Cell Membrane News and Research

RSS

Research shows why microgravity leads to muscle loss

People can easily feel the presence - or absence - of gravity. Our individual cells actually may be able to sense gravity, too, and that ability could play a role in the loss of muscle that occurs when humans spend time in space.

1 Oct 2015

Glowing protein may replace fiber optic cable as light source in optogenetics research

Optogenetics has taken neuroscience by storm in recent years because the technique allows scientists to study the brain conveniently in animals, activating or inhibiting selected groups of neurons at the flip of a switch. Most often, scientists use a fiber optic cable to deliver light into the brain.

30 Sep 2015

Researchers develop a technique that uses platelet membranes to coat anticancer drugs

Researchers have for the first time developed a technique that coats anticancer drugs in membranes made from a patient's own platelets, allowing the drugs to last longer in the body and attack both primary cancer tumors and the circulating tumor cells that can cause a cancer to metastasize. The work was tested successfully in an animal model.

30 Sep 2015

Specialized proteins can inhibit HIV

There is little doubt that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, is devastating. More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV and more than 47,000 people are diagnosed annually. Now, University of Missouri researchers have made a discovery in how specialized proteins can inhibit the virus, opening the door for progress in the fight against HIV and for the production of advanced therapeutics to combat the disease.

29 Sep 2015

New single-molecule tool may help detect interactions between DNA and enzymatic proteins

A team of scientists at the University of Washington and the biotechnology company Illumina have created an innovative tool to directly detect the delicate, single-molecule interactions between DNA and enzymatic proteins.

29 Sep 2015

New genetic cause identified for congenital heart arrhythmia

Scientists at The Ohio State University Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute have identified a new genetic cause for congenital heart arrhythmia. The results of their research are published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

23 Sep 2015

Scientists identify new drug target to treat heart arrhythmias

Scientists at The Ohio State University Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute have identified a new target they hope will help make the next drug discovery for patients suffering from heart arrhythmias happen sooner.

9 Sep 2015

Resin contains substances that may cure epilepsy, say Linköping University researchers

Sticky resin from conifers contains substances that could relieve or cure epilepsy. Researchers at Linköping University have synthesized and tested 71 substances known as resin acids, of which twelve are prime candidates for new medicines.

9 Sep 2015

Cells expressing faulty CFTR channel to TNF-α can 'fix' cystic fibrosis cells

Scientific experiments examining what happens to the faulty channel protein that causes cystic fibrosis during inflammation have yielded unexpected and exciting results. The study, conducted by Sara Bitam and her colleagues at INSERM in France, has just passed peer review on open science publishing platform F1000Research.

3 Sep 2015

Inhalation exposure to PM2.5 pollution triggers liver fibrosis

A research team led by Kezhong Zhang, Ph.D., at the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, has discovered that exposure to air pollution has a direct adverse health effect on the liver and causes liver fibrosis, an illness associated with metabolic disease and liver cancer.

3 Sep 2015

Novel chemical virus can cross double lipid layer surrounding cells to release drugs

Viruses are able to redirect the functioning of cells in order to infect them. Inspired by their mode of action, scientists from the CNRS and Université de Strasbourg have designed a "chemical virus" that can cross the double lipid layer that surrounds cells, and then disintegrate in the intracellular medium in order to release active compounds.

29 Aug 2015

Study sheds light on helper cells and killer cells

Scientists at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from the USA and Japan, have shed light on an important immune mechanism. Their work shows how the body provides the important killer cells with a helper in the case of an infection. The study could point the way to better vaccines in the future.

21 Aug 2015

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