cap

High fidelity keeps human DNA assembly line humming

...anitin. Alpha-amanitin is the poison of the death cap mushroom, which can be deadly to humans. In 54 A.D., Emperor Tiberius Claudius was fed a death cap mushroom by his wife Agrippina to put her son Nero on the throne of ancient Rome. Alpha-amanitin kil...

Environmental chemical cocktail may sabotage sperm

... to undergo an acrosome reaction. This is when the cap on the head of the sperm ruptures and releases enzymes that enable the sperm to penetrate the coverings of the egg. If the acrosome reaction happens before a sperm reaches the egg, then fertilisation is unable to take place because the sperm has lost...

Deep sleep short-circuits brain's grid of connectivity

...ns of the brain. Subjects are also equipped with a cap of electrodes to monitor the brain's electrical activity so that the cell signals elicited by the quick bursts of electricity can be tracked. In subjects who are awake, the pulses elicited a significant response: "The brain reacts in a strong and sp...

Frog peptides block HIV in lab study

...ns of the brain. Subjects are also equipped with a cap of electrodes to monitor the brain's electrical activity so that the cell signals elicited by the quick bursts of electricity can be tracked. In subjects who are awake, the pulses elicited a significant response: "The brain reacts in a strong and sp...

Structures of marine toxins provide insight into their effectiveness as cancer drugs

...an knock out the lynchpins in these long chains or cap their ends and kill cancer cells. Moreover, initial work shows that even a low dose of these toxins can bring a significant response." Prior to the study published in PNAS, it was known that the marine toxins affect several forms of cancer - but no...

Study provides insight into cellular defenses against genetic mutation

...s mRNA chains are synthesized, a 7-methylguanosine cap is attached to the 5-prime end and a tail of repeating adenosine molecules to the 3-prime end. The cap and the tail protect the mRNA from enzymes that would otherwise destroy it from both ends. Along wi...

Normal chromosome ends elicit a limited DNA damage response

...pair machinery whose misguided repair attempts the cap is supposed to hold at bay, reports the Salk team, led by Jan Karlseder, in the current issue of Molecular Cell. Scientists had long surmised that the protective telomere-protein complex had to unravel when enzymes need to gain access in order to c...

You will remember this

...encephalogram) scanner which looks like a swimming cap covered with electrodes and records electrical brain activity on the scalp. The scanners, popular since the 1960s, are used in hospitals to detect epilepsy in people and are an important tool to show not just what bits of the brain are lighting up bu...

Cellular scale drug delivery from the inside out

... Lin explained that the chemical bond holding the cap in place can be engineered to be unphased by chemicals present in normal cells. However, in cancer cells these chemicals, such as antioxidants, appear in much higher concentrations and would break the bonds on the caps and release the drugs. In this ...

Oops! Researchers publish new findings on the brain's response to costly mistakes

...trical activity through sensors arranged on a mesh cap that is placed on the head. The method is similar to techniques used to study the brains of people with epilepsy or sleep problems, but the electrical signal from the brain is processed in a different way. In prior studies, Gehring and his colleagues...

Amgen introduces comprehensive financial assistance programs for cancer patients

...e or insurance status. Once a patient reaches the cap (five percent of their adjusted gross income), he or she will become eligible for the SAFETY NET® Foundation. The SAFETY NET Foundation is a well-established patient assistance program that provides Amgen oncology medicines at no cost to qualifying...

Paying attention sets off symphony of cell synchronization

... Web site. Each participant in the study wore a cap with 64 electrodes to record their brain waves. The brain waves fluctuated in sync with flickering stimuli that appeared on a computer screen. At any given time, two target patterns were shown, but subjects were told to pay attention to one and ignor...

Stem cells engage in dialogue with the cells that regulate their futures

...alled germarium which contain tiny cradles made of cap cells that nurture stem cells. Each such cradle c...at are cuddled in a niche composed of three to six cap cells. Cap cells adhere to stem cells and this close contact may allow cap cells to play critical ro...

Iowa State scientists demonstrate first use of nanotechnology to enter plant cells

...e. They synthesized even smaller gold particles to cap the nanoparticles. These "golden gates" not only prevented chemical leakage, but also added weight to the nanoparticles, enabling their delivery into the plant cell with the standard gene gun. The biologists successfully used the technology to in...

Want to save polar bears? Follow the ice

...nt stand the best chance of surviving as the polar cap shrinks in size. To that end, the project will utilize remote sensing satellite imagery on sea ice extent and concentration since 1978 to form a picture of polar bear habitat history as well as where this habitat most likely remain in the future unde...