Cell Membrane News and Research

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CUMC researchers uncover new details of intracellular channel that controls skeletal muscle

Using high-resolution electron microscopy, Columbia University Medical Center researchers have uncovered new details of the structure and function of an intracellular channel that controls the contraction of skeletal muscle.

22 Sep 2016

KIT researchers use high-resolution microscopy to uncover how scavenger cells repair muscle fibers

Everybody knows the burning sensation in the legs when climbing down a steep slope for a long time. It is caused by microruptures in the cell membrane of our muscle fibers.

21 Sep 2016

Researchers propose new explanation for symptoms of fragile X syndrome

Until recently, scientists thought they understood one of the underlying causes of fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability in the United States.

20 Sep 2016

Gene therapy may be viable approach for treating CF lung problems

Two new studies from the University of Iowa suggest that gene therapy may be a viable approach for treating or preventing lung disease caused by cystic fibrosis.

20 Sep 2016

Rensselaer awarded $2.2 million grant to develop ion conductive alkaline membrane materials

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been awarded $2.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to develop innovative ion conduction materials for next-generation renewable energy conversion and storage technology.

19 Sep 2016

Study provides deeper understanding of how cells' crowded surfaces induce complex protein behavior

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have brought physics and biology together to further understand how cells' crowded surfaces induce complex protein behavior.

16 Sep 2016

IRB Barcelona researchers reveal new strategy to obtain barrel-shaped amyloid-beta aggregates

Researchers at IRB Barcelona describe for the first time how to prepare a specific type of aggregate of the amyloid-beta protein with the ability to perforate the cell membrane.

14 Sep 2016

Liquid crystal technique could be new way to control drug delivery process

Liquid crystals are strange substances, both fish and fowl. They can flow like a liquid, but have the orderly molecular structure of a crystalline solid. And that internal structure can be changed by small cues from outside.

13 Sep 2016

Operational mechanism of Acid-sensing Ion Channel plays pivotal role in transmitting pain signals

Professor Byung-Chang Suh's research team from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences succeeded in identifying a new operational mechanism principle of the 'Acid-sensing Ion Channel,' which recognizes internal pain in an organism.

13 Sep 2016

First accurate simulation reveals how virus shape changes when invading host cell

For the first time, scientists know what happens to a virus' shape when it invades a host cell, thanks to an experiment by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

12 Sep 2016

New study raises safety concerns on clinical use of caspase inhibitors for liver diseases

Many acute and chronic liver diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis, result from apoptotic (programmed) cell death mediated by the enzyme caspase. Caspase inhibitors have therapeutic potential to treat and prevent apoptosis-mediated liver injury, and some are currently in clinical trials.

9 Sep 2016

Novel controlled clinical trial finds Ayurvedic-based well-being program can alter blood-based metabolites

In a novel controlled clinical trial, participants in a six-day Ayurvedic-based well-being program that featured a vegetarian diet, meditation, yoga and massages experienced measurable decreases in a set of blood-based metabolites associated with inflammation, cardiovascular disease risk and cholesterol regulation.

9 Sep 2016

Novel Trojan Horse antibody strategy may target Ebola's Achilles' heel

In research published online today in Science, a team of scientists describe a new therapeutic strategy to target a hidden Achilles' heel shared by all known types of Ebola virus.

8 Sep 2016

Nicotinic receptors could be new therapeutic target to prevent memory loss linked to Alzheimer's

Several scientific studies have indicated that nicotine may be beneficial for memory function.

29 Aug 2016

Fluid-filled sacs that brain cells make to trap amyloid may contribute to Alzheimer's disease

Vesicles, fluid-filled sacs that brain cells make to trap amyloid, a hallmark of Alzheimer's, appear to also contribute to the disease, scientists report.

29 Aug 2016

New camera technology paired with electron microscope allows biologists to see tiny cellular components

Using a new, lightning-fast camera paired with an electron microscope, Columbia University Medical Center scientists have captured images of one of the smallest proteins in our cells to be "seen" with a microscope.

26 Aug 2016

Atomic level analysis reveals how two classes of calcium channel blockers produce different effects

An atomic level analysis has revealed how two classes of calcium channel blockers, widely prescribed for heart disease patients, produce separate therapeutic effects through their actions at different sites on the calcium channel molecule.

25 Aug 2016

Researchers find reason behind epidemiological success of Russian tuberculosis strains

Researchers from the Federal Research and Clinical Centre of Physical-Chemical Medicine, and staff from MIPT's Systems Biology Laboratory, the Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology and the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute, conducted a large-scale analysis of the proteins and genomes of mycobacterium tuberculosis strains that are common in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union and found features that provide a possible explanation for their epidemiological success.

19 Aug 2016

Scientists clarify how tumour cells kill specific cells in vascular wall to establish metastases

Many cancers only become a mortal danger if they form metastases elsewhere in the body. Such secondary tumours are formed when individual cells break away from the main tumour and travel through the bloodstream to distant areas of the body.

11 Aug 2016

Rare genetic variations linked to severe porphyria

An international research team has linked rare variations in a cell membrane protein to the wide variation in symptom severity that is a hallmark of porphyria, a rare disorder that often affects the skin, liver and nervous system.

10 Aug 2016