Molecular & Structural Biology

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Scientists develop futuristic gene therapy for liver cancer

Genetically engineered human T cells that are effective at fighting liver cancer in mice may one day help patients fight liver cancer, say researchers.

3 Apr 2018

UTA professor wins AHA grant to study biomechanical influences on ventricular development

A University of Texas at Arlington researcher is working to determine how blood flow and cardiac muscle contraction affects gene development that leads to ventricular chamber development in the heart.

31 Mar 2018

Researchers create synthesized nanosheets to inactivate or detect pathogens

Researchers have developed a process for creating ultrathin, self-assembling sheets of synthetic materials that can function like designer flypaper in selectively binding with viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens.

29 Mar 2018

Researchers reveal molecular structure of 'anti-aging' protein

Researchers from UT Southwestern's Charles and Jane Pak Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research and Internal Medicine's Division of Nephrology recently published work in Nature that reveals the molecular structure of the so-called "anti-aging" protein alpha Klotho (a-Klotho) and how it transmits a hormonal signal that controls a variety of biologic processes.

29 Mar 2018

Ultra-slow waves in the brain directly linked to consciousness

If you keep a close eye on an MRI scan of the brain, you'll see a wave pass through the entire brain like a heartbeat once every few seconds. This ultra-slow rhythm was recognized decades ago, but no one quite knew what to make of it. MRI data are inherently noisy, so most researchers simply ignored the ultra-slow waves.

29 Mar 2018

Tadpole metamorphosis found to be controlled by fat-sensing hormone

When tadpoles are but tadpoles, they're voracious eaters, chomping down all of the plant matter in their paths.

29 Mar 2018

New tracing methods reveal breadth of neural communication in visual cortex

An international collaboration of neuroscientists have today published a paper in Nature demonstrating the breadth of neural communication in visual cortex using a combination of methods for tracing the projections of individual neurons across the brain.

29 Mar 2018

Macrophages stimulated to produce potent anti-inflammatory molecule

Researchers have discovered that macrophages, which play a key role in inflammation, also produce an anti-inflammatory molecule called itaconate.

29 Mar 2018

Biophysical mechanism involving spaghetti-like proteins helps cells avoid 'data breaches'

Cells can avoid "data breaches" when letting signaling proteins into their nuclei thanks to a quirky biophysical mechanism involving a blur of spaghetti-like proteins, researchers from the Rockefeller University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have shown.

28 Mar 2018

New gene therapy may help the brain to heal following stroke and other injuries

Researchers have discovered a genetic trigger that may improve the brain’s ability to heal in conditions such as stroke, concussion and spinal cord injury.

28 Mar 2018

EPFL researchers uncover how the circadian clock regulates 3D chromatin structure

EPFL biologists and geneticists have uncovered how the circadian clock orchestrates the 24-hour cycle of gene expression by regulating the structure of chromatin, the tightly wound DNA-protein complex of the cell. The work is published in Genes & Development.

28 Mar 2018

Scientists use CRISPR to develop a genome surveillance tool

Scientists have converted CRISPR/Cas9 into a genome surveillance tool, in an effort to develop a more effective way of fighting disease.

27 Mar 2018

Newly designed three-part molecule shows promise to treat breast cancers

A newly designed three-part molecule could be the one answer patients with a certain form of breast cancer are looking for, scientists report.

22 Mar 2018

Researchers succeed in integrating artificial organelles into cells of living organism

For the first time, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Basel has succeeded in integrating artificial organelles into the cells of living zebrafish embryos.

20 Mar 2018

Columbia researchers identify nerve cells that drive fruit fly's escape behavior

Columbia University researchers have identified the nerve cells that initiate a fly's escape response: that complex series of movements in which an animal senses, and quickly maneuvers away from, something harmful such as high heat.

20 Mar 2018

Researchers uncover specific gene region in hypertension

Genes encode proteins and proteins dictate cell function. Therefore, the thousands of genes expressed in a cell determine what that cell can do.

20 Mar 2018

Discovery aids understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers have discovered a basic molecular mechanism that sheds light on the disease process underlying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

19 Mar 2018

Researchers delineate architecture of nuclear pore complex in yeast cells

Like an island nation, the nucleus of a cell has a transportation problem. Evolution has enclosed it with a double membrane, the nuclear envelope, which protects DNA but also cuts it off from the rest of the cell. Nature's solution is a massive--by molecular standards--cylindrical configuration known as the nuclear pore complex, through which imports and exports travel, connecting the bulk of the cell with its headquarters.

16 Mar 2018

Blood donor scraps help researchers to discover new insight into human immune system

Iowa State University researchers have discovered new insight into the human immune system from an unlikely source, the leftover material from blood donation banks.

16 Mar 2018

Blood flow defies the laws of fluid dynamics

Researchers have developed a 3D simulation of blood cells travelling through realistic microvascular networks that has predicted several novel phenomena.

16 Mar 2018