Cell Biology

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Study finds specific tumor environment that stimulates cancer cells to metastasize

A new study, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego, has identified how the environment surrounding a tumor can stimulate metastatic behavior in the individual cancer cells. Researchers found that the tumor cells activate a particular set of genes and begin to form blood vessel-like structures when they are confined in a densely packed environment.

22 Nov 2017

Scientists develop new approach to combating antibiotic resistance

A team of researchers have developed a way of preventing the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria.

22 Nov 2017

New mechanism in cancer cells to disarm attacking immune cells, study reveals

A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, identified a substance Gdf-15, which is secreted by pancreatic cancer cells and shields cancerous cells from attack by immune cells known as macrophages.

21 Nov 2017

Probing living cells with AFM

An interview with Prof. David Alsteens, Université Catholique de Louvain conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab).

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 21 Nov 2017

Applying AFM to study the viscoelastic properties of cells

An interview with Prof. Manfred Radmacher, Universität Bremen conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab).

From Bruker Nano Surfaces and Metrology 16 Nov 2017

Scientists find key that allows neural differentiation of microRNA-deficient pluripotent stem cells

The more than 200 different types of human cells have the same DNA but express different ensembles of genes. Each cell type was derived from embryonic stem cells, which are called pluripotent stem cells because they can differentiate to all those different cell fates.

15 Nov 2017

Tulane professor wins Department of Defense grant for research into arteriovenous malformations

Tulane University's Stryder Meadows, a cell and molecular biology professor, received a $1.7 million grant from the Department of Defense to study how arteriovenous malformations (AVM), which are defects in arteries, veins and capillaries, form Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT), a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 5,000 people.

14 Nov 2017

Researchers find efficient way to produce neurons from pluripotent stem cells

Since their discovery in 2006, induced pluripotent stem cells are a glimmer of hope for many diseases. But further research of the complex regulation of pluripotent stem cell identity revealed unexpected difficulties.

13 Nov 2017

KU Leuven researchers unravel how cell division timer works

Human cells use a timer to divide: each cell gets at least 30 minutes to divide its genetic material between the nuclei of two daughter cells.

9 Nov 2017

Study finds potential chemical compound that initiated life on Earth

A new study conducted at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has found a compound called diamidophosphate (DAP), which is expected to have played a vital role in the origins of life on Earth.

8 Nov 2017

Johns Hopkins scientists report first-ever creation of protein hydrogels inside living cells

Johns Hopkins cell biologists report what they believe is the first-ever creation of tiny protein-based gelatin-like clumps called hydrogels inside living cells.

7 Nov 2017

New optical microscopy technique reveals dimerization of ‘toll-like receptors’

The surface of every cell contains receptors that react to external signals similar to a "gate". In this way, the cells of the innate immune system can differentiate between friend and foe partly through their "toll-like receptors" (TLRs).

3 Nov 2017

Study demonstrates for the first-time neurons moving in postnatal neurogenesis

A study published recently in the Journal of Cell Biology has described how newborn precursor neurons, termed neuroblasts, which originated in a permanent pocket of stem cells in an area of the brain called the V-SVZ—traveled from their birthplace to a target destination in the olfactory bulb via a special tunnel called the RMS.

3 Nov 2017

Researchers analyze molecular processes that influence aging

Understanding the factors that control aging has been one of humanity's endless pursuits, from the mystical fountain of youth to practical healthful regimens to prolong life expectancy.

2 Nov 2017

NASA’s “Twins Study” explores the effects space travel has on the human body

Preliminary results from NASA’s Twins Study have revealed some of the bodily changes that occurred in an astronaught, who spent almost one year in space, compared with his twin brother, who remained on earth.

30 Oct 2017

Inner workings of cells probed by new Kleindiek nanomanipulator at UNSW

The mechanism of how cells work is key to understanding how tumours metastasize as well as tissue regeneration and other bodily functions. The process of mechanotransduction, or how a cell converts a physical stimuli into an electrical response is fundamental to these understandings.

From AXT Pty Ltd 30 Oct 2017

Timing of DNA damage within checkpoints matters to a cell's fate, study reports

DNA damage occurs routinely within your cells due to sun exposure, smoking and sometimes during the normal process of making new DNA.

26 Oct 2017

Scientists develop physiological approach to restore gut’s ecosystem in various diseases

The trillions of microbes living in a mammal's intestine play an important role in the host's metabolism and immunity. The composition of microbiota is maintained by antimicrobial proteins secreted from intestinal cells.

24 Oct 2017

Gene circuit can be used to switch on inside cancer cells and stimulate immune attack, study suggests

A new study, conducted by researchers at MIT, suggests that a recently developed synthetic gene circuit can stimulate the immune system to kill cancer cells when it identifies indications of the cancer. The gene circuit will only stimulate a therapeutic response when it identifies two particular cancer markers.

20 Oct 2017

Researchers discover new function in gene-regulatory protein

Researchers at Umeå and Stockholm universities in Sweden and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US have published a new study in the journal Molecular Cell.

20 Oct 2017