Eukaryotic cell News and Research

RSS

Research focuses on evolution of sex and gamete function

The propagation of every animal on the planet is the result of sexual activity between males and females of a given species. But how did things get this way? Why two sexes instead of one? Why are sperm necessary for reproduction and how did they evolve? These as-yet-unresolved issues fascinate Timothy Karr, a developmental geneticist and evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute.

13 Aug 2012

New method could increase number of genetic components in synthetic biologists' toolkit

Through the assembly of genetic components into "circuits" that perform logical operations in living cells, synthetic biologists aim to artificially empower cells to solve critical problems in medicine, energy and the environment. To succeed, however, they'll need far more reliable genetic components than the small number of "off-the-shelf" bacterial parts now available.

3 Aug 2012

Microbiologists reveal how T. brucei’s key proteins organize to replicate its mtDNA

A group of diseases that kill millions of people each year can't be touched by antibiotics, and some treatment is so harsh the patient can't survive it. They're caused by parasites, and for decades researchers have searched for a "magic bullet" to kill them without harming the patient. Now, a team of microbiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has made an advance that could one day lead to a new weapon for fighting parasitic diseases such as African sleeping sickness, chagas disease and leishmaniasis.

11 Jul 2012

Giant cells protect fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection

Giant cells called "titan cells" protect the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans during infection, according to two University of Minnesota researchers. Kirsten Nielsen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of microbiology, and recent Ph.D. recipient Laura Okagaki believe their discovery could help develop new ways to fight infections caused by Cryptococcus.

28 May 2012

DFG to establish seven new research units

The establishment of six new Research Units and one Clinical Research Unit has been decided by the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). These networks will offer researchers the opportunity to address current and pressing issues in their fields and to pioneer innovative approaches. As all DFG Research Units, the new groups will work across locations and disciplines. Clinical Research Units combine clinical, applied and basic research.

8 May 2012

Aberrations in translation regulators linked with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer survival

Four proteins involved in translation, the final step of general protein production, are associated with poor prognosis in hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer when they are dysregulated, researchers reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012.

2 Apr 2012

New treatment approach halts spread of cancer cells into normal brain tissue

Treating invasive brain tumors with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation has improved clinical outcomes, but few patients survive longer than two years after diagnosis. The effectiveness of the treatment is limited by the tumor's aggressive invasion of healthy brain tissue, which restricts chemotherapy access to the cancer cells and complicates surgical removal of the tumor.

29 Mar 2012

Researchers design new treatment approach for invasive brain tumors

Researchers from Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed a new treatment approach that appears to halt the spread of cancer cells into normal brain tissue in animal models.

29 Mar 2012

New method uses E. coli bacteria to engineer human therapeutic glycoproteins

Escherichia coli - a bacteria considered the food safety bane of restaurateurs, grocers and consumers - is a friend. Cornell University biomolecular engineers have learned to use E. coli to produce sugar-modified proteins for making pharmaceuticals cheaper and faster.

27 Mar 2012

Six early-career researchers to receive Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

The new recipients of the most important prize for early-career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee, appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has chosen three young men and three young women to receive the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2012.

21 Mar 2012

Alternative subunits generate different functional subtypes of RNA polymerases

Indiana University biologists have found that specific types of RNA polymerase enzymes, the molecular machines that convert DNA into RNA, can differ in function based on variation in the parts -- in this case protein subunits -- used to assemble those machines.

2 Mar 2012

GSA honors researchers, educators for distinguished service in the field of genetics

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of its five awards for distinguished service in the field of genetics. The recipients of these awards were nominated and selected by their colleagues.

19 Jan 2012

Scientists discover how DNA mismatch repair proteins work

In eukaryotes - the group of organisms that include humans - a key to survival is the ability of certain proteins to quickly and accurately repair genetic errors that occur when DNA is replicated to make new cells.

23 Dec 2011

Israeli Nobel Laureate receives AvH's Humboldt Research Award

The Israeli Nobel Laureate Aaron Ciechanover has been named one of the recipients of the Humboldt Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

8 Dec 2011

Ribosomes spontaneously change their form during protein production

Ribosomes, the construction sites for proteins, are far more complex than previously assumed. During the production of proteins they constantly and spontaneously change their form. This performance of eukaryotic ribosomes has now been demonstrated for the first time by scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik in Berlin, and Cornell University in New York, with the aid of special electron microscopic and biophysical methods.

24 Nov 2011

Cisplatin anti-cancer drug binds pervasively to RNA

An anti-cancer drug used extensively in chemotherapy binds pervasively to RNA -- up to 20-fold more than it does to DNA, a surprise finding that suggests new targeting approaches might be useful, according to University of Oregon researchers.

21 Nov 2011

Researchers use baker's yeast to gain insight into chromosome separation process

Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research used, ironically enough, the single-celled organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae -- commonly known as baker's yeast -- to gain new insight into the process by which chromosomes are physically segregated during cell division.

18 Nov 2011

Researchers discover key mechanism responsible for degrading ubiquitinated protein aggregates

Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute (BSI) have discovered a key mechanism responsible for selectively degrading aggregates of ubiquitinated proteins from the cell.

7 Nov 2011

Abzyme Therapeutics licenses SUMOpro from LifeSensors

Abzyme Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company dedicated to developing methods to generate human monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of disease, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive agreement with LifeSensors to license their proprietary protein expression platform, SUMOpro™. Enhanced protein expression is key to the evolution and development of antibodies and the LifeSensors

24 Oct 2011

Scientists identify proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins

A study by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and UC Irvine has identified an enzyme called a proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins from a cell. The understanding of how this process works could have important implications for numerous diseases, including cancer and Parkinson's disease.

28 Sep 2011