Molecular & Structural Biology

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Lipid signaling pathway may enhance T cell-mediated immunotherapy

The immune system surveils our body looking for things that don't belong, often bacteria and viruses. While cancer cells are abnormal cells that undergo unregulated cell growth, they are good at evading detection by the immune system.

19 Aug 2019

Study shows synergistic effects of drugs that inhibit cell division in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with patients surviving on average less than a year once the disease has spread.

19 Aug 2019

Research shows how E. coli knows where and when to begin colonizing the colon

A pair of University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have revealed how E. coli seeks out the most oxygen-free crevices of your colon to cause the worst infection possible.

19 Aug 2019

Study shows how plants coordinate their internal circadian clocks

From cyanobacteria to humans, nearly all living things on Earth have an internal circadian clock that regulates their activities on a 24-hour cycle.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019

Fruit fly model for studying diseases like gout, kidney stones reveals new drug targets

A new fruit fly model that mimics diseases associated with high uric acid levels, such as gout and kidney stones, has revealed new targets for developing treatments for these diseases.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019

Simple technique to choose the sex of offspring by separating X and Y sperm

A simple, reversible chemical treatment can segregate X-bearing sperm from Y-bearing sperm, allowing dramatic alteration of the normal 50/50 male/female offspring ratio, according to a new study by Masayuki Shimada and colleagues at Hiroshima University, published on August 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The study was performed in mice, but the technique is likely to be widely applicable to other mammals as well.

From PLOS ONE 16 Aug 2019

Researchers gain new insights into the mechanism of vaccine-induced T cell immunity

A team led by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has gained new insights into the mechanism of vaccine-induced T cell immunity utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing and metabolic profiling techniques.

16 Aug 2019

Researchers reverse stem cell aging process

Scientists have shown that older stem cells can be reverted to a younger state. The discovery has important implications for degenerative disease research.

15 Aug 2019

Machine learning reveals links between genetic factors and behavior

Researchers have used machine learning to start making links between seemingly instinctive, random behaviors and genetic factors.

15 Aug 2019

KIT researchers develop new method to predict protein structure

Proteins are biological high-performance machines. They can be found in every cell and play an important role in human blood coagulation or as main constituents of hairs or muscles.

14 Aug 2019

Study sheds light on likely conserved functions of gammaherpesvirus microRNAs

The discovery of thousands of host mRNAs targeted by gammaherpesvirus microRNAs (miRNAs) could shed light on the biology of gammaherpesviruses and how these pathogens establish lifelong infections, according to a study published August 8 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Scott Tibbetts of the University of Florida, and colleagues.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Better insights into human defense mechanisms on the molecular level

With the help of new technology, the researchers of the University of Turku in Finland have gained more detailed information on the diversity of the human lymphatic system than before.

13 Aug 2019

Research shows that water molecules do not co-migrate via potassium channel

Do only potassium ions pass through the selectivity filter of a potassium channel, or are there water molecules between the ions? This question has been a source of controversy for years.

12 Aug 2019

Study reveals Lassa virus' soft spot

As this year's Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria is finally ebbing, the total tally came to more than 600 infected people, one-quarter of them dead. Thousands more die each year, uncounted in rural villages throughout West Africa.

9 Aug 2019

Neuronal gene malfunction is behind seizures associated with long QT syndrome, study suggests

Most people with a medical condition called long QT syndrome have a mutation in a gene that causes bouts of fast, chaotic heartbeats.

9 Aug 2019

Electromagnetic fields may prevent spread of breast cancer cells, study finds

Electromagnetic fields might help prevent some breast cancers from spreading to other parts of the body, new research has found.

8 Aug 2019

Study shows how cigarette smoke drives tumor aggressiveness in head and neck cancer

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world. The vast majority of cases are head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that arises in the outer layer of the skin and mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat.

8 Aug 2019

Scientists 3D print full-scale functioning heart components for the first time

Researchers have developed a new 3D bioprinting method that can produce any part of the heart, from tiny capillaries through to full-scale heart components.

8 Aug 2019

Researchers identify gene mutation combo linked to endometrial cancer

Michigan State University researchers, in collaboration with the Van Andel Institute, have identified a combination of two gene mutations that is linked to endometrial cancer.

7 Aug 2019

Scientists from Vilnius develop cost-effective and faster DNA testing method

DNA or genetic testing is a medical test that identifies changes in chromosomes, genes, or proteins to determine a genetic condition or eliminate the chance of the formation or passing on of a gene-based disorder amongst humans and animals.

6 Aug 2019