molecules 2 1

Tag: "molecules" at biology news

Carnegie Mellon scientists find key HIV protein makes cell membranes bend more easily

...r for the cell against intruders, yet also contain molecules to recognize and communicate with other cells or get nutrients. Cells also communicate with one another via small, membrane-bound vesicles that contain proteins or other molecular cargo. When delivering their goods, vesicles from one cell fuse with t...

Nicotine rush hinges on sugar in neurons

...The results reveal an important role for the sugar molecules in such proteins. “Our studies fill a major gap ...cture suggested a simple mechanical role for sugar molecules attached to the surface of the receptor. “They serve as the link between the neurotransmitter bind...

Common cancer gene sends death order to tiny killer

...r of studies have demonstrated that these tiny RNA molecules are frequently abnormal in cancer cells. "P53 is one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancers," says Mendell. "And there is now a great deal of evidence that microRNAs themselves can act to either promote cancer or to stop cancer spread...

Cellular message movement captured on video

...tainly don’t know all the interactions among these molecules that bring the cell into action.” Examining liv...ing-Li Hu, filmed red-fluorescence-tagged paxillin molecules traveling from cells’ outer membrane along green-fluorescence-labeled traces of cytoskeleton. Even w...

Brain inflammation may be friend, not foe, for Alzheimer's patients

... promotes brain inflammation, was one of the first molecules that scientists found in higher levels in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy people. It’s recognized as a critical player in bringing about much of the brain damage that follows a stroke and brain injury, so it’s no sur...

Simulations unravel outer membrane transport mechanism

...rating machinery to power the job of hauling large molecules inside. The new study examined an outer membran...llel sheets that form a tunnel through which large molecules can pass. Another region of the protein, the luminal domain, clogs this barrel until the cell is rea...

How sneaky HIV escapes cells

...kins. Cells normally export certain membrane-bound molecules to the outside world by means of small sacs known as exosomes. By studying human T-cells under a microscope, Gould, Yi Fang, Ning Wu, and other members of his team discovered what’s needed to qualify proteins for exosomal travel. “Surprisingly, al...

Newly found sensing system enables certain bacteria to resist human immune defenses

...m antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are defense molecules sent by the body to kill bacteria. Bacteria are divided into two types, gram-positive and gram-negative, with the primary difference being the nature of the bacterial cell wall. Little is known about how gram-positive bacteria—such as those that can...

Brightening prospects of using fluorescent nanotubes in medical applications

... for many biomedical uses: finding a way to attach molecules to the surface of the nanotubes that will allow them to bind to specific biological targets. The trick is to do so without dimming or extinguishing the nanotubes’ delicate fluorescence. An example of the possible medical applications of nanotube fl...

'Lucky 13' as new gene discovery offers further hope for childhood blindness

...ctions from the surface of cells capable of moving molecules around. However, mutations in the LCA5 gene only appear to cause defects in the retina. "We already know of a dozen genes which, when mutated, cause LCA," says Professor Chris Inglehearn from the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine at St James's...

Genetic factors are linked to fever following smallpox vaccination

...nd especially the IL-1 gene complex, are groups of molecules associated with inflammation and immune responses. The IL-1 gene complex, and especially the IL-1A gene, was the site most significantly associated with different risks of fever. “Vaccines are the safest and most effective way to prevent a numb...

Bacteria ferry nanoparticles into cells for early diagnosis, treatment

...seased tissues by inserting a cargo of fluorescent molecules into tumors that are ordinarily too small to be de... "These bacteria can potentially deliver specific molecules into a variety of cells," said Akin, the first author of a research paper appearing online this week...

Herpes virus hijacks DNA repair process

..., a type of protein that chemically modifies other molecules to activate different processes or transmit signals. Genetic comparisons with several human herpes viruses revealed kinases similar to orf36 in the human viruses. Scientists then took a similar kinase from human Epstein-Barr virus and showed that int...

Plastic that grows on trees

...ysts work during an atom-swapping phase that sugar molecules go through called mutarotation, in which an H (hydrogen) and OH (hydroxyl group) trade places. The hydrogen-hydroxyl position-switch that allows the catalytic conversion was verified by nuclear magnetic resonance performed at the William R. Wiley ...

Blood-brain barrier breached by new therapeutic strategy

...and non-invasive method for delivering therapeutic molecules across the blood-brain barrier. It has the potential to be applied to the treatment of a variety of brain infections and diseases. The researchers are now trying to improve the efficacy of this delivery system and to make a stable form of siRNA that ...

Human genetic 'deserts' are teeming with significant life

...alian transcriptomes [the set of all messenger RNA molecules produced in a population of cells] are made of a swarming mass of different overlapping transcripts, together with our findings that suggest we have only uncovered a portion of its complexity, has important implications for medicine, says Professor R...

Researchers develop buckyballs to fight allergy

...ly available, such as vitamin E. Free radicals are molecules that cause oxidative stress, which experts believe may be the basis of aging. “The immune system both protects us and causes harm, so we are always interested in finding new pathways to help manage the harmful effects,” said Kepley....

Helping chlorine-eating bacteria clean up toxic waste

...TCE). They do this by removing chlorine atoms from molecules and leaving less-toxic compounds behind. But D. ethenogenes strains work well at some sites and not so well at others, and nobody knows for sure why. In fact, very little is understood about how these organisms live and breathe. Normal laboratory ...

Study identifies 5 genetic themes key to keeping stem cells in a primitive, flexible state

...f these characteristics by tightly controlling how molecules can move within the nucleus. The study will be published in the June 20 edition of the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE. “You could call this a ‘theory-of-everything’ for stem cells,” said senior author Dr. Michael Rudnicki, referring to the o...

St. Jude study shows genes play an unexpected role in their own activation

... of stimuli including hormones and nerve-signaling molecules called neurotransmitters. The St. Jude team showed that each gene that responds to CREB chooses which co-factors, or helper molecules, CREB uses to activate that gene. This finding adds an important piece to the puzzle of how cells use CREB to ac...

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