Cytoskeleton News and Research

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Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques improve memory

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques aimed at mental and neurological conditions include transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression, and transcranial direct current (electrical) stimulation, shown to improve memory.

20 May 2013

Researchers show how cells are driven mainly by water power

Water gives life. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden now show how the cells in our bodies are driven mainly by water power - a discovery that in the long run opens the way for a new strategy in cancer therapy.

14 May 2013

Scientists halt tumour development through genetic manipulation of cytoskeleton in fly tissues

Cancer is a complex disease, in which cells undergo a series of alterations, including changes in their architecture; an increase in their ability to divide, to survive and to invade new tissues or metastasis.

7 May 2013

Researchers identify how a defective protein plays central role in Giant Axonal Neuropathy

A team of international researchers led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has identified how a defective protein plays a central role in a rare, lethal childhood disease known as Giant Axonal Neuropathy, or GAN.

29 Apr 2013

Unique modification to microtubules makes nerve cells' cytoskeleton singularly robust

How do nerve cells -- which can each be up to three feet long in humans -- keep from rupturing or falling apart?

16 Apr 2013

Research findings could lead to new targets for treating inflammatory disorders

Researchers at UC Davis have shown how the innate immune system distinguishes between dangerous pathogens and friendly microbes. Like burglars entering a house, hostile bacteria give themselves away by breaking into cells. However, sensing proteins instantly detect the invasion, triggering an alarm that mobilizes the innate immune response.

2 Apr 2013

Living cells and cell fragments move in response to electric fields, scientists find

Like tiny crawling compass needles, whole living cells and cell fragments orient and move in response to electric fields - but in opposite directions, scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found. Their results, published April 8 in the journal Current Biology, could ultimately lead to new ways to heal wounds and deliver stem cell therapies.

30 Mar 2013

Protein with key job in muscle function moonlights in nucleus to help regulate genes

A key building block of life, actin is one of the most abundant and highly conserved proteins in eukaryotic cells.

25 Mar 2013

Rensselaer professor awarded NIH grant to explore cellular function with links to diverse diseases

The interior of every cell within our bodies is crisscrossed with a network of molecular highways upon which nutrients, replacement parts, and other vital materials travel to their appropriate location.

20 Mar 2013

Mycolactone activation of N-WASP boosts Buruli ulcer formation

Mycobacterium ulcerans infects the skin and subcutaneous tissues and secretes a lipid toxin, mycolactone, which causes open skin lesions, known as Buruli ulcers.

18 Mar 2013

UNM scientists identify chemical compound that appears to control cell metastases

It's the spread of the original cancer tumor that kills most people. That's why cancer researchers vigorously search for drugs that can prevent metastases, the spread of cancer. The research team co-led by Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, and Larry Sklar, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center has found a chemical compound that appears to control cell migration and adhesion, two important characteristics of metastatic cancer cells.

14 Mar 2013

Cell fusion studies at Johns Hopkins could lead to improved treatments for muscular dystrophy

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a high-efficiency cell-cell fusion system, providing a new model to study how fusion works. The scientists showed that fusion between two cells is not equal and mutual as some assumed, but, rather, is initiated and driven by one of the fusion partners. The discovery, they say, could lead to improved treatments for muscular dystrophy, since muscle regeneration relies on cell fusion to make muscle fibers that contain hundreds or even thousands of nuclei.

8 Mar 2013

Ampio Pharmaceuticals starts Optina clinical trial

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced oral dosing of the first patient in a 505(b)(2) clinical trial of the investigational drug Optina in diabetic macular edema.

27 Feb 2013

New insights into how cells stick to each other and to other bodily structures

Research carried out by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Manchester has revealed new insights into how cells stick to each other and to other bodily structures, an essential function in the formation of tissue structures and organs. It's thought that abnormalities in their ability to do so play an important role in a broad range of disorders, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

15 Feb 2013

MiR-182 deeply involved in memory formation within the amygdala brain structure

It takes a lot to make a memory. New proteins have to be synthesized, neuron structures altered. While some of these memory-building mechanisms are known, many are not. Some recent studies have indicated that a unique group of molecules called microRNAs, known to control production of proteins in cells, may play a far more important role in memory formation than previously thought.

30 Jan 2013

The LINC complex essential for hearing

In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Karen Avraham and colleagues at Tel Aviv University identified a genetic mutation in two families with hereditary high frequency hearing loss. The mutated gene, which has not previously been linked to hearing loss, encodes NESP4, a protein that is expressed in the outer nuclear membrane (ONM) of the hair cells of the ear.

28 Jan 2013

FDA approves Ampio’s IND for Optina for treatment of diabetic macular edema

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the FDA has accepted the Company's IND for Optina™ for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). Ampio plans to commence enrollment in a clinical trial in the first quarter of 2013. The FDA granted Optina™ 505(b)(2) status in July, 2012. Drugs designated under this pathway can be approved on a single trial.

22 Jan 2013

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting to highlight innovations in medicine, physics, and more

Honeybee silk-inspired materials; a deconstruction of the Ebola virus; how microbes evolve resistance to antibiotics; and a possible connection between Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes are just some of the intriguing topics that will be presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS).

22 Jan 2013

Researchers identify signaling pathway used by malarial parasites to destroy host cells

One of the most insidious ways that parasitic diseases such as malaria and toxoplasmosis wreak their havoc is by hijacking their host's natural cellular processes, turning self against self.

18 Jan 2013

Scientists define structure of α-catenin protein

Scientists know that cells in all higher organisms cells need to bind to each other for the development, architecture, maintenance and function of tissues. Mysteries have remained, however, about exactly how cells manage this feat.

9 Jan 2013