Molecular & Structural Biology

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Scientists aim to unlock the secrets of heart cells

The human heart appears to be pure physics: valves open and close, blood flows through the heart’s chambers, electrical impulses regulate the heartbeat.

26 Apr 2019

Scientists develop maps of two melatonin receptors vital for sleep, other biological processes

An international team of researchers used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to create the first detailed maps of two melatonin receptors that tell our bodies when to go to sleep or wake up and guide other biological processes.

26 Apr 2019

Biologists unravel new role for nervous system in regeneration

Biologists at Tufts University have developed a computational model of planarian (flatworm) regeneration that explains how fragments of planaria determine which end should form a tail and which should form a head.

25 Apr 2019

New genetic test identifies many disease-causing gene variations in high-risk populations

Researchers at Nemours Children's Health System have developed a new low-cost genetic test that accurately identified more than 200 known disease-causing gene variations in two high-risk populations, the Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

25 Apr 2019

First extensive analysis of proteins in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The most common form of childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden, in cooperation with Karolinska Institutet, SciLifeLab and the University of Cambridge, have now carried out the most extensive analysis to date of ALL at the protein level, by studying the activity in over 8 000 genes and proteins.

25 Apr 2019

Reason for DEET's success can be found in mosquito's legs

Many of us slather ourselves in DEET each summer in hopes of avoiding mosquito bites, and it generally works rather well.

25 Apr 2019

Stem cells in hair follicles have potential to regenerate myelin sheath that coats neurons

A subset of the stem cells in hair follicles have the potential to regenerate the coating that insulates neurons in mice, reports Thomas Hornyak of the VA Maryland Health Care System and the University of Maryland School of Medicine and colleagues, in a new study published 24th April in PLOS Genetics.

25 Apr 2019

Uncovering the Structure of HIV Integrase to Inform Drug Discovery

In this interview Dr Kushol Gupta, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania talks to News-Medical and Life Sciences about the importance of light scattering techniques for investigating structure and mechanism of action in his ongoing research into HIV integrase and the development of HIV therapeutics.

From Waters | Wyatt Technology 24 Apr 2019

Synthesizing Modified and Pharmaceutically Relevant Peptides

In this interview, CEM Corporation talks to News-Medical Life Sciences about using their product the Liberty Blue for Automated High-Efficiency Solid Phase Peptides Synthesis of Modified and Pharmaceutically Relevant Peptides.

From CEM Corporation - Life Science 24 Apr 2019

Researchers engineer new molecules to help stop lung cancer

University of Texas at Dallas scientists have demonstrated that the growth rate of the majority of lung cancer cells relates directly to the availability of a crucial oxygen-metabolizing molecule.

24 Apr 2019

Combination-imaging technique provides new window into macaque brain connections

Researchers can now see how the two sides of the living brain mirror each other thanks to a new combination-imaging technique.

24 Apr 2019

Scientists identify 104 high-risk genes for schizophrenia

Using a unique computational "framework" they developed, a team of scientist cyber-sleuths in the Vanderbilt University Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute has identified 104 high-risk genes for schizophrenia.

23 Apr 2019

Overlooked part of cell’s internal machinery may hold key to treating acute myeloid leukemia

Many individuals forced to fight an exceptionally aggressive form of the blood cancer acute myeloid leukemia (AML) don't survive more than five years.

22 Apr 2019

Hole-forming protein could help control cancer growth

Sometimes cells need to die. The process of cell death is encoded within the genome of all higher organisms to kill off cancerous cells, and as a normal part of development to shape a mass of embryonic cells into the organism it will become.

22 Apr 2019

Potential of liquid biopsy in cancer biomarker detection and prenatal testing

The promise and challenges of liquid biopsy, an emerging, noninvasive method for targeted disease diagnosis and detection of cancer biomarkers to enable improved and personalized therapy, is the focus of a new special issue of Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

22 Apr 2019

Research uncovers critical RNA processing aberrations in ALS and FTD

Research by a Barrow Neurological Center scientist on mechanisms of dysfunctional RNA processing in ALS and frontal temporal dementia was published in the April issue of Acta Neuropathologica.

21 Apr 2019

Two studies uncover brain mechanisms underlying decision making process

New research conducted in the Cognitive Neuroscience group of SISSA shows that a perceptual decision - recognizing an object and taking the appropriate action - is triggered as soon as the brain's processing networks accumulate the exact right quantity of sensory information.

21 Apr 2019