Cytoskeleton News and Research

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Study offers new insights into mechanisms underlying action of motor proteins

A study published today offers a new understanding of the complex cellular machinery that animal and fungi cells use to ensure normal cell division, and scientists say it could one day lead to new treatment approaches for certain types of cancers.

4 Jan 2017

Scientists discover how motors maneuver cells' intricate roadway system

Much like motors power our cars, they also ensure that proteins get to the right place in our cells, and a wide variety of diseases - from cancer to heart problems - can result when they don't.

7 Dec 2016

Study reveals potential therapeutic targets for treating patients who carry IFNGR receptor mutation

The study began by taking the medical history of 11 children, all of whom had a disorder due to mycobacteria infections, as the basis. All were discovered to have the same phenotype with the same mutation, which was located in the interferon-gamma (IFNGR) receptor, so the group began to explore what was causing this dysfunction.

27 Oct 2016

Cancer cell's shape may offer clues for precise prognosis

Doctors can sometimes use a cancer cell's genetics to predict how it will act - how dangerous it is and thus what treatments should be used against it.

20 Oct 2016

Japanese researchers discover causative gene for common type of hearing loss

A causative gene for a highly common type of hearing loss (sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL) has been identified by a group of Japanese researchers, who successfully replicated the condition using a transgenic mouse.

6 Oct 2016

Researchers aim to stop breast cancer metastasis from happening altogether

A new Tel Aviv University study finds that combining genetic therapy with chemotherapy delivered to a primary tumor site is extremely effective in preventing breast cancer metastasis.

5 Oct 2016

Super-Resolution Imaging of Biological Specimens

In this interview, News Medical speaks to Dr. Manasa Gudheti of Bruker Nano Surfaces about biological specimens and how to acquire super-resolution images of them.

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 27 Sep 2016

Solid-state NMR in structural biology: an interview with Professor Tatyana Polenova

My research lab studies several classes of systems. We are mostly interested in looking at large protein assemblies to understand their structure, dynamics and how their properties relate to their malfunction in disease.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 21 Sep 2016

Mathematical model explains molecular events linked to learning and memory formation

A team of researchers has built a mathematical model that describes the molecular events associated with the beginning stage of learning and memory formation in the human brain.

9 Sep 2016

Surgical repair of mitral valve may provide greater benefit in patients with no symptoms

A new study recently published in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery questions whether patients with isolated moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation should receive treatment in earlier stages instead of waiting until symptoms appear.

25 Aug 2016

Penn researchers develop computer model for designing drug-delivery nanocarriers

A team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has developed a computer model that will aid in the design of nanocarriers, microscopic structures used to guide drugs to their targets in the body.

5 Aug 2016

Large study of familial ALS finds new gene variant present in 3% of all patients with disease

Variations in a gene with multiple functions in neurons are present in approximately 3 percent of all cases of ALS in North American and European populations, both sporadic and familial, making it one of the most common genetic causes of the disease, according to a paper published in Nature Genetics.

26 Jul 2016

Researchers discover new biological pathway involved in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have identified a new biological pathway involved in Alzheimer's disease. In experiments using fruit flies, blocking the pathway reduced the death of brain cells, suggesting that interfering with the pathway could represent a promising new strategy to treat the disease in human patients.

13 Jul 2016

Researchers study how skin stem cells respond to forces

All cells share the same genetic code, no matter if they are skin or brain cells. However, these cells are exposed to very different types of mechanical environments and mechanical stresses.

13 Jul 2016

Lack of Alix protein leads to occurrence of hydrocephalus in the brain

A team led by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital report that mice lacking the protein Alix develop hydrocephalus or "water on the brain." Alix ensures that epithelial cells of the choroid plexus are oriented correctly with respect to one another to prevent compromise of the epithelial barrier.

23 Jun 2016

Excessive AhR signaling helps explain dioxin-induced abnormal behavioral alterations in mice

Dioxins are environmental pollutants that stay in the body for long periods of time because they can accumulate in fat tissue. They are mainly by-products of combustion and industrial processes.

15 Jun 2016

Measuring specific proteins in blood samples may help track progression of dementias

Reliable information can be obtained on the progression of dementias by measuring specific proteins in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid. A test of this kind is especially significant to the development of new therapies, as reported in the journal Neuron by scientists from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, along with international colleagues.

10 Jun 2016

Researchers explore use of miR-192 as clinical marker for pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is regarded as the cancer type with the lowest survival rates. Fewer than seven in 100 patients survive the first five years after diagnosis. Clinicians attribute this devastating prognosis to two circumstances: Pancreatic cancers often do not cause any signs or symptoms and by the time they are detected they have already reached a very advanced stage in most cases.

2 Jun 2016

Motor protein Myo1c uses actin cytoskeleton as 'track' for Neph1 transport

The motor protein Myo1c binds to Neph1, a protein crucial for ensuring effective filtration by the kidney, and serves as one mode of its cellular transport, according to findings by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina and their collaborators reported in the May 16, 2016 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

17 May 2016

Cells have ability to perceive their own shapes, new study shows

Can a cell sense its own shape? Working in the Marine Biological Laboratory's Whitman Center, scientists from Dartmouth College developed an ingenious experiment to ask this question. Their conclusion - Yes - is detailed in a recent paper in the Journal of Cell Biology.

29 Apr 2016