Theory unlocks the secret behind protein-membrane interactions

Understanding cell behavior better by elucidating how proteins work with cell membranes

28-Jan-2019 - Trillions of cells -- all different shapes and sizes -- form a human body's structure. Surrounding each cell is a membrane, jointly acting as hostess and security -- welcoming certain information into the cell while making sure its components don't spill out into the body's void. Much is known ...

A new way to stimulate cellular recycling process

18-May-2018 - Brown University researchers studying the biology of aging have demonstrated a new strategy for stimulating autophagy, the process by which cells rebuild themselves by recycling their own worn-out parts. In a study the researchers show that the approach increased the lifespans of worms and flies, ...

New tool analyzes disease and drug effects with unprecedented accuracy and consistency

14-May-2018 - A new protein analysis tool developed at the University at Buffalo could vastly increase the speed and precision with which disease and drug effects are analyzed. The groundbreaking tool, called IonStar, is the first to provide near-perfect accuracy when quantifying and comparing the abundance of ...

'Scaffolding' method allows biochemists to see proteins in remarkable detail

16-Apr-2018 - UCLA biochemists have achieved a first in biology: viewing at near-atomic detail the smallest protein ever seen by the technique whose development won its creators the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry. That technique, called cryo-electron microscopy, enables scientists to see large biomolecules, ...

Tracking protein’s role in stem cell function

26-Mar-2018 - MCL-1 is a member of the BCL-2 family of proteins important for blocking apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Many types of cancer cells escape the body’s effort to kill them by overexpressing MCL-1. However, new evidence from Vanderbilt University researchers indicates that MCL-1 also helps ...

Glowing mud worm contains fastest catalyst

18-Dec-2017 - Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have made a discovery with potential human health impacts in a parchment tubeworm, the marine invertebrate Chaetopterus sp., that resides in muddy coastal seafloors. A new study finds that the tubeworm, ...

Live-cell microscopy reveals cell migration by direct forces

13-Dec-2017 - How do cells move in a certain direction in the body -- go to a wound site and repair it, for example, or hunt down infectious bacteria and kill it? Two new studies from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) show how cells respond to internal forces when they orient, gain traction, and migrate ...

Microbial murder mystery solved

10-Nov-2017 - Immune cells called "killer cells" target bacteria invading the body's cells, but how do they do this so effectively? Bacteria can quickly evolve resistance against antibiotics, yet it seems they have not so readily been able to evade killer cells. This has caused researchers to become interested ...

Neutrons observe vitamin B6-dependent enzyme activity useful for drug development

18-Oct-2017 - Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have performed neutron structural analysis of a vitamin B6-dependent protein, potentially opening avenues for new antibiotics and drugs to battle diseases such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria and ...

New, more sensitive sensor for evaluating drug safety

08-Aug-2017 - A new technique for evaluating drug safety can detect stress on cells at earlier stages than conventional methods, which mostly rely on detecting cell death. The new method uses a fluorescent sensor that is turned on in a cell when misfolded proteins begin to aggregate -- an early sign of ...