Eukaryotic cell News and Research

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Discovery of critical detail of cellular defense against genetic mistakes

Researchers are closing in on a completed diagram of how human cells protect themselves against constant genetic mistakes that contribute to most diseases, according to a study to be published in the April 18 edition of the journal Cell.

17 Apr 2008

International team of scientists discover clue to delay of life on Earth

Scientists from around the world have reconstructed changes in Earth's ancient ocean chemistry during a broad sweep of geological time, from about 2.5 to 0.5 billion years ago.

28 Mar 2008

Scientists identify key protein in cell's 'self-eating' function

Molecular biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found one piece of the complex puzzle of autophagy, the process of "self-eating" performed by all eukaryotic cells - cells with a nucleus - to keep themselves healthy.

12 Mar 2008

Scientists characterizes novel regulator of chromosome function

The Stowers Institute's Workman Lab has shed new light on a novel histone acetyltransferase protein complex called ATAC.

11 Mar 2008

Biochemists reveal details of mysterious bacterial microcompartments

UCLA biochemists and colleagues have answered an important question about the structure of microcompartments - the mysterious molecular machines that seem to be present in a wide variety of pathogens and other bacteria.

21 Feb 2008

New control mechanism for genetic code translation discovered in bacteria

Almost all organisms, from bacteria to human beings, share the same genetic code, a group of universal instructions used to convert DNA or RNA sequences into proteins, the "building blocks" of life.

17 Feb 2008

New insights into Legionella pneumophila

A study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org) describes new insights into Legionella pneumophila, the bacteria responsible for most cases of Legionnaires' disease.

7 Feb 2008

Novel method for assigning probabilities to human protein interactions

The Stowers Institute's Proteomics Center has published a novel method of using normalized spectral counts derived from a series of affinity purifications analyzed by mass spectrometry (APMS) to generate a probabilistic measure of the preference of proteins to associate with one another.

25 Jan 2008

Model developed that predicts molecular response of living cells to genetic or environmental change

Scientists at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), in collaboration with researchers from New York University (NYU), have developed a model which rapidly characterizes and accurately predicts the molecular-level, mechanistic response of a free-living cell to genetic and environmental changes.

28 Dec 2007

Researchers report protein interactions of MAP kinase signaling pathway

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab, in collaboration with the Institute's Imaging Center, has achieved a quantitative in vivo measurement of the dynamic protein-protein interactions in the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade signaling pathway, which is critical to growth and differentiation decisions in all eukaryotic cells.

14 Dec 2007

Scientists seek to assess the microbial risks in the water we drink

It is a familiar scenario experienced around the world: an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness suddenly emerges in a community, and no one knows where it came from or how to stop it. At the start of the outbreak, only a few people are affected, most often the very old and the very young.

12 Dec 2007

Pathogens use previously undescribed mechanism to sabotage host immune system

New research identifies a previously unknown enzymatic mechanism that subverts the early host immune response and promotes pathogenicity by manipulating a common signaling pathway in host cells.

10 Dec 2007

Tainted spinach reveals treatment possibilities

A discovery by University at Buffalo biologists that may explain the evolution of a lethal toxin is providing new information that could lead to more effective treatments for humans who fall victim to it.

3 Dec 2007

New genetic findings on malaria parasite

The malaria parasite has been studied for decades, but surprisingly, little is known about how it behaves in humans to cause disease.

29 Nov 2007

Regulation of TATA-less promoters

In their upcoming G&D paper, Dr. Robert Tjian (UC Berkeley) and colleagues reveal how histone gene expression is differentially regulated during Drosophila development.

2 Nov 2007

Discovery of protein that plays a key role in the recycling of iron from blood

Scientists working in the only lab at MIT doing hematology research have uncovered a protein that plays a key role in the recycling of iron from blood. Their work, described in the October 11 Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to new therapies for certain inherited blood disorders such as beta-thalassemia, a condition that causes chronic anemia.

12 Oct 2007

How Candida albicans transforms from its normally benign form into life-threatening form

Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered new molecular mechanisms that provide a more detailed understanding of how the normally benign Dr. Jekyll-like fungus known as Candida albicans transforms into a serious and often life-threatening Mr. Hyde-like form.

4 Oct 2007

Protein architectures provide window on the history of life

The present can tell you a lot about the past, but you need to know where to look.

2 Oct 2007

Genetic sequence of Giardia complete

Giardia lamblia, one of the most common human parasites in the United States, causes more than 20,000 intestinal infections a year, often through contact with contaminated drinking or swimming water.

27 Sep 2007

RecA family recombinases repair DNA damages

A biochemistry research team led by Dr. Andrew H.-J. Wang and Dr. Ting-Fang Wang at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica(IBCAS), has discovered that the RecA family recombinases function as a new type of rotary motor proteins to repair DNA damages.

13 Sep 2007