Membrane News and Research

RSS

Protein-dependent "switch" regulates intracellular trafficking in epithelial cells

With findings highlighted on a recent cover of Developmental Cell , researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have shed important new light on key trafficking mechanisms within epithelial cells. Epithelial cells line the outside of nearly all organs.

12 Dec 2007

Intestinal parasite Giardia uses an osmotic 'suction cup' to hang on

Known in America chiefly as the bane of hikers, the single-celled intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia is a major cause of diarrheal illness worldwide with estimates of 100 million infections a year.

4 Dec 2007

Researchers capture key step in process that allows materials to move in and out of cells

A group of Purdue University researchers has captured a key step in the metabolic process that allows materials, such as nutrients and drug treatments, to move in and out of cells.

3 Dec 2007

Insulin regulates the secretion of the antiaging hormome Klotho

Dr. Carmela Abraham, a professor of biochemistry and medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), reports this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences new findings on Klotho, an anti-aging gene that is associated with life span extension in rodents and humans.

27 Nov 2007

Ikaria's INOmax approved in Australia

Ikaria Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary INO Therapeutics LLC, announced today that it has received approval from Australia's regulatory body, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), for INOmax (nitric oxide) for inhalation.

27 Nov 2007

Chlamydia pneumoniae involved in both heart disease and infertility

Outside the laboratory, Anthony Azenabor is outgoing and talkative, an extrovert who laughs heartily at his own jokes.

21 Nov 2007

New technique enables the detection of biomolecules' dynamic reactions in a single living cell

By taking advantage of the signature frequency by which organic and inorganic molecules absorb light, the team of researchers, led by Luke Lee, professor of bioengineering and director of UC Berkeley's Biomolecular Nanotechnology Center, can determine in real time whether specific enzymes are activated or particular genes are expressed, all with unprecedented resolution within a single living cell.

19 Nov 2007

Scientists zero in on the cellular machinery that enables neurons to fire

Toy robots with removable body parts - you probably had fun swapping their heads, imagining how it would affect their behavior. Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have been performing similar experiments on ion channels - pores in our nerve cells - to sort out the channels' key functional parts.

15 Nov 2007

Micro Petri dish allows unprecedented miniaturisation of the growth of micro-organisms

Scientists of Top Institute Food & Nutrition, Wageningen University and Research Centre, NIZO food research and the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology in the Netherlands have developed a new technology that allows unprecedented miniaturisation of the growth of micro-organisms.

13 Nov 2007

New target for MS treatment found using old drug

A drug currently used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure has been found to reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis in mice.

13 Nov 2007

Discovery of key pathway, potential drug targets in autoinflammatory disease

Molecular biologists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have detailed the cascade of cellular events behind some potentially dangerous autoinflammatory diseases.

13 Nov 2007

How does the antitumor drug get to the cell nucleus?

Platinum complexes such as the well-known cisplatin are powerful antitumor medications. They cross the cell membrane and reach the nucleus, where they attach to DNA and stop cell growth. But how does cisplatin get to the nucleus Italian researchers have now proven that a copper transport protein may play a critical role.

5 Nov 2007