Cytoplasm News and Research

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Key innate immune protein regulates cholesterol and influences cancer treatment resistance

Scientists at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered an unexpected role for a key innate immune protein, revealing how it helps regulate cholesterol levels inside cells and influences tumor growth and treatment response.

3 Nov 2026

New host target identified to block hepatitis E virus

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute viral hepatitis, yet antiviral treatment remains largely limited to the off-label use of ribavirin. Ribavirin can cause substantial toxicity, is contraindicated during pregnancy and does not reliably benefit every patient.

29 Oct 2026

Mutant protein variant explains dominant inheritance of genetic immunodeficiency

New research shows how a mutant form of a protein named STAT3 causes a genetically dominant immunodeficiency.

27 Oct 2026

Penn State study identifies new regulator of jumping genes

As much as half of the human genome is composed of so-called "jumping genes." These DNA sequences can make copies of themselves that are inserted back into the genome at another location, playing a significant functional role in creating the diversity that drives evolution and in regulating how other genes are turned on or off.

21 Oct 2026

Scientists discover natural cellular defense mechanism against ALS progression

ALS is a disease where, in most cases, a protein forms aggregates in neurons, which leads to the rapid loss of motor control and death.

20 Oct 2026

Researchers uncover how Atg2 drives autophagosome formation

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation mechanism in eukaryotes. The autophagosome, which encloses damaged or excess cellular material for degradation, is constructed from lipids supplied by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), via the lipid transfer protein Atg2.

4 Sep 2026

Submicron IR map of the human cell: Label free cellular imaging with O-PTIR, FTIR and Raman

What if you could map the chemistry inside a human cell - without fluorescent labels or stains?

From Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp 4 Sep 2026

Blocking a key protein protects against metabolic liver damage

Obesity-related metabolic liver disease affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, but only some fraction of those livers develop scarring, become inflamed, and eventually fail. University of Utah researchers have identified a protein, EFHD1, that appears to drive that transition by triggering an out-of-place antiviral immune response.

1 Sep 2026

Review highlights challenges in managing childhood enterovirus infections

Enteroviruses (EVs) are a diverse group of viruses and a common cause of multiple infections in children.

1 Sep 2026

Primate-specific DNA change reveals a new link to dementia-related neurodegeneration

Brain diseases, including dementia, have long been studied using experimental animals such as mice. However, differences between the human and animal genomes have raised concerns that some disease mechanisms may not be fully explained by conventional animal models.

29 Aug 2026

New discovery paves way for highly personalized breast cancer therapies

MYC is a common oncogene that regulates tumor growth and spread, yet no approved drugs exist to target it.

28 Aug 2026

Brain organoids reveal how Alu-mediated gene deletion can lead to neurodegeneration

Brain diseases, including dementia, have long been studied using experimental animals such as mice.

27 Aug 2026

Shared protein pathology redefines treatment for multiple neurodegenerative diseases

On the surface, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) might seem like unrelated diseases.

24 Aug 2026

Engineered immune cells help eliminate severe bacterial infections effectively

Severe bacterial infections remain a major global health challenge because antibiotics alone often fail when the host immune system becomes dysfunctional.

17 Aug 2026

New study identifies key pathway for delivering antisense cancer drugs

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been proposed as a therapeutic approach to shut down the production of faulty proteins in a wide variety of diseases, including cancer.

11 Aug 2026

Fruit fly gut cells track hunger using internal cell viscosity

Researchers led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have discovered that the natural turnover of gut cells in the fruit fly depends on how much food the flies get, rather than any specific nutrient.

7 Aug 2026

New strategy combines cancer immunotherapy and gene therapy in a single nanoparticle

Cancer cells survive by hiding from the immune system's surveillance. A KAIST research team has developed a new anticancer platform that makes cancer cells send out their own danger signal—prompting immune cells to attack—while simultaneously delivering gene therapy.

28 Jul 2026

Dysregulation of immune regulator NF-κB drives major human diseases

NF‑κB controls genes involved in inflammation, immunity, cell survival, and proliferation. Triggered by cytokines (TNF‑α, IL‑1β), microbial products, or cellular stress, it translocates to the nucleus and induces pro‑inflammatory mediators.

13 Jul 2026

Cytoskeletal proteins in the cell nucleus influence brain development

The cytoskeleton gives cells their shape and helps them move. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Ludwig Maximilian University now show that, in neural stem cells, proteins of the cytoskeleton are also found in the cell nucleus, where they can influence developmental programs.

23 Jun 2026

Key Alzheimer's protein actively protects neurons from nuclear damage

Researchers at Niigata University's Brain Research Institute have uncovered a new function of amyloid precursor protein (APP), a molecule long studied as the precursor to amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

17 Jun 2026