Cellular Biology News and Research

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Research offers first structural insights into 'client' protein shape in chaperone presence

In the constantly morphing field of protein structure, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute offer yet another surprise: a common "chaperone" protein in cells thought to help other proteins fold has been shown instead to loosen them.

4 Apr 2011

Potential HIV vaccine component undergoes dramatic protein rearrangement

An international study headed by a UC Davis scientist describes how a component of a potential HIV vaccine opens like a flower, undergoing one of the most dramatic protein rearrangements yet observed in nature. The finding could reveal new targets for vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. A paper describing the work was published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Apr 2011

Researchers develop new virus-based nerve-tracing technique

If, as Shakespeare's Juliet declared, a rose by any other name smells as sweet - to you and to me and to anyone else who sniffs it - then one might assume that our odor-sensing nerve cells are all wired in the same way. Alas, they are not, according to a new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.

31 Mar 2011

New discovery provides insight into complex Rad50 molecular motor function

Over the last years, two teams of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have steadily built a model of how a powerful DNA repair complex works. Now, their latest discovery provides revolutionary insights into the way the molecular motor inside the complex functions - findings they say may have implications for treatment of disorders ranging from cancer to cystic fibrosis.

28 Mar 2011

Mouse sperm created in lab: Hope for male infertility

In a scientific breakthrough, researchers report that they've grown mouse sperm from testicular tissue in the laboratory, a development that could advance the field of infertility in human males. Although still proven in mice, “this is a small but important step in understanding how sperm are formed, which may, in time, lead to us being able to grow human sperm in the laboratory,” said Dr. Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield in England, who is familiar with the study results.

24 Mar 2011

Researchers create hiPS-RPE cells to treat age-related macular degeneration

The notion of transplanting adult stem cells to treat or even cure age-related macular degeneration has taken a significant step toward becoming a reality. In a study published today in Stem Cells, Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to create retinal cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells that mimic the eye cells that die and cause loss of sight.

24 Mar 2011

Cell receptor recycling mechanism discovery opens up new class of therapeutic targets

Prof. Manojkumar Puthenveedu of Carnegie Mellon University studies the mechanisms by which membrane trafficking controls and co-ordinates the complex signalling pathways in the brain. Despite the fact that almost all diseases can be traced to a defect in how cells respond to signals, little is known about how signalling pathways are maintained in normal cells and the changes that occur in abnormal conditions.

23 Mar 2011

Combination therapy may overcome Herceptin-resistant breast cancer

Breast cancer tumors take numerous paths to resist the targeted drug Herceptin, but a single roadblock at a crucial crossroads may restore a tumor's vulnerability to treatment, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report on line at Nature Medicine.

14 Mar 2011

Israel grants patent to Kamada's Transferrin for use in Pharmaceutical Compositions

Kamada, a biopharmaceutical company developing, manufacturing and marketing specialty life-saving therapeutics, announced today it has received an Israeli Patent for its Ultrapure Transferrin to be used in Pharmaceutical Compositions.

10 Mar 2011

Efficient medical treatments to be showcased at SIR's 36th Annual Scientific Meeting

The Society of Interventional Radiology will feature minimally invasive scientific advances and new discoveries in treating a host of diseases at its 36th Annual Scientific Meeting March 26–31 at McCormick Place (West) in Chicago, Ill. The theme of the meeting is "IR Rising: Leading Image-guided Medicine," chosen to reflect interventional radiology's continued revolutionizing of modern medicine.

5 Mar 2011

New computer-controlled system to create cell assembly line

Borrowing a page from modern manufacturing, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have built a microscopic assembly line that mass produces synthetic cell-like compartments.

4 Mar 2011

ASU receives W. M. Keck $1 million grant to build next-generation 3D imaging microscope

The W. M. Keck Foundation has awarded Arizona State University a $1 million grant to the team of scientists led by Deirdre Meldrum, Ph.D., at the Biodesign Institute.

2 Mar 2011

MD Anderson physician honored for impact on blood, marrow transplantation

The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation has honored leader, innovator and educator Richard Champlin, M.D., with its Lifetime Achievement Award during the group's annual meeting Feb. 17-21.

23 Feb 2011

Metallic copper surfaces kill bacteria on contact

Metallic copper surfaces kill microbes on contact, decimating their populations, according to a paper in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. They do so literally in minutes, by causing massive membrane damage after about a minute's exposure, says the study's corresponding author, Gregor Grass of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. This is the first study to demonstrate this mechanism of bacteriocide.

17 Feb 2011

New study establishes link between coronary artery disease and genetic susceptibility

A new study involving researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute and Scripps Health patients reveals major scientific progress in understanding the mechanism of heart disease at the molecular and genomic levels. STSI is an initiative of Scripps Health in collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute.

14 Feb 2011

Scientists produce SR-3306 compound to protect brain cells from Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have produced the first known compound to show significant effectiveness in protecting brain cells directly affected by Parkinson's disease, a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

13 Feb 2011

BBSRC, EMBL-EBI applaud funding allocation for European Life-science Infrastructure for Biological Information

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) welcome news that funding has been earmarked from the UK's Large Facilities Capital Fund for ELIXIR - the European Life-science Infrastructure for Biological Information - as announced today (09 February 2011).

9 Feb 2011

Scientists develop novel technique to detect disordered protein folding

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego have developed a novel technique to observe previously unknown details of how folded structures are formed from an intrinsically disordered protein.

9 Feb 2011

New study provides insight into mechanism behind breast cancer mutation

A new study sheds light on why individuals who inherit a particular family of mutations have a high risk of developing a very aggressive form of breast cancer. The research, published by Cell Press on February 4th in the journal Cell Stem Cell, shows that breast tissue cells from these individuals make abnormal cell-fate decisions even before cancer develops and provides exciting new insights into the mechanisms behind one of the most lethal types of breast cancer.

4 Feb 2011

Four-gene/protein signature more accurately predicts metastatic prostate cancer

Prostate tumors that carry a "signature" of four molecular markers have the potential to become dangerously metastatic if not treated aggressively, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report in a study published online today by the journal Nature. The discovery lays the groundwork for the first gene-based test for determining whether a man's prostate cancer is likely to remain dormant within the prostate gland, or spread lethally to other parts of the body.

3 Feb 2011