Cell Membrane News and Research

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Researchers establish structure of important tumor-suppressing protein

An international group of researchers led by Carnegie Mellon University physicists Mathias Lösche and Frank Heinrich have established the structure of an important tumor suppressing protein, PTEN. Their findings provide new insights into how the protein regulates cell growth and how mutations in the gene that encodes the protein can lead to cancer.

21 Aug 2015

3D protein structure reveals new drug targets for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

Protein Kinase C (PKC) is a family of enzymes that controls the activity of other proteins in a cell by attaching chemical tags. That simple act helps determine cell survival or death.

14 Aug 2015

Scientists develop biosensor to measure abnormal activity of cell 'fuel' carrier

To be able to function, cell mitochondria import "fuel" using a carrier, the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier (MPC). In order to determine whether the MPC is still functional in malignant cells, the team of Professor Jean-Claude Martinou, at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has just developed a biosensor to measure its live activity.

7 Aug 2015

Lund University researchers discovered 'main switch' that regulates cell invaginations

Lack of microinvaginations in the cell membrane, caveolae, can cause serious diseases such as lipodystrophy and muscular dystrophy. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now discovered a "main switch" that regulates the formation of these invaginations.

7 Aug 2015

Non-surgical approach to treating 'double chins'

UT Southwestern Medical Center plastic surgeons have a non-surgical approach to treating "double chins" − the moderate-to-severe fat below the chin using an FDA-approved drug that when injected into tissue destroys fat cells.

5 Aug 2015

New Tel Aviv University study sheds light on precise trigger of deadly melanoma

Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, and melanoma, which accounts for 2% of skin cancer cases, is responsible for nearly all skin cancer deaths. Melanoma rates in the US have been rising rapidly over the last 30 years, and although scientists have managed to identify key risk factors, melanoma's modus operandi has eluded the world of medical research.

4 Aug 2015

Researchers reveal how certain lipids help adenoviruses to enter the cell

Adenoviruses cause numerous diseases, such as eye or respiratory infections, and they are widely used in gene therapy. Researchers from the University of Zurich have now discovered how these viruses penetrate the cells, a key step for infection and gene delivery. The cell unwillingly supports virus entry and infection by providing lipids that are normally used to repair damaged membranes.

10 Jul 2015

Certain colon cancer genes take a step back to move forward

Recent Weizmann Institute studies are revealing a complex picture of cancer progression in which certain genes that drive tumor growth in the earlier stages get suppressed in later stages - taking a step back to move forward.

1 Jul 2015

Lamont R Jones receives 2015 Research Scholar Award to study pathogenesis of keloids

Lamont R Jones, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital, received the 2015 Research Scholar Award from the Educational and Research Foundation for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery to continue his efforts to study the pathogenesis of keloids and improve understanding of how keloid scars develop.

26 Jun 2015

Discovery provides basis for new pertussis treatments

The worldwide spreading of the whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has substantially increased since 2010. Researchers from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, have investigated structure and function of an important membrane protein of the bacterium causing pertussis. They discovered that the protein structure differs from a previously postulated model.

24 Jun 2015

Single difference in HIV's genetic code influences progression of disease

In a finding that furthers the understanding of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), researchers from Children's Hospital Los Angeles discovered two locations where a single difference in HIV's genetic code altered the way the virus infected the cell, thereby influencing the progression of the disease.

18 Jun 2015

LMU clinicians reveal mechanism involved in determining lifetime of antibody-producing cells

Clinicians at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have elucidated a mechanism involved in determining the lifespan of antibody-producing cells, and identified a promising new biomarker for monitoring autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus erythematosus.

15 Jun 2015

UT Southwestern researchers reveal how the body controls glucose transport

UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have gleaned a key cellular mechanism of how the body adjusts glucose levels, an important process that when abnormal can promote diabetes, cancer, and rare genetic diseases.

10 Jun 2015

Electroporation technique brings higher efficiency, higher throughput genome engineering in animal models

Jackson Laboratory researchers have shown that using an electric current to deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 system, in order to engineer genetic changes in laboratory mice, is highly efficient and significantly improves the system's throughput.

9 Jun 2015

Biochemists devise snappy new technique for blueprinting cell membrane proteins

Biochemists from Trinity College Dublin have devised a new technique that will make the difficult but critical job of blueprinting certain proteins considerably faster, cheaper and easier.

5 Jun 2015

New strategy involving three-pronged approach may keep lung cancer aside

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for some 1.59 million deaths a year. That figure is due, in part, to the fact that lung cancer often returns after what seems at first to be successful treatment. However, the recurring cancer is often resistant to the chemotherapy and other drugs that originally drove it into remission.

4 Jun 2015

Duke researchers reveal how bladder cells can eject UTI-causing bacteria

Duke Medicine researchers have found that bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs).

29 May 2015

Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

An international team including scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has identified the molecular "lock" that the deadly Ebola virus must pick to gain entry to cells.

27 May 2015

ETH Zurich researchers develop new measurement technique to improve NanoMRI imaging

NanoMRI is a scanning technique that produces nondestructive, high-resolution 3-D images of nanoscale objects, and it promises to become a powerful tool for researchers and companies exploring the shape and function of biological materials such as viruses and cells in much the same way as clinical MRI today enables investigation of whole tissues in the human body.