Cell Membrane News and Research

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Unusual type of antibiotic shows promise in defeating deadly "superbugs"

An unusual type of antibiotic being developed by chemists at Notre Dame University shows promise in defeating deadly "superbugs" - highly drug-resistant staph bacteria that are an increasing source of hospital-based infections.

29 Aug 2005

Key step in the production of beta-amyloid

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have defined a key step in the production of beta-amyloid, a short protein that is thought to be responsible for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Understanding this step may aid in the discovery of drugs that could help block the disease from developing.

11 Aug 2005

Researchers have identified a pathway that is specific for cancer

When cancer spreads, people often die. That's why a lot of cancer research and drugs focus on the metabolic pathways that allow cancer to metastasize -- to spread from one part of the body to another.

1 Aug 2005

Key step in the entry of anthrax toxin into human cells

The work, which grew out of an ongoing effort to produce a better anthrax therapeutic, shows that the protective antigen component of the bacterial toxin plays an active role in transferring the other two components of the toxin through the cell membrane.

28 Jul 2005

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

It's one of the most common viruses in America, and one that causes the most guilt and shame. It can get inside almost any kind of human cell, reproduce in vast numbers, and linger for years in the body, causing everything from recurrent genital blisters to sores around the mouth. Its complications can kill, and it may increase susceptibility to many nerve and brain disorders.

24 Jul 2005

Chemical sealant - poloxamer 188 can repair damage to cardiac muscle cell membrane

A common chemical used in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries can repair damage to cardiac muscle cell membranes and prevent heart failure in mice with the genetic mutation that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School.

18 Jul 2005

Nerve cells can also release neurotransmitters outside of synapses

Every neurobiology textbook invariably states that nerve cells communicate with each other through synapses, the specialized cell-cell contacts found at the end of the cells' threadlike extensions. In the journal Science, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences and the University of California at San Diego report that nerve cells, or neurons, may not have to rely on traditionally defined synapses to "talk" to each other.

18 Jul 2005

Lipid helps cell wall protein fold into proper shape

A protein that provides a vital passage through a bacterium's outer cell wall will misfold and malfunction if that wall is built of the 'wrong' material, scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston report in a finding that has long-term implications for understanding diseases caused by misfolded proteins such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease, and mad cow disease.

17 Jul 2005

Researchers gain better understanding of how nerves need to be reconnected after spinal cord injury

Nerve cells relay messages at blink-of-the-eye speeds by squirting chemicals called neurotransmitters across tiny gaps called synapses to awaiting message receptors. But lots of different receptors and neurotransmitters work simultaneously. Which goes where to send the proper message?

13 Jul 2005

X-ray crystallography images show how a protein called alpha-actinin performs molecular ballet

As a cell moves forward, physical stress on its skeleton triggers molecular fingers and arms to grasp each other in reinforcing links that stabilize the skeleton, according to images produced by investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

12 Jul 2005

New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.

11 Jul 2005

Scientists discover how an HIV protein fragment shuts down an immune response

The HIV virus hides out in the very immune system cells that are meant to protect the body from viral infection. But how does it prevent these cells from mounting a full-scale attack against the invader?

11 Jul 2005

New approach to preventing or reversing heart failure

Duke University Medical Center researchers have identified a new protein that plays a critical role in enabling the heart to respond to such external stimuli as exercise or stress, as well as in the progressive loss of heart function that is heart failure, the researchers said.

11 Jul 2005

Viagra's non-blood pressure effect successfully mimics vasopressin action

Normally your kidneys filter about 50 gallons of blood a day, remove such waste as salts and minerals, and concentrate it into urine. When you exercise or don't take in water, your blood "thickens" and instead of removing water, the kidney reverses the process, pulls in water from the body that would normally go into the urine, and puts it into the blood, thus maintaining water balance.

29 Jun 2005

If you know how viruses get into cells, you know how to better design drugs to keep them out

When it comes to gaining entry into cells, size matters. A team from Brown University and the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research has created a model that explains how viruses and other bioparticles slip inside cells without a special protein coating called clathrin.

27 Jun 2005

Claudin-1 regulates cellular transformation and metastatic behavior in colon cancer

Disruption of proteins expressed at the junctures between cells (known as tight junctions) is a hallmark of cancer cell invasion and spread (metastasis).

16 Jun 2005

First demonstration of a vaccine for Parkinson's

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine working with scientists at Elan Pharmaceuticals, have reported promising results in mice of a vaccine approach to treating Parkinson’s and similar diseases. These results appear in the June edition of the journal Neuron.

15 Jun 2005

Nanotechnology used to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells

University of Michigan scientists have created the nanotechnology equivalent of a Trojan horse to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells - increasing the drug's cancer-killing activity and reducing its toxic side effects.

15 Jun 2005

Scientists produce for the first time an infectious form of the hepatitis C virus in laboratory cultures of human cells

The finding, reported in the June 9 issue of Science Express, will allow scientists to study every stage of the HCV life cycle and develop drugs to treat this life-threatening disease that affects more than 170 million people around the world.

9 Jun 2005

Study of glial cells in the roundworm C. elegans may provide insight into a variety of human brain diseases

The key to understanding our brains may lie within a one-millimeter long worm, new research from Rockefeller University indicates. Reporting in the June issue of Developmental Cell, Shai Shaham, Ph.D., and graduate student Elliot Perens use the roundworm, C. elegans, to investigate the mysterious glial cell, which makes up 90 percent of the human brain and, when it malfunctions, can contribute to diseases like Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

9 Jun 2005

Cell Membrane News and Research

Unusual type of antibiotic shows promise in defeating deadly "superbugs"

Key step in the production of beta-amyloid

Researchers have identified a pathway that is specific for cancer

Key step in the entry of anthrax toxin into human cells

Discovery of a receptor that appears to function as one "lock" that HSV opens to allow it to enter human cells

Chemical sealant - poloxamer 188 can repair damage to cardiac muscle cell membrane

Nerve cells can also release neurotransmitters outside of synapses

Lipid helps cell wall protein fold into proper shape

Researchers gain better understanding of how nerves need to be reconnected after spinal cord injury

X-ray crystallography images show how a protein called alpha-actinin performs molecular ballet

New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

Scientists discover how an HIV protein fragment shuts down an immune response

New approach to preventing or reversing heart failure

Viagra's non-blood pressure effect successfully mimics vasopressin action

If you know how viruses get into cells, you know how to better design drugs to keep them out

Claudin-1 regulates cellular transformation and metastatic behavior in colon cancer

First demonstration of a vaccine for Parkinson's

Nanotechnology used to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells

Scientists produce for the first time an infectious form of the hepatitis C virus in laboratory cultures of human cells

Study of glial cells in the roundworm C. elegans may provide insight into a variety of human brain diseases

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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