Eukaryotic cell News and Research

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Biologist finds plant polymerases IV and V are really variants of polymerase II

It's a little like finding out that Superman is actually Clark Kent. A team of biologists at Washington University in St. Louis has discovered that two vital cellular components, nuclear RNA Polymerases IV and V (Pol IV and V), found only in plants, are actually specialized forms of RNA Polymerase II, an essential enzyme of all eukaryotic organisms, including humans.

6 Jan 2009

New understanding of mechanism that regulates DNA methylation

Researchers in a University of Oregon lab have shed more light on the mechanism that regulates DNA methylation, a fundamental biological process in which a methyl group is attached to DNA, the genetic material in cells of living organisms.

14 Dec 2008

Researchers visualize three-dimensional structure of protein, Mcm10

For the first time, structural biologists have managed to obtain the detailed three-dimensional structure of one of the proteins that form the core of the complex molecular machine, called the replisome, that plant and animal cells assemble to copy their DNA as the first step in cell reproduction.

10 Dec 2008

Computation and genomics data drive bacterial research into new golden age

A potent combination of powerful new analysis methods and abundant data from genomics projects is carrying microbiology forward into a new era.

10 Dec 2008

Doing the math for membranes

Determining the mechanisms that shape biological membranes has long been a tricky business. Like a factory assembly line, eukaryotic cells are organized into membrane-bound, functional compartments called organelles.

4 Dec 2008

Discovery of new mechanism for cell division

A Swedish research group, partly financed by NWO, has discovered a new mechanism for cell division in a microorganism found in extremely hot and acidic conditions.

25 Nov 2008

Roche NimbleGen launches microarrays for analysis of DNA copy number variation

Roche NimbleGen, Inc. has launched NimbleGen Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) microarrays in a 12x135K format for analysis of DNA copy number variation.

19 Nov 2008

New gene-silencing pathway found in plants

Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes.

17 Nov 2008

Does HBV infection induce acute cellular DNA damage?

Eukaryotic cells employ multiple strategies of checkpoint signaling and DNA repair mechanisms to monitor and repair damaged DNA.

11 Nov 2008

Novel cell division mechanism discovered

A novel cell division mechanism has been discovered in a microorganism that thrives in hot acid. The finding may also result in insights into key processes in human cells, and in a better understanding of the main evolutionary lineages of life on Earth. The study is published today in the online version of the journal of the American National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.

28 Oct 2008

Kinaxo partners with Boehringer Ingelheim

Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH announced today that it has entered into a two-year collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Under the agreement Kinaxo will apply its new platform technologies to studies on drug mode of action and target identification. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

13 Oct 2008

Neuroscientists discover a critical early step of memory formation

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in the July issue of Neuron how nerve cells in the brain ensure that Arc, a protein critical for memory formation, is made instantly after nerve stimulation. Paradoxically, its manufacture involves two other proteins - including one linked to mental retardation - that typically prevent proteins from being made.

14 Sep 2008

Molecular bridge serves as a tether for a cell's nucleus

A cell's nucleus - home of it its most precious contents - is a delicate envelope that, without support, is barely able to withstand the forces that keep it in place. Now, researchers have discovered a network of molecules in the nuclear membrane that provide the nucleus with rigidity and also facilitate a previously undiscovered form of communication between the cell's nucleus and its cytoplasm.

8 Aug 2008

The emerging role of infection in Alzheimer’s

A number of chronic diseases are in fact caused by one or more infectious agents. For example, stomach ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori, chronic lung disease in newborns and chronic asthma in adults are both caused by Mycoplasmas and Chlamydia pneumonia, while some other pathogens have been associated with atherosclerosis. The realization that pathogens can produce slowly progressive chronic diseases has opened new lines of research into Alzheimer's disease.

25 May 2008