Membrane News and Research

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Study reveals how lipids control SH2 domain-mediated cellular protein interactions

Prof. You-Me Kim and her student Dajung Jung at Pohang University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with Prof. Wonhwa Cho's group at the University of Illinois at Chicago, have identified that the majority of human Src homology 2 (SH2) domains not only bind to proteins, but also interact with membrane lipids with high affinity and specificity.

29 Mar 2016

KAIST researchers develop bio-medical imaging tool to view, analyze live cells

Professor YongKeun Park of the Physics Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and his research team have developed a powerful method for 3D imaging of live cells without staining. The researchers announced the launch of their new microscopic tool, the holotomography (HT)-1, to the global marketplace through a Korean start-up that Professor Park co-founded, TomoCube.

29 Mar 2016

Changing one atom in InsP6 inhibitor can increase its ability to neutralize toxins in the gut

Infections with bacterium Clostridium difficile have rapidly become a significant medical problem in hospitals and long-term care facilities. The bacteria cause diarrhea and life-threatening inflammation of the colon by producing toxins that kill the endothelial cells that form the lining of the gut.

26 Mar 2016

Austrian scientists detect new membrane-bound arsenic substances in herring caviar

Seafish are known for their capability to accumulate toxic trace elements like mercury or arsenic. These elements are metabolized and end up chemically bound to organic compounds found in cell constituents like the membranes.

24 Mar 2016

FEI, NovAliX to jointly provide cryo-EM-based structural analysis services for pharmaceutical and biotech industry

FEI and NovAliX, a contract research organization (CRO), announced today a strategic partnership to enable NovAliX to provide commercial cryo-electron microscopy (EM)-based structural analysis services to its customers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Electron Microscopy Solutions 23 Mar 2016

Scientists provide overview of most promising compounds to combat prostate cancer

Scientists from MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), MSU (Moscow State University), and National University of Science and Technology “MISIS” provided an overview of the most promising compounds which can be used as medications for prostate cancer.

23 Mar 2016

Liverpool researchers use JPK's NanoWizard AFM system to study biological membrane structures, protein dynamics

JPK Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter, reports on the use of their NanoWizard ULTRA Speed AFM system at the University of Liverpool in the group of Dr Luning Liu of the Institute of Integrative Biology to study biological membrane structures and protein dynamics.

From Bruker BioAFM 23 Mar 2016

Addition of just two DNA bases to LdAQP1 gene helps Black Fever parasite to overcome antimonial drugs

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists show how the parasite responsible for the neglected tropical disease Black Fever (visceral leishmaniasis) can become resistant to drug treatment. Studying the whole genomes of more than 200 samples of Leishmania donovani revealed that the addition of just two bases of DNA to a gene known as LdAQP1 stops the parasite from absorbing antimonial drugs.

23 Mar 2016

Extracellular Vesicle Isolation and Characterization

In this interview, News Medical talks to Dr. Carly Ross, from Beckman Coulter Life sciences about extracellular vesicle isolation and characterization.

From Beckman Coulter Life Sciences - Flow Cytometry 23 Mar 2016

ORNL-NIST researchers reveal nondestructive way to observe nanoscale objects and processes

When lots of energy hits an atom, it can knock off electrons, making the atom extremely chemically reactive and initiating further destruction. That's why radiation is so dangerous. It's also why high-resolution imaging techniques that use energetic electron beams and X-rays can alter, even obliterate, the samples they explore. For example, monitoring battery dynamics using electron microscopy can introduce artifacts that interfere with electrochemical processes.

22 Mar 2016

University of Copenhagen researchers discover Achilles heel of bacteria

Drug resistant bacteria are fast becoming one of the big worries of the 21 century. Now researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a previously unknown weakness; an "Achilles heel", of bacteria. Their discovery, a crucial step in bacteria's energy metabolism, may be the first step in developing an entirely novel form of antibiotics

22 Mar 2016

Researchers disprove previously assumed behavior of macrophage immune cells

What happens when macrophage immune cells are activated in the course of an inflammation to combat pathogens such as bacteria or viruses? Researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg pursued this very question. The researchers discovered that the immune cells behave differently from what was previously assumed. Their metabolism upholds the production of antimicrobial substances and fatty acids during activation. In this way, they deliver important resources for the immune responses they trigger.

21 Mar 2016

Inhibiting cholesterol esterification can potentiate antitumor activity of killer T cells

As key players in the immune system, T cells provide tumor surveillance and have direct antitumor effects. However, tumors can escape T-cell attack through various mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment. Reactivating the antitumor effects of T cells has shown great clinical benefits in treating various cancers.

18 Mar 2016

Molecular basis for tongue cancer progression: an interview with Dr Simona Principe

Head and neck cancers (HNC) are the sixth most common cancers worldwide, with approximately 600,000 new cases diagnosed every year.

From Beckman Coulter Life Sciences - Centrifugation 17 Mar 2016

WSU researcher explores new drugs to treat neurological disorders linked to autophagic dysfunction

Repairing the brain's "house-cleaning function," which could help people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 100 other diseases, is the focus of recently funded research at Washington State University.

17 Mar 2016

Homeostasis may have allowed first living cells to maintain internal environment

A Massachusetts General Hospital research team investigating how the earliest stages of life might have developed has discovered a way the first living cells could have met a key challenge -- maintaining a constant internal environment, a process called homeostasis, even when external conditions change.

17 Mar 2016

Theoretical modelling helps to understand interior structures of cubosomes

Under certain conditions appropriately selected particles can form closed surfaces in liquids with surprisingly complex shapes, cutting through space by a regular network of channels. So far, we have looked at cubosomes - for this is what these spectacular three-dimensional nanostructures are called - only from the outside.

16 Mar 2016

UCSF study marks important step toward finding cure for Ebola

In experiments carried out partly at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists have determined in atomic detail how a potential drug molecule fits into and blocks a channel in cell membranes that Ebola and related "filoviruses" need to infect victims' cells.

15 Mar 2016

Combining photoimmunotherapy and gene transduction effective against elusive gastric cancer cells

Researchers report photoimmunotherapy to be effective against elusive gastric cancer cells following transduction with the gene that expresses the extracellular domain protein of HER2. The results are published in the journal Small Molecule Therapeutics in February 2016.

15 Mar 2016

Liposomes can be potential candidates for drug delivery to constricted coronary arteries

Liposomes are currently used as drug delivery vehicles but recognized by the immune system. Scientists from the universities of Basel and Fribourg have shown that special artificial liposomes do not elicit any reaction in human and porcine sera as well as pigs.

14 Mar 2016