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Tag: "polymers" at biology news

One-dimensional diffusion accelerates molecular motors

...is made up of microtubules; which are tiny protein polymers that can be built up and torn down like scaffolding. They also make up "tracks", along which motor proteins pull the halves of chromosomes into existing daughter cells. Until now, scientists have not known how the length of microtubule gets regulated...

Study reveals details of mussels' tenacious bonds

...rm covalent bonds between adhesive DOPA-containing polymers and human tissue surfaces." ...

Microscopic scaffolding offers a 'simple' solution to treating skin injuries

...to help them grow in a safe, natural way." The polymers used in the scaffold are biodegradable materials a... be 'dumb' (i.e. not overly sophisticated), simple polymers can be used. The process for making the scaffolds is based on the well-known technique of electr...

Polymers show promise for lab-on-a-chip technology

...earchers are touting the use of liquid crystalline polymers (LCP) as a viable tool for use in devices such as ...imuli into mechanical energy, Elias said. LCPs are polymers made from liquid crystalline molecules, which are well-known for their use in display applications, ...

MIT researchers build tiny batteries with viruses

..., they can be complexed between oppositely charged polymers to form thin, flexible sheets. The result? A dense, virus-loaded film that serves as an anode. A report on the work will appear in the April 7 issue of Science. Belcher, the Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biolog...

Stable polymer nanotubes may have a biotech future

...l containers with bi-layer membranes consisting of polymers with one end that likes water and one end that doe...to break bonds between atoms in one section of the polymers and induce new bonds to form between the two different sections, forming a rigid "cross-linked" memb...

FDA approves first medical device using rutgers biomaterial

..."There are only a handful of synthetic, degradable polymers that have an FDA approval history ?therefore, the ...this way, we can create a large variety of related polymers from a small number of initial starting materials." The result in this case was a library of 112 s...

Nano-particles effective in killing cancer with one-two punch of chemotherapeutics

... two layers of synthetic polymers. The individual polymers are degradable and considerably larger than indivi...ry their drug combination to the tumor. The large polymers making up the shell allow paclitaxel, which is water-insoluble, to embed within the shell. Doxorubi...

Discovery of new molecular tools for biosynthesis could lead to advances in use of pectin

...g enzymes involved in pectin biosynthesis. Pectic polymers appear to have multiple roles in growth, development and disease resistance, and the new tools will open new areas of inquiry for researchers. "We could, for instance, modify a pectic structure to get a specific biological effect," said Mohnen. "Th...

Environmental metagenomics diagnosing extreme environments, tapping opportunities for clean energy

...n't extract energy from the complex lignocellulose polymers within it," Rubin says. "These polymers are broken down into simple sugars by fermenting microbes in the termite's gut, using enzymes that p...

Pair of studies offer new clues to combat antibiotic resistance

...e membrane surrounding gram-positive bacteria. The polymers are considered essential for bacterial survival. Until now, these enzyme precursors have been difficult to study due to their presence in low amounts, complexity and insolubility, says study leader Suzanne Walker, Ph.D., a professor in the Microbiolo...

A biosensor layered like lasagna

...in and come into contact with the enzymes." "The polymers trap the enzymes in place," Liu said. "You can go up to five or six layers to improve the sensitivity of the detector, but after that, the more enzyme layers" inhibit diffusion of the glucose. Now that the glucose enzyme biosensor has passed the te...

Nanotubes inspire new technique for healing broken bones

...een made from a wide variety of materials, such as polymers or peptide fibers, but they have a number of drawbacks, including low strength and the potential for rejection in the body. "Compared with these scaffolds, the high mechanical strength, excellent flexibility and low density of carbon nanotubes make ...

Proteomics brings researchers closer to understanding microbes that produce acid mine drainage

... the responsibility in producing the extracellular polymers that make the biofilm matrix upon which all community members depend," Banfield said. "It's like it's a slave." The team also was able to identify important acid-stable proteins, including the iron oxidizing protein in Leptospirillum group II bacter...

The making and breaking of microtubules

Microtubules are active protein polymers critical to the structure and function of cells an...rowth." Building a microtubule: Microtubules are polymers whose basic units are pairs (dimers) of similar but not identical tubulin proteins, dubbed the alpha...

Innovative coating could give medical implants a longer life

...ening patients with infections. Unfortunately, the polymers that studies have shown to be effective at antifouling do not last long in-vivo, falling prey to chemical degradation or to the body's enzymes. In contrast, the molecular compound developed at Northwestern, which sticks securely to a surface and pre...

Polymers with copper show promise for implanted sensors

...nsors that were coated with nitric oxide-releasing polymers has promising preliminary results with a new strat...e-releasing polymers, then coated sensors with the polymers and implanted the sensors into the arteries of laboratory animals. "We always see an improvement in ...

Probing the promise and perils of nanoparticles

...volved. The usual explanation for how polycationic polymers and similar nanoparticles get into cells involves a process called polycation-mediated endocytosis. But Hong's experiments suggest that nanoscale hole formation may be at least as important in allowing materials to travel through membranes. The work...

Self-assembled nano-sized probes allow Penn researchers to see tumors through flesh and skin

... nanometer-sized light-emitting structure. "These polymers are also larger than phospholipids, so that there is enough space for the fluorophores, which are larger than the average molecule that is found inside cell membranes," said Hammer, professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering at Penn's Sc...

Duke Chemists Isolating Individual Molecules Of Toxic Protein In Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease

... that are the building blocks of the toxic protein polymers known as amyloid fibrils. Atomic force microscopes use a sharp microscopic tip to image surfaces and detect energy differences by mechanically probing molecular surfaces. In a poster presentation at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting, th...

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