sticky

Nanobacteria in clouds could spread disease, scientists claim

...explained Professor Wickramasinghe. "Remnants of a sticky protein (slime) coating nanobacteria makes them act as extremely efficient cloud condensation nuclei, with a tendency to aggregate to clusters upon contact." Their work corroborates the findings of Ruprecht Jaenicke, of the Institute for Atmospheric...

Engineers improve plastic's potential for use in implants by linking it to biological material

... a process that was repeated four more times. The sticky peptide selected, known as T59, is a string of 12 amino acids. To make certain that something else on the outer surface of the bacteriophage virus wasn't responsible for its perceived stickiness, the researchers demonstrated that T59 by itself could ...

Innovative coating could give medical implants a longer life

...short peptide that is the synthetic version of the sticky dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) molecule that gives mussels their adhesive or anchoring strength and a longer peptoid polymer resembling the structure of polyethylene glycol (PEG), a widely studied antifouling polymer. "We had a rich chemistry availab...

Redesigned protein accelerates blood clotting

...t of thrombin, which in turn generates fibrin, the sticky protein strands that form a web-like clot over damaged tissue. Calcium, a metallic element, must be present for factor VIII to work. Factor VIII has on its surface pocket-like chains of amino acids shaped to hold calcium ions (calcium binding sites)....

Ants, not evil spirits, create devil's gardens in the Amazon rainforest, study finds

...irsuta tree actively patrolled by worker ants. A sticky insect barrier was applied to one cedar sapling to exclude ants, while the other sapling was left untreated. The researchers planted two additional saplings--one treated, one untreated--about 150 feet outside of each garden but within the primary rai...

Targeting a key enzyme with gene therapy reversed course of Alzheimer's disease in mouse models

... amyloid fragments that clump together to form the sticky plaques. One of the enzymes doing the cleaving is called beta secretase or BACE1. And although the production of beta amyloid occurs in all brains, healthy brains are able to clear away excess amounts. Brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, on t...

DNA self-assembly used to mass-produce patterned nanostructures

...nd with reciprocal bases. Tiles with complementary sticky ends link together when mixed. The structure of t...as to specify a sequence of bases for each pair of sticky ends at the end of each of the 16 tiles' four arms (a total of 128 sequences) that would bind a tile...

Many needles, many haystacks

...ne journal, PLoS Biology. A protein consists of a sticky string of amino acids which usually folds up because of attractions between some of its atoms. This creates a bundle called a globular domain whose shape and chemistry determine what other molecules can bind to it. "If we could look at the chemical ...

Sea slug mixes chemical defense before firing at predators

...-arginine in the opaline gland, which produces the sticky white component of the secretion, and escapin in the ink gland, which produces the purple dye in the secretion. "Aplysia packages these innocuous precursors separately and then releases them simultaneously into its mantle cavity at the precise time ...

Viral protein helps infected T cells stick to uninfected cells

...tivates infected T cells and causes them to become sticky and adhere to other T cells. The greater stickiness happens because the p12 viral protein causes special adherence proteins found on the surface of T cells to cluster in large groups ?something that normally happens when T cells touch to communicat...

Scientists discover basic defect in cystic fibrosis airway glands

...ord University have determined that the buildup of sticky mucus found in cystic fibrosis is caused by a loss...ited States. It causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that builds up in the lungs and blocks the airways. This makes it easy for bacteria to grow a...

Johns Hopkins lab scientists tame overactive CF protein

...mark of CF that causes dangerous buildup of thick, sticky mucous in several organs, including the pancreas and the lungs, leading to malnutrition, chronic lung infections and lung damage. Cells have a built-in quality-control machinery called ERAD (endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation), which chemi...

Tiny shock absorbers help bacteria stick around inside the body

Bacteria have hair-like protrusions with a sticky protein on the tip that lets them cling to surface...e level that corresponds to the force at which the sticky protein tip forms the most stable bond with the surface. Thus, the mechanical and adhesive features ...

Sticky surfaces turn slippery with the flip of a molecular light switch

Changing a surface from sticky to slippery could now be as easy as flipping a mol...light is like flipping a molecular switch, causing sticky proteins to detach from the surface and wash away in the liquid, the researchers report. Not only i...

'Sticky' mice lead to discovery of new cause of neurodegenerative disease

... discovery by studying mice with a mutation called sticky (sti). Although named for the sticky appearance of their fur, the mice harbor much more serious problems beneath their unkempt coats: poo...

UCSD researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

...ation when the receptors change from non-sticky to sticky ?in other words, by blocking the ability of GPIIb-IIIa to activate. "Up until now, scientists have had a limited understanding of the pathways leading to platelet integrin activation, though we have developed a long list of what might impact the act...

New engineered drug may offer prolonged arthritis relief

...at normal body temperature. When he injected the sticky ELP into the knees of rats, the protein proved to ...he injected dose," Setton said. In contrast, the sticky ELP took about two weeks to fall to the 10 percent level in the animals' joints -- a "really substan...

Coated nanoparticles solve sticky drug-delivery problem

... with a chemical that helps them slip through this sticky barrier. During experiments with these coated particles, the researchers also discovered that mucus layers have much larger pores than previously thought, providing a doorway that should allow larger and longer-acting doses of medicine to reach t...

Manual dishwashing study digs up dirt on dish cleanliness

...orks is a good idea, especially those covered with sticky foods like cheese." Although cheesy forks were the most problematic utensil, milk dried onto glasses protected bacteria more than any other food. Pascall explained that milk is a good growth medium in the laboratory, but why it adheres to glass so...

Anti-dandruff compound may help fight epilepsy

... open longer. It’s like a tunable hinge that helps sticky doors swing freely.? The researchers then tested defective channels that contain the same mutations known in humans to cause mild epilepsy-like seizures in infants. Bathing cells with small amounts of ZnPy caused the mutant potassium channels to l...