Double Membrane News and Research

RSS

SARS-CoV-2 launches multipronged attack against host cell protein synthesis, study finds

An interesting new study throws a flood of light on how SARS-CoV-2 accomplishes its mission to infect and replicate within host cells while evading the host immune response.

27 Nov 2020

Scientists show SARS-CoV-2's viral replication with 3D integrative imaging

A team of researchers at Heidelberg University in Germany have performed a detailed imaging analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection to determine how the virus reprograms infected cells.

24 Nov 2020

RNA-binding proteins may suppress antiviral defenses against SARS-CoV-2

Conducted by researchers in South Korea at the Institute for Basic Science and the International Vaccine Institute, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in November 2020 describes the many host proteins that bind with the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and regulate the replication of the virus.

4 Nov 2020

Research on autophagy and coronavirus, implicates ULK1

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have discovered that the betacoronavirus-encoded papain-like protease disrupts autophagy, partly by targeting ULK1. Their work is reported on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020.

27 Oct 2020

CRISPR screening identifies human host pathways that facilitate coronavirus infection

The human coronavirus family consists of 7 known pathogens, for which there are no approved vaccines or specific therapeutic options. Although the seasonal human coronaviruses - OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63 – only cause mild respiratory infections, three highly pathogenic coronaviruses that emerged in the last two decades revealed the pandemic potential of this family of viruses.

27 Sep 2020

Diabetes leads to drastic reduction in the kidney's potential to clean itself

The kidneys often become bulky and dysfunctional in diabetes, and now scientists have found that one path to this damage dramatically reduces the kidney's ability to clean up after itself.

22 Sep 2020

Scientists reconstruct factors involved in the formation of autophagosomes

Autophagy, from the Greek for 'self-eating', is an essential process that isolates and recycles cellular components under conditions of stress or when resources are limited.

4 Sep 2020

Inhaled steroid ciclesonide suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro

A new paper by researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the in vitro suppression of coronavirus (CoV) replication by an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) ciclesonide.

26 Aug 2020

Oxygen-deprived breast cancer cells send out messages that promote cancer progression

According to a study by The Wistar Institute, breast cancer cells starved for oxygen send out messages that induce oncogenic changes in surrounding normal epithelial cells.

11 Aug 2020

Coronavirus-specific structure in cells may lead to new antiviral strategies

By visualizing coronavirus replication in an infected host cell, researchers may have answered a long-standing question about how newly synthesized coronavirus components are able to be incorporated into fully infectious viruses.

7 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection modeling in iPSC-derived type 2 cells

The most fatal form of COVID-19 disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), caused by direct viral injury as well as indirect noxious effects caused by cytotoxic chemicals and inflammatory processes. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows that this is partly due to the rapid onset of inflammation caused by the infection of type 2 alveolar cells with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

2 Jul 2020

Genomic variation and descent of SARS-CoV-2 strains in India

The pandemic of COVID-19 that is still affecting over 188 countries and territories the world over has taken over 359,000 lives in just under five months, while affecting at least 5.8 million people. Different strains have diverged from the original strain detected in Wuhan, China.

28 May 2020

New bacteria-killing light-activated coating

A new antimicrobial coating that can be activated by light has been reported by researchers in the journal Nature Communications, in March 2020. The coating can be used to prevent transmission from computer and phone screens and keyboards, the inside of catheters, and breathing tubes. All these are significant routes of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

5 Mar 2020

Aging nerve cells fail to take out the intracellular "trash"

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have found that with age the neurons or nerve cells fail to perform an activity that they could when they were younger. The team explains that normal cells take out protein and other “trash” or “garbage” through a process of autophagy. This rids the cell of the dysfunctional proteins and aggregates of unused proteins.

22 Jul 2019

Study: Atg2 tethers pre-autophagosomal membrane to endoplasmic reticulum during autophagosome formation

Postdoctoral Researcher Tetsuya Kotani, Associate Professor Hitoshi Nakatogawa, Honorary Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi and colleagues at Tokyo Institute of Technology have analyzed the Atg protein Atg2, whose function had been completely unknown, and have discovered that Atg2 tethers the pre-autophagosomal membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum during autophagosome formation.

23 Oct 2018

Resistance training enhances cellular recycling in muscle cells

A new study has shown that resistance training among previously untrained men increases autophagosome content, but that this effect may be blunted by aging.

9 Apr 2018

Researchers delineate architecture of nuclear pore complex in yeast cells

Like an island nation, the nucleus of a cell has a transportation problem. Evolution has enclosed it with a double membrane, the nuclear envelope, which protects DNA but also cuts it off from the rest of the cell. Nature's solution is a massive--by molecular standards--cylindrical configuration known as the nuclear pore complex, through which imports and exports travel, connecting the bulk of the cell with its headquarters.

16 Mar 2018

Researchers produce complete 3D structure for yeast Nuclear Pore Complex

For the first time, researchers have produced a nearly complete three-dimensional structure for the yeast Nuclear Pore Complex. This discovery represents a major step toward identifying the atomic structure of the NPC, which soon may provide researchers with a better understanding of how the central transport channel functions.

15 Mar 2018

Antimicrobial peptide packaged in silicon nanoparticle could combat drug-resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, especially among a type of bacteria that are classified as "Gram-negative." These bacteria have two cell membranes, making it more difficult for drugs to penetrate and kill the cells.

13 Jul 2017

ULK1, ULK2 enzymes play key role in maintaining cellular homeostasis

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have uncovered how two enzymes, ULK1 and ULK2, which are best known for their role in the degradation and recycling of proteins, control the trafficking of specific proteins.

23 May 2016