ion

Spider Venom Could Yield Eco-Friendly Insecticides

...ins that are essential for interaction with insect ion channels. (Ion channels allow the movement of ions -- small charged molecules -- across cell membranes.) His next challenge is to use this information to design insecticides that specifically target insect pests without affecting vertebrates. One ap...

Wisconsin researchers identify sleep gene

...phila (fruit fly) gene, called Shaker, produces an ion channel that controls the flow of potassium into c...id mutation. Because of the mutation, a functional ion channel could not be formed on the cell membrane and potassium therefore could not flow through it. ...

50-year-old Mystery Solved: Protein Tags Regulate Key Ion Channel

...dds a new chapter to the book of how cells control ion channel function: reversible peptide linkage." Io...radual doling out or sudden influx of ions through ion channels are the basis for those cellular activities that give us thoughts, sights, tastes, sounds a...

Discovery may lead to better Candidiasis drug

...ne protein called TRK1p, which regulates potassium ion flow through the cell membrane of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans and allows the cell to regulate its volume. The binding action of histatin acts like a "foot in the door," said Edgerton, UB research associate professor of oral biology in the...

Integration of Agilent's MS technology, Proteome Systems' software to help scientists in proteomics research

...tible with the Agilent XCT, XCT Plus and XCT Ultra ion trap mass spectrometers. Proteome Systems developed GlycomIQ to address the emerging field of glycomics, which examines how glycosylation, or the addition of sugars to proteins, affects biological processes and systems. GlycomIQ comprises kits, cons...

Product improves peptide identification for proteomics research

...Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced a high-performance ion trap mass spectrometer (MS) that allows pharmaceut...n Imatani, product marketing manager for Agilent's ion trap mass spectrometers. "The high resolution, scan speed and sensitivity of the LC/MSD Trap XCT Ult...

Remote control flies? Fly behavior controlled by laser light

...o the lock. For the lock, the researchers used an ion channel, or a pore-forming protein that allows cha...ell membrane. The small molecule ATP activates the ion channel chosen by the researchers, so ATP became the key. To keep the ATP from binding to the ion ch...

Hopkins scientists uncover 'tags' that force proteins to cell surface

...ural proteins that use one of these "tags" are the ion channel that lets heart cells contract on cue, and the docking point that allows HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, into cells, the researchers discovered. Because proteins on the cell surface are "lock-on" sites for drugs and other molecules, as well...

Nanoscale method for investigating living systems

...ell it stimulates the opening and closing of these ion channels. What we've found is that these quantum dots can form artificial pores that enhance the flow of ions and which we can control from the outside via voltage." Quantum dots can be encoded with different colors making them useful as fluorescent...

Researchers find how some antibiotics kill bacteria

...hogenic bacteria by removing the crucial magnesium ion (Mg2+) from a bacterium's RNA polymerase. "Removing this ion is like removing spark plugs from an engine," Artsimovitch said. "The car may look fine, but it won'...

Water management in cells

...ganic reaction In addition to water channels and ion channels, organic particles play an important role. If the salt balance is disrupted, so-called 'volume-regulated anion channels' are first of all activated. These ensure that chloride ions leave the cell. Further research revealed that the efflux of...

Enzyme affects hypertension by controlling salt levels in body

... is well known to lead to the activation of sodium ion channels in kidney cells. "The kidney plays a ver...GK1 was one of those proteins. Because he works on ion channels, including sodium channels, Dr. Huang joined efforts with Dr. Cobb to study how WNK1 regula...

Making plant cells work like miniature factories

... to the mass-to-charge ratios, and collected by an ion detector. The detector converts ion flux into a proportional electrical current. Finally, the magnitude of the electrical signals is rec...

Drug resistant avian influenza viruses more common in Southeast Asia than North America

...coat of the influenza virus. The M2 protein is an ion channel located in the envelope of the virus that permits hydrogen ions (protons) to enter the flu virion. This influx of protons allows the virus to shed its coat after it enters a cell-an essential step in the replication of the virus. Amantadine i...

Stem cells' electric abilities might help their safe clinical use

...Hopkins have discovered the presence of functional ion channels in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). These ion channels act like electrical wires and permit ESCs, versatile cells that possess the unique ability ...

Molecular cabal contributes to stroke damage

...ronal damage that they studied is an "acid-sensing ion channel," (ASIC)--basically, a pore-like protein in the membranes of neurons. In response to the acid unleashed by ischemia, ASICs open to admit calcium into the cell, and calcium overload is central to neuronal death. In their experiments, Gao and ...

Clocking in Pillow Time without the Pillow

...e, they transduce excitatory signals by opening an ion channel. Ampakines including CX717 make the activated channel stay open longer when glutamate binds. More ions pass through the channel, creating a stronger signal when nerve cells are activated. The ubiquity of these receptors makes them good target...

Noise And Delays Explain Why Some Genes Oscillate In Activity

...e, they transduce excitatory signals by opening an ion channel. Ampakines including CX717 make the activated channel stay open longer when glutamate binds. More ions pass through the channel, creating a stronger signal when nerve cells are activated. The ubiquity of these receptors makes them good target...

New battery technology helps stimulate nerves

...developed a new generation of rechargeable lithium ion batteries whose lifetimes are more than twice as long as the batteries now used in the tiny medical devices. "It turns out the organosilicon compounds are really good for improving lithium battery technology," says West, whose new battery technology...

Islands in the Genome Promote Speciation

... sudden increases in temperature (heat shock), and ion transport across cell membranes. Future work focusing on the 67 genes hypothesized to reside in the divergent regions should yield interesting clues to the identity of genes that drive speciation, and the mechanism by which they do so. This is a sig...

Adult stem cells aid recovery in animal model of cerebral palsy

... sudden increases in temperature (heat shock), and ion transport across cell membranes. Future work focusing on the 67 genes hypothesized to reside in the divergent regions should yield interesting clues to the identity of genes that drive speciation, and the mechanism by which they do so. This is a sig...

Algal protein in worm neurons allows remote control of behavior by light

...t) even in mutant worms that lacked the C. elegans ion channel that normally mediates backing behavior in...tivation of the ChR2 protein by light; this inward ion flow persisted for the duration of blue-light exposure. Future work may include studies using form...

New technique helps researchers determine amino-acid charge

...ent through the open state of a membrane-protein's ion channel have allowed scientists at the University ...inois. "We are working with the open state of the ion channel, and we now know how the helices that line the pore are oriented. This was not known before,...

Master genetic switch found for chronic pain

...zed nerve cells was impaired. The animals had lost ion channels known to be involved in reacting to painf...re transcriptional control program for many of the ion channels and receptors known to transduce noxious stimuli has intriguing implications for the design...

Mechanism for memory revealed in neurons of electric fish

...ts in the neuron that results in the activation of ion channels, called TRP channels, which then remain a...computation that neurons do," says Zakon. "We have ion channels [in the neurons] and we know those are activated. The mystery is how a short stimulus leads...

Protein 'nanosprings' most resilient found in nature

...ransduction. Ankyrin proteins also coordinate the ion channels and transporters that control the beating of the heart. In 2004, Bennett's team linked mutations in the gene ankyrin-B to an inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndrome that can lead to sudden death ( http://www.dukemednews.org/news/article.php?id...

Forsyth scientists gain greater understanding of how embryos differentiate left from right

...ght asymmetry and identified a novel component: an ion transporter that creates strong natural voltage gr...lved in transmitting signals between neurons), and ion flow mechanisms. The data was strengthened by the operation of this mechanism through all three ver...

Unraveling the mysteries of poison

...The nerve or heart muscle cell is excited, and the ion channel structure changes, developing pores which ... though scientists had made great strides studying ion channels, using x-ray crystallography. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chem...

Novel method reveals how menthol discovery could point towards new or improved pain therapies

...ng that the misregulation of temperature-activated ion channels can result in chronic pain syndromes," sa...who directed the research. "In fact, some of these ion channels are considered targets to treat chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain indications. Und...

How sperm crack the whip

...ponents of pores in the sperm cell membrane called ion channels. In an alkaline environment, these pores ...the researchers had attempted to study the CatSper ion channel with a technique called patch clamp recording. In this widely used method of studying electr...

New study reveals promising osteoporosis treatment

...ros investigated the effect in rats of Mg/Zn/F-CaP ion combinations on several bone properties: strength, thickness, quality, and composition of bones. Dr. LeGeros divided a sample of 72 (36 males, 36 females) adult Sprague-Dawley rats (average weight, 160g) into six groups receiving the following diet...

Gene variation increases SIDS risk in African Americans

...of ions like sodium and potassium. A change in an ion channel, if it disrupts ion flow, can alter the cell's activity. So Goldstein's team concentrated on how Y1103 might change a c...

Ocean acidification threatens cold-water coral ecosystems

...tions that increase acidity and decrease carbonate ion concentration in seawater. Corals and other marine organisms (e.g. some species of plankton and mollusks) use carbonate ions to build their skeletons or shells. Model projections indicate that by 2100, only 30 percent of cold-water reefs will still ...

UCLA scientists strengthen case for life more than 3.8 billion years ago

...he rocks were analyzed with UCLA's high-resolution ion microprobe--an instrument that enables scientists ...ucture of the organisms. Harrison said of UCLA's ion microprobe and the research: "The individual samples are very small, and no other instrument would h...

UC Davis researchers move biotechnology closer to replacing electronic pacemakers

...the combined action of several proteins called HCN ion channels, which play a critical role in maintaining a normal, evenly paced heartbeat. These channels control the flow of sodium and potassium ions in and out of cells that regulate the electrical impulses of the heart. "These channels are critical...

Gatekeeping: Penn researchers find new way to open ion channels in cell membranes

...scovered a new way to open molecular pores, called ion channels, in the membrane of cells. The research t...al Nature, describes how SMase D opens one type of ion channel called a voltage-gated potassium channel (from brain, but experimentally expressed in the me...

One therapeutic dose of radiation causes 30 percent spongy bone loss in mice

...ived a different type of radiation: gamma, proton, ion or carbon. Those exposed to the carbon radiation suffered 39% spongy bone loss; proton, 35%; ion, 34%; and gamma, 29%. The loss of spongy connections in the four groups ranged from 46-64%, he said. Cancer patients typically receive either gamma or,...

Scientists solve sour taste proteins

...ste chemicals to identify which stimuli caused the ion channels to open. To visualize the presence of cal...en they added sour-tasting acids to the cells, the ion channels went from closed to open, enabling calcium ions to flow in, increasing their concentration ...

Scientists take 'snapshots' of enzyme action

...nzyme attached to the FMO, and transfers a hydride ion to it. That makes the FAD group capable of accepti...ygen is attached to the substrate, and the hydride ion obtained from the cofactor combines with the other oxygen atom to form a water molecule, which is re...

Light-sensitive photoswitches could restore sight to those with macular degeneration

...oscience Division of LBNL. It involves altering an ion channel commonly found in nerve cells so that the ...light unkinks it and replugs the channel, blocking ion flow. Isacoff said that this same photoswitch could be attached to a variety of proteins to push o...

With record resolution and sensitivity, tool images how life organizes in a cell membrane

...mass of small molecular ions formed when a focused ion beam runs across the surface of a sample. ''You ta...mbrane is studded with proteins like receptors and ion channels, which cross the membrane many times and transmit signals from the outside of the cell to t...

New mechanism explains glucose effect on wakefulness

...ey have discovered a role for a class of potassium ion channels whose role has remained largely unknown. Such ion channels are porelike proteins in the cell membrane that affect cellular responses by controlling th...

UCSD study reveals how plants respond to elevated carbon dioxide

... in the cells surrounding the leaf stomata calcium ion "spikes"--or rapid increases and then decreases in calcium ion concentrations within cells--changed in frequency according to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. As...

Study of gene transfer for erectile dysfunction shows promise

...ers and directing members. The therapy is known as ion channel therapy because the proteins it targets are potassium channels, "gates" within cells critical for contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle. At the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Christ is continuing to pursue the ther...

Researchers add to understanding of how brain cells communicate

... the patch clamp to see exactly when the magnesium ion entered and exited the ion channel. "Because of our currently limited understanding of NR1/2D receptors, drawing a direct lin...

New biochip helps study living cells, may speed drug development

..., Porterfield said. The chip also directly records ion concentrations without harming the cells, whereas ...d help develop drugs for human disorders involving ion channel malfunction, such as epilepsy and chronic pain. About 15 percent of the drugs currently in d...

A new understanding of how cells defend themselves against bacterial pore-forming toxins

... their membranes in order to maintain a particular ion concentration." The research focused on epithelial cells, the cells that line the gut and blood vessels. Van der Goot explains that because they form a protective layer, it's critical for the organism that these cells survive, even if they don't f...

Mars mission Risk 29: Scientists research ways to reduce radiation-induced brain damage

...tion induced by single or multiple space radiation ion exposures ...

New mechanism underlying pain found

...persistent pain may be caused by specific types of ion channels, called "pacemaker channels," which initi... in an increase in the activity of these pacemaker ion channels and the resulting transmission of pain signals to the brain. We are encouraged by early eva...

Motorola researchers develop selective sensors based on carbon nanotubes

... of nickel and be "blind" to any other heavy metal ion (copper, lead or zinc) passing over the carbon nanotubes. Tao added it's the combination of the structure of the nanotubes and the selectivity of the peptides that make the devices so powerful. "The nanotubes basically are a sheet of interconnec...

Fantastic Voyage: A new nanoscale view of the biological world

...hese "secondary ions" can then be manipulated with ion optics ?in the way lenses and prisms manipulate visible light - to create an atomic mass image of the sample. Lechene et al. developed MIMS by combining the use of a novel secondary-ion mass spectrometer developed by Georges Slodzian, from the Univer...

Researchers identify neurons that assign value during learning

...ies that express in distinct nerve cells a special ion channel, "channelrhodopsin-2," whose activity is light-sensitive (the protein is normally found in green algae). As a result of expressing channelrhodopsin-2, neurons could be activated simply by illuminating fruit fly larvae with blue light. This to...

Tarantula venom and chili peppers target same pain sensor

...toxins are incredibly useful for understanding how ion channels of the nervous system work. They give us clues as to how specific activators or blockers on these channels can be designed to treat persistent pain ?from arthritis, bladder infections, or other diseases." The researchers determined the ven...

Weighty viruses

...ry gentle ionization techniques and a miniaturized ion trap of their own devising to accurately analyze t...mass determination. Laser light is beamed into the ion trap. If a particle is present, it scatters the light. The scattered light can be detected through t...

Cancer cells forming blood vessels send their copper to the edge

... broad implications on the regulation of the metal ion content in metal-binding proteins. If such dramatic changes in where cellular copper is stored and used can happen so rapidly during angiogenesis, then the interactions of metal ions, such as copper, with the proteins and macromolecules that bind the...

Cholera pathogen reveals how bacteria generate energy to live

...tandard methods of determining structure. Since an ion pump needs to carry ions from one side of the bact...ane, which corresponds to the "intake" port of the ion pump. The second paper was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. In this study, Barqu...

Scripps Research study reveals new activation mechanism for pain sensing channel

... know exactly how cysteine binding translates into ion channel activation." But this activation mecha... property. "Generally, compounds that activate ion channels bind in a lock-and-key mechanism that is readily reversible," said Lindsey Macpherson, anot...

Brain networks strengthened by closing ion channels

...urrent study found that brain cells in PFC contain ion channels called hyperpolarization-activated cyclic...hotropic medication in such depth, at the level of ion channels." Arnsten said the excessive opening of HCN channels might underlie many lapses in highe...

Lead with a poisonous electron shield

...ng the calcium cation in the human body. A calcium ion binds to seven ligands at the active centers of th...m ions of calmodulin is replaced by lead, the lead ion remains roughly heptacoordinated, but this active center becomes distorted and inefficient; the thre...

Applied scientists create wrinkled 'skin' on polymers

...s on the surface areas of polymers using a focused ion beam. By controlling the direction and intensity of the ion beam, the researchers literally sculpted patterns on flat areas of polydimethylsiloxane, a silicon-b...