Unchartered territory in the human genome

18-Jul-2022 - An international consortium brings together 7,200 segments of the human genome that are virtually unexplored and presents a roadmap for integrating them into genome databases in “Nature Biotechnology”. They could hold information about what sets humans apart from other animals. When researchers ...

Shining some light on the obscure proteome

Chemoproteomics draw the target landscape of HDAC drugs

01-Jul-2022 - Mass-spectrometry based proteomics is the big-data science of proteins that allows the monitoring of the abundance of thousands of proteins in a sample at once. Therefore, it is a particularly well-suited readout for discovering which proteins are targeted by any small molecule. An international ...

Mass spectrometry-based draft of the mouse proteome

A milestone for biomedical research

30-Jun-2022 - Proteins control and organize almost every aspect of life. The totality of all proteins in a living organism, a tissue or a cell is called the proteome. Using mass spectrometry, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) characterize the proteome, or protein complement of the genome, ...

Chromatin originated in ancient microbes one to two billion years ago

Genomic and proteomic analysis reveals that the regulatory role of chromatin is a eukaryotic innovation

13-Jun-2022 - In almost every human cell, two metres-long DNA has to fit within a nucleus that is just 8 millionths of a metre wide. Like wool around a spool, the extreme space challenge requires DNA to wrap around structural proteins called histones. This coiled genetic architecture, known as chromatin, ...

A sharper image for proteins

New technique promises to revolutionize the imaging of proteins and other vital biomolecules

05-May-2022 - Proteins may be the most important and varied biomolecules within living systems. These strings of amino acids, assuming complex 3-dimensional forms, are essential for the growth and maintenance of tissue, the initiation of thousands of biochemical reactions, and the protection of the body from ...

Scientists unveil world’s first molecular-level analysis of Omicron spike protein

Findings shed light on factors behind Omicron’s increased transmissibility

24-Jan-2022 - Researchers at UBC’s faculty of medicine have conducted the world’s first molecular-level structural analysis of the Omicron variant spike protein. The findings were published in Science. The analysis – done at near atomic resolution using cryo-electron microscopy – reveals how the heavily ...