Carnegie donates landmark clones to biology

... proteins have with each other and the protective membrane that surrounds a cell. These interactive, so-called membrane proteins regulate nutrients and water fluxes, ... of Plant Biology have cloned genes to produce membrane proteins that may initiate the instructions for ...

Sticky protein helps reinforce fragile muscle membranes

... "glue" affixing the basal lamina to the membrane is working. "This study helps us understand how membrane structure is designed to protect cells, which is ... Detachment of the basal lamina from the muscle membrane appears to be a common feature of these ...

New windows opened on cell-to-cell interactions

... suggest that putting lipids and other cell membrane components on manufactured surfaces could lead to ... applied biological material -- a thin layer of membrane lipids -- onto to tiny glass spheres about ... charged spheres repelled each other. With the membrane attached, conditions changed dramatically. ...

Structural biology scores with protein snapshot

... particularly those that reside within the cell membrane have been reluctant to smile for the camera. ... a complex of three subunits that each cross the membrane three times (for a total of nine membrane spans). The group's ability to determine the ...

Cells use import machinery to export their goods as well

... to end with the vesicles fusing completely to the membrane and delivering their whole load of proteins and ... on the narrow plane in which the vesicle and membrane merge. "It's a little like the guy looking under ... cargo in their lumen and cargo carried in the membrane shell that surrounds the vesicle. This ability ...

New nanoparticles could revolutionize therapeutic drug discovery

... and Warwick have found a way to preserve membrane proteins intact, enabling detailed analysis of ... shown how a polymer can wrap around and preserve membrane proteins intact in stable nanoparticles. membrane proteins are the most valuable but technically ...

How mitochondria get their membranes bent

... how the pore diameter and the shape of the inner membrane are regulated on a molecular basis is of great ... manner that are relevant for governing inner membrane structure. In the current issue of the the ... protein 1"), which is embedded in the inner membrane and accumulates at crista junctions. Upon ...

Computer model predicts brain tumor growth and evolution

... it does not invade the body through a basement membrane as epithelial-based cancers do, such as tumors ... tumors grow without having to digest a basement membrane to invade adjacent tissue. A basement membrane is essentially boundary of a given tissue that ...

Visualizing virus replication in three dimensions

... in what is known as the endoplasmic reticulum, a membrane network interconnected with the nuclear envelope; ... are synthesized. The dengue virus uses this membrane network and transforms it for its own use. ... a second time. There they are enveloped in a membrane that disguises them for the cell so that they can ...

Yale researchers uncover secrets of salmonella's stealth attack

... act. First, SopB works within the external membrane of the cell, called the plasma membrane, to coax ... accomplish this, SopB must move from the plasma membrane of the cell to the membrane of the internal vesicle containing the pathogen. ...

Orientation of antenna protein in photosynthetic bacteria described

... protein in the antenna complex to its neighboring membrane in a photosynthetic bacterium, a key find in the ... of the antenna, through the mid-part and into the membrane where the reaction center is located. "The ... axis down the middle. The protein lays on the membrane with the symmetry axis perpendicular to the ...

A research work on molluscs nacre opens new doors for its possible use in biomedicine

... it grows in terraces because it is limited by a membrane (superficial membrane) which covers and protects ... the animal goes into its shell. Such superficial membrane must carry out different tasks in order to permit ... work. This article has showed how the superficial membrane organizes nacre in towers and how mineral blocks ...

Major step for drug discovery and diagnostics

... France have developed a general method to study membrane proteins. This method can be used to screen ... the prestigious scientific journal, PNAS . membrane proteins are located at the surface of cells and ... between the cells in our body. Defective membrane proteins are involved in diseases such as cancer, ...

GEN reports on strategies to overcome blood-brain barrier

... of small molecules across the BBB by these membrane proteins is known as carrier-mediated transport ... may then be transported across the abluminal membrane of the endothelial cell (i.e., the membrane that interfaces with brain tissue) into the ....

Phytoplankton cell membranes challenge fundamentals of biochemistry

... Substitute lipids "are the most abundant membrane molecules in the sea and they were essentially ... they doing it? These creative plankton build a membrane lipid called SQDG, a molecule based on sulfur ... class of plankton building phosphate-free cell membrane lipids. When he and his co-authors studied the ...

Lamin A/C deficiency is 'unnerving'

... several nuclei cluster together under the cell membrane at sites of neuronal contact. These postsynaptic ... neuromuscular junction that specify the overlying membrane as the target site for innervation. The authors ... Nesprin-1, which spans the outer nuclear membrane and anchors nuclei to the actin cytoskeleton, and ...

Researchers advance knowledge of little 'nano-machines' in our body

... the basic understanding of ion channels. These membrane proteins mark a major drug target, since they ... Canada Research Chair on Molecular Mechanisms of membrane Proteins and member of the Groupe d'tude des ... identical subunits, which form a pore through the membrane that can open and close in order to allow or ...

New 'control knobs' for stem cells identified

... Natural changes in voltage that occur across the membrane of adult human stem cells are a powerful ... The Tufts researchers studied the changes in membrane potential (voltage across the membrane) shown by ... cells and that hMSCs show different membrane potential profiles during bone vs. fat ...

From sheet metal elements to host cells: DFG launches 10 new collaborative research centers

... from their environment. Nevertheless, how the membrane environment impacts on the functioning of membrane proteins and how proteins modulate the membrane structure at the molecular level generally remain ...

New filtering technology has environmental, industrial applications

... - Materials engineers have created a new type of membrane that separates oil from water and, if perfected, ... oily substance called hexadecane beads up on the membrane while water passes through. The membrane consists of a layer of material called ...

Proteomics study yields clues as to how tuberculosis might be thwarting the immune system

... for 546 different types of proteins in the membrane of a phagosome, an organelle of macrophages (a ... comprehensive proteomic analysis of a phagosomal membrane to date. "We were able to identify many new ... protein species that are present in the membrane in relatively low amounts. "We were able to ...

How neuronal activity leads to Alzheimer's protein cleavage

... disease patients, jumps from one specialized membrane microdomain to another to be cleaved, report ... APP, a protein of unknown function, is membrane associated and concentrates at the neuronal ... of Ab regulation together. APP associates with membrane microdomains high in cholesterols (lipid rafts). ...

What causes cell defenses to crumble?

... consists of transport proteins in the cell membrane that act as molecular 'pumps', preventing toxic ... proteins are both ABC transporters. This class of membrane proteins takes its name from a shared structural ... barrier'. "The proteins are in the cell membrane and ensure that substances that do not belong in ...

Groundbreaking discovery may lead to stronger antibiotics

... is the structure of a particular integral membrane enzyme, called DsbB one of the many proteins ... in cell membranes. These so-called integral membrane proteins are important, because they account for ... the code required to solve a certain class of membrane protein structure by using nuclear magnetic ...

Site used by sodium to control sensitivity of certain potassium ion channels

... ion channel proteins are found in the plasma membrane of cells and provide a path for hydrated cations ... calcium, potassium or sodium to pass through the membrane and travel in and out of the cell. Generally, ... through the lypophillic, or fat-based, plasma membrane because they are surrounded with water and ...

Pores open the door to death

... to gain entry into a cell either via pores or by membrane transport. T-cells and killer cells release a ... the attacked cells and are then internalized by membrane inversions and formation of small vesicles. Since the membrane pores created by perforin holes are fairly small ...

Enzyme detectives uncover new reactions, products

... performing a range of reactions. The soluble and membrane enzymes, however, do share one key feature: both ... oxygen, in theory the soluble enzymes, like their membrane counterparts, should be able to perform a variety ... is much simpler than obtaining structures for membrane enzymes. So, in effect, this work is a fast-track ...

Biophysical Society names 2009 award recipients

... San Francisco, will receive the Anatrace membrane Protein Award for his outstanding contributions ... biology, and pioneering new methods allowing membrane proteins to become tractable as structural ... in Lipids for his novel findings in the areas of membrane structure and protein insertion into membranes. ...

GKSS membranes reduce air pollution in Beijing

... tap valve when refuelling the vehicle. The GKSS membrane module cleans the exhaust air of the storage ... of the art to recover petrol vapour by means of membrane procedure in tank farms," the developers of the ... Beijing and Hunan. The GKSS licensee Borsig membrane Technology GmbH is currently equipping about 140 ...

Mitochondrial cholesterol makes response to chemotherapy difficult in hepatic cancer

... the increase of cholesterol in the mitochondrial membrane plays a key role in the resistance to cytotoxic ... that cholesterol increase in the mitochondrial membrane was responsible for chemotherapy resistance. In ... simulating the composition of the mitochondrial membrane was developed in order to check the effects of ...

Researchers catch ion channels in their opening act

... is critical to how these tiny pores in the cell membrane open and close in response to changes in voltage ... some channels open. The voltage across the cell membrane depends on the balance of ions inside and outside ... The voltage sensor gauges the voltage across the membrane and instructs the channel to open or close. ...

UC Riverside bioengineer receives high honor from chemical engineers

... to his pace-setting research on biosensors, membrane transport and biotechnology, Dr. Schultz has ... biosensors, biomaterials, pharmacokinetics and membrane processes. Early in his career, he developed ... research led him to develop an ideal artificial membrane that sorts molecules by size, allowing ...

Nanotubes could help study retrovirus transmission between human cells

... in water. They are composed of a lipid bilayer membrane only five nanometers thick. The object for ... readily available, and offers good, stable membrane properties. It is the usual lipid of choice in ... found that interaction of the POPC membrane with a high affinity protein called streptavidin ...

MIT: Stripes key to nanoparticle drug delivery

... a cell without poking a hole in its protective membrane and killing it. The key to their approach? ... synthetic material that can pass through a cell membrane without rupturing it, and we've found that order ... of the biological system?" When a cell membrane recognizes a foreign object such as a ...

Leading scientist named new chair of Cell Biology at Yale

... Rothman has performed seminal research on membrane trafficking, the transport of molecules inside ... for its first decade. "My life's work on membrane trafficking in cells was inspired by the ... In 1993, Rothman discovered a complex of vesicle membrane proteins which he implicated ...

Fruit fly helps identify protein critical to eggshell formation that may be pesticide target

... the bodies should meld into a solid, transparent membrane that is the egg's first line of defense. "You ... dissolves and it just leaves this inner vitelline membrane and that is sufficient to maintain the ... it would pop like a balloon. It's very soft." The membrane also helps keep the egg from drying out. ...

Simple model cell is key to understanding cell complexity

... two of the most basic cell components: the cell membrane and the cytoplasm--the gelatinous fluid that ... encapsulated this polymer solution inside a cell membrane and, because the two polymers do not mix, one of ... as osmosis--in which water diffuses across a cell membrane from a region of higher water concentration to a ...

Nitrates in vegetables protect against gastric ulcers

... the protective mechanisms of the mucous membrane because the stomach constantly has to protect ... of the mucous layer that covers the mucous membrane and its maintenance of a stable blood flow in the ... anti inflammatory drugs, damage to the mucous membrane only occurred in the ones that had received the ...

Study links low-frequency hearing to shape of the cochlea

... two main chambers that are created by an elastic membrane that runs the length of the cochlea. The mechanical properties of this basilar membrane vary from very stiff at the broad, outer end to ... Sensory cells are attached to the basilar membrane and have tufts of tiny hairs called stereocilia ...

Fast AFM probes measure multiple properties of biomolecules or materials simultaneously

... because they use electrostatic forces between the membrane and an electrode to move the tip, said Levent ... probe replaces the cantilever with a drum-like membrane from which a tip extends to scan the material ... up and down a thousand times, we have developed a membrane that would allow parallel measurements of ...